Inclusion in Remote Learning: It Isn’t One-Size-Fits-All

The case-by-case approach extends to the design of our special education program during distance learning. Using the virtual environment, we’ve maintained strong, consistent contact with the parents of students with disabilities. We check in on their home learning context, find out what they need, and figure out how we can help. Physical space limitations and other factors in home environments—such as lack of access to peers—have often made it impossible to work toward the goals in our students’ IEPs. So instead, we provide individualized programming for our students in partnership with parents and based on their feedback.

The feedback we’ve gotten from our parents has been varied, and it changes all the time. As parents get to know their children as learners, some have chosen to focus only on certain targeted goals of the highest priority to them; we’ve come up with many creative ways for parents to work toward prioritized goals at home. Others are seeking lots of resources and activities from different service providers and specialists, so we provide that. Often, what a family wanted two weeks ago is not what they want now, so we work with them to make sure the individual programming for their child is still meeting their needs. Each week, our education specialists meet with families to discuss student progress, offer suggestions and guidance, and support parents and caregivers as they do their best to facilitate learning and progress with their children at home. We incorporate what we’re learning into the learning activities we create and select, remaining responsive to the needs of all students and families in our community.

We’ve found that this case-by-case, individualized approach toward students with disabilities has a lot of benefits. Teachers have had to be strategic in curating the online apps and activities. I think it has elevated teachers’ understanding of what individual students need at different times. Learning how to use technology more strategically has been a major positive takeaway from this experience.

We’ve also gained a lot of insight into our English language learners program. We have a large population of Spanish-speakers in our school community. For many of them, this pandemic has been a barrier to engaging in school at all. So much of virtual learning is based on reading and writing, for both the students and the parents. Although we work hard to ensure that information is provided in Spanish to parents who need it, virtual learning still presents a challenge. For example, one of our parents had no idea if her child was using a math game application assigned by our teachers or if he was just playing video games. Because our school staff has remained in close communication with each family, we were able to identify and address a potential barrier to learning by speaking directly with the parent about the activities and assignments (including games!) her child was doing at home.

As we look toward the reopening of our school in the coming months, we’re thinking hard about how we want to change things going forward. Our Spanish-speaking staff, many of whom were ELLs from the community themselves, have emphasized the importance of prioritizing the creation of a safe space for parents of ELLs to learn English as well. Parents have voiced their desire for “culture days” where parents of different backgrounds can bring in food and teach the kids about their culture, celebrating what makes each family unique. We have also resolved to ensure that there are Spanish-speaking parents in leadership positions in the parent groups at our school, including the TLC Community Association (PTA), School Site Council, and Room Parent representatives. Our goal is to foster an engaged community among the families, just as we foster community for the students.

We’ve also learned that it’s more important than ever for us to find ways to communicate the end goal of ELL programs to parents of ELLs—and the importance of taking steps now to ensure that all students have the opportunity to achieve at school and pursue higher education someday. The need to provide school in a distance learning format has highlighted parents as essential partners in the education of our students, and we intend to keep this alive moving forward. We were already planning to do workshops on the ELL process and the goals of English acquisition for all students before the pandemic, but the current situation has underscored the importance even more. This will benefit our school and our learning community far into the future.