1: Convene a planning team.
This planning process will be most effective with a diverse set of perspectives contributing to it. Leverage the talents of special education and EL teachers - who specialize in developing creative solutions - throughout the planning process. When a school that is prepared to serve diverse learners, ALL students benefit.
Want to start with a quick summary of next steps and resources for this section? Click here.
The team approach.
Consider identifying a Strategic Equity Team (SET). This team will be equipped to plan for the needs of diverse learners and their teachers. A SET can leverage the student-centered, data-driven, collaborative skillset of diverse learner educators to ensure equity is central to re-entry planning.
“The power of collective capacity is that it enables ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things—for two reasons. One is that knowledge about effective practice becomes more widely available and accessible on a daily basis. The second reason is more powerful still—working together generates commitment.”
— Michael Fullan, All Systems Go: The Change Imperative for Whole System Reform
Who to involve.
School administrator/leadership team member brings knowledge of scheduling, resource availability, and budgets + funding. They may also be involved in larger decision making.
Lead special education teacher brings knowledge of the specific academic, behavioral, social-emotional, and familial needs of students on their caseload. They also have knowledge of intervention strategies or students who will require intervention, continuation or new, this fall.
Lead EL teacher brings knowledge of the specific academic, linguistic, and familial needs of students on their caseload. They also have knowledge of specific EL support strategies.
General education teacher brings knowledge of standards and grade level content. They may also be meeting with grade or department teams to prioritize what students will need to know and be able to do this year.
Student supports coach or coordinator brings knowledge of meeting the needs of educators and supporting professional growth of special education and EL teachers. They will also be thinking about the coordination of services and supports with compliance or regulatory requirements.
Guidance counselor/social worker/mental health provider brings knowledge of social/emotional strategies and students who may be returning to school with increased social/emotional or mental health needs. They are knowledgeable of trauma and whole-child approaches to education.
What the set will accomplish.
Upon formation, the SET will need to draw on what is significant to their specific school and community to establish a purpose for their work. The SET will then be able to use these principles to prioritize actions and outcomes before creating a plan to embark on this work.
Establish guiding principles of the SET. Name core school and community values prior to thinking about objectives to anchor the work. Reflecting on what makes their diverse learner population unique will help the team to target the most relevant outcomes. Guiding principles should be agreed upon, shared beliefs which will be used to guide all work of the team and its members.
“Need an example? Below are a few guiding principles that drive the work of the DLC.We believe all students can learn. We believe all students deserve equitable access to education. We believe our diverse learners are valuable members of our school communities. We believe that parents and families are important voices in the educational planning process. ”
In thinking about guiding principles to adopt, the school’s mission and/or vision statement are valuable resources. The SET should take time to review these statements before and during their discussion of guiding principles. Referring to these beliefs will help recenter the work as it progresses.
In the re-entry toolkit, you will find space to name your guiding principles and reflect on your students.
Outline essential SET outcomes. Specify what the SET hopes to accomplish to give the team concrete direction for future action. The overarching objective of the SET is to plan for the successful re-entry of diverse learners. Each SET team will need to determine what this entails for their specific situation.
Use the following questions to discuss possible outcomes that will facilitate equitable re-entry. Take notes and then prioritize outcomes by most important, most time sensitive, etc.
Broad Outcomes - Discussion Prompts:
What do we want for our students with disabilities and English Learners?
How will our school be responsive to the unique needs of diverse learners?
What is most critical for students with disabilities and English Learners to be successful?
The broad outcomes the SET team comes up with can be used to identify areas of action that the team needs to more deeply consider, as well as more targeted outcomes.
Targeted Outcomes - Suggested Focus Areas:
Provision of Services
Staffing and Roles
Budget and Funding
Family Communication and Engagement
Behavior Support and Social/Emotional Learning
“Need some examples?
[Focus Area] → [Targeted Outcome]Provision of Services → Team develops school-wide service map. Budget and Funding → Team develops a proposal that recognizes additional funding + funding shifts needed to provide services.”
In the reentry toolkit, you will find space to record your team’s broad and targeted outcomes. You will also find additional suggestions to help your team decide upon the most relevant outcomes.
What the SET will need to get started.
Teams can take certain steps during the early stages that position them for success in the long-run. The SET should take time to work through:
the logistics of their work,
how their work fits within larger re-entry planning, and
obstacles they may encounter.
Logistics
Address logistics of how the team will function together in order to effectively plan for reentry to be more productive. Logistics may include: when the team will meet (date/time), how often the team will meet, how the team will meet (medium), how long meetings will run, meeting agendas, expectations/ roles of team members, and expectations for work between meetings, etc.
Opportunities
The work of the SET is meant to be done in conjunction with other planning teams. Develop an understanding of where this team fits within the greater planning landscape of their school + district. Form plans for cross-collaboration and ways to deepen advocacy for diverse learners across school planning teams.
Further, consider connecting with teams from other schools to build better plans while simultaneously leveraging each other’s time and energy. If you would like to connect with a diverse learner-focused community of practice, please contact the DLC.
Obstacles
SET teams should take time to brainstorm potential obstacles to their planning efforts. For each obstacle identified, brainstorm proactive strategies to eliminate or mitigate the impact to the team’s outcomes. Any tools and/or resources that are needed to plan effectively can be gathered ahead of time. Select resources are linked at the bottom of this page as well as additional resources on the DLC’s Reentry Home.
In the reentry toolkit, you will find space to record the details of what your team needs to get started.
Next Steps & Resources
QUESTION: What outcomes will best facilitate equitable reentry for your diverse learner population?
Who will pioneer the actions necessary to achieve these outcomes - who will be a part of your SET?
ACTION: Convene a team that will focus specifically on the successful reentry of diverse learners. Identify the outcomes for the work of this team.
TOOLKIT: See here for tools to get started!
RESOURCES: Check out these links for more details related to convening a planning team.