Educational Recovery Now

Necessary Components of an Educational Recovery Plan

As LAUSD develops its plan, we suggest the following as necessary components of its plan:

• Learn from other district's best practices.

  There is a lot to learn from school districts across the country that have already reopened and launched recovery efforts. One resource for LAUSD to use is the framework for recovery and reopening developed by the researchers and expert panelists at University of Washington’s Center for Reinventing Public Education (CRPE). This framework covers a broad set of promising practices from districts across the country, from clear and inclusive communications to tailoring educational services for high-need students.

• Prioritize healing, mental health, and connectedness.

  Our students have been through a lot over the last year and it is critical that the district prioritizes their emotional well-being when developing its recovery plan. LAUSD should consider a universal screening system for students upon their return to school so the district can understand the social, emotional and mental health needs of its students. This understanding is necessary to provide students with the appropriate support.

• Implement a bold learning plan that differentiates for student's needs.

  LAUSD has already indicated that it is exploring extending the school year next year and investing heavily to provide additional support to students, particularly at the elementary school level through its Primary Promise program. In addition to these important interventions, we hope the district will also consider a variety of important strategies detailed later in the report, including identifying where students are academically by the beginning of the 2021-22 school year through assessments, grades and engagement data; establishing key academic and social-emotional learning goals for all; and sharing those data and plans with the public.

• Focus on learning acceleration rather than traditional remediation.

  Building up foundational skills and helping students master past concepts is important and typical in remediation, which focuses on filling learning gaps. But researchers and practitioners are finding that a more effective approach is focusing on ways to prepare students for success at their grade-level.

• Prioritize live time with teachers.

  Research shows that synchronous learning time with teachers is what students need most to build their academic and social-emotional skills. The answer is more time with teachers and that time needs to be structured appropriately, especially for early learners, so any time spent on synchronous platforms like Zoom is productive and interactive for both teachers and students.

• Incorporate expanded learning time outside of the classroom.

  Beyond time with teachers, students need one-on-one support to catch up or sustain academic progress especially when schools are seeking to close learning gaps for large numbers of students. Access to additional academic opportunities that extend the amount of time students have with trained adults can be very effective in closing learning gaps, especially when those strategies are grounded in evidence-based approaches.

• Forge a new and deeper partnership with families.

  The transition to online learning in the home evolved an already essential partnership between parents and schools. During distance learning, parents and caregivers have become co-educators with teachers as they often guide their children through Zoom lessons and support them during asynchronous learning time. As LAUSD develops its comprehensive recovery plan, it should build off the foundation of deeper collaboration with parents that was facilitated over the last year to further strengthen and formalize its partnership with families.

• Leverage external partners to provide additional services to our highest need students. 

  Nonprofit organizations throughout Los Angeles provide a wide array of services to students, including after-school and summer programs, tutoring, college and career access guidance, mental health and social-emotional support, opportunities to engage in the arts, STEM, advocacy, and other areas in addition to training and advocacy for families. We believe a coordinated effort between LAUSD, nonprofits, philanthropy, the City of LA and other cities within LAUSD will lead to the strongest possible education recovery outcome for our children.

• Make sure all students are connected. 

  Low-income families in cyber-redlined communities are burdened with internet dropping, bandwidth for multi-student homes is insufficient, and the expense of the internet is an insuperable barrier for many. Broadband internet for low-income families who are without reliable and quality internet access is essential. Consider how LAUSD can scale the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools’ broadband pilot or replicate Chicago Connected. LAUSD can partner with philanthropy and nonprofits today to provide broadband internet to those who need it most.