Educating All Learners Alliance

5 Minutes with the CEEDAR Center

In today’s episode, we spoke with Dr. Erica McCray, the Co-Director of The CEEDAR Center. ​​CEEDAR stands for “Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform.” The CEEDAR Center at The University of Florida is a national technical assistance center dedicated to supporting states in their efforts to develop teachers and leaders who can successfully prepare students with disabilities to achieve college and career ready standards. Through extensive research and policy reform, CEEDAR ensures that students with disabilities are served through multi-tiered systems of support by highly qualified educators and leaders. Learn more about the resources and tools they have to support teacher and leader development, as well as some of their upcoming events in this week’s episode. 
 
Mentioned People/Resources:

• CEEDAR Center's website: https://ceedar.education.ufl.edu/
• EALA's website: www.educatingalllearners.org
• Upcoming Webinars:
  • Overview of the national issues that impact principalship (Jan. 26) - http://bit.ly/3njNOM7
  • Race and Equity in Special Education (Jan. 28) - http://ow.ly/vbIn50Hp5Gc

Understanding Our Intersectional and Unique Identities

After NCLD led the first all partner convening for the Educating All Learners Alliance in May 2021, focused on intersectional identities for students with disabilities, they thought it was important to bring partners together with both expertise and passion on this topic to create a resource for educators to use in their daily work. What was developed is something we all might have loved to have in our classrooms to remind students to celebrate their own and one another’s unique identities. Tune in to this week's episode where NCLD, Trajectory of Hope, and the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence join us to share about this incredible resource.

 

Mentioned Resources:

• Unique Identities facilitation guide and posters: https://educatingalllearners.org/our-unique-identities-facilitation-guide-posters/

Top Resources from November 2021 + SEL Recommendations

In this week's episode, the EALA content team will highlight the top resources from our resource library in November 2021! They also provided recommended resources in relation to Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), as well as intersectionality. These tips will help educators deepen their understanding on embracing both their students' unique identities and their own, as well as assist them in facilitating such necessary discussions.  

 

Mentioned Resources:

• Find links to all the mentioned resources here: November 2021 - Top EALA Resources &SEL

5 Minutes with Outschool.org

In today's 5 Minutes With episode, we're joined by the non-profit arm of Outschool, Outschool.org. Launched in March 2020, Outschool.org’s mission is to provide access to a global community of teachers and learners for fun and social learning experiences. Through partnerships with families, schools, and community organizations, families gain access to opportunities for interest-based, personalized learning that give kids the ability to learn what they love and love what they are learning as they get back on track and move forward from the pandemic. Learn more about new opportunities they have in this week's episode.

 

Mentioned resources:

• Request for Proposals (RFP) from Outschool (DUE DECEMBER 17, 2021): https://outschool.org/grant-opportunities

How State-Level Mask Policy Prohibitions Impact Students with Disabilities

In this podcast, attorneys Wendy Tucker and Paul O’Neill from the Center for Learner Equity describe the current legal landscape in 10 states with state-level prohibitions against mask requirements in schools. They discuss the complaints filed in each state, including lawsuits filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act by families of students with disabilities. They also examine the legal maneuvering occurring and the actions being taken by the local parties and the United States Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights. The conversation includes discussing what school leaders and teachers in these states can do as the legal battles continue.

 

Read the full case study here: https://educatingalllearners.org/case-studies/how-state-level-mask-policy-prohibitions-impact-students-with-disabilities/

Connecting Youth Development with SEL: How City Years’ Work Serves Students

We are excited to share today's episode, where we spoke with Stephanie Wu from City Year! Stephanie is City Year's Senior Vice President and Chief Impact Officer. City Year was established in Boston more than three decades ago as a youth service and leadership development organization. They employ AmeriCorps members, who serve full-time in 320 public schools across the country, partnering with classroom teachers. In today's discussion, we were able to discuss the recent change of the AmeriCorps members being referred to as success coaches, and the incredible impact that the success coaches at City Year have had on the students they serve.

Mentioned Resources:

• City Year’s website: https://www.cityyear.org/about/
• Evidence of City Year’s impact: https://www.cityyear.org/impact/evidence-of-impact/
• Overview document of Everybody Graduates Center 2020 study: https://www.cityyear.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/EGC_overview_FY20_05.20.pdf 
• Blog that ties together the findings of two case studies conducted during COVID-19.
• Essay by Steph Wu and Gil Noam first published in Psychology Today about how to support the mental health and well-being of both students and adults in schools during and after the pandemic.
• Recent story about why our organization is avoiding the term “learning loss” as we support students during and after COVID-19--the essay underscores our asset-based approach.
• Info on City Year alumni, more than half of whom currently work in the education sector.

More information on the Educating All Learners Alliance:

Website: www.educatingalllearners.org

Twitter: @educateall_org

YouTube: Educating All Learners

Prioritizing What Works (and Matters Most!)

We don't have many certainties these days, but we do know one thing for sure: We cannot fully predict how the ongoing evolution of the COVID pandemic will impact how we educate students. As the 2021/2022 school year quickly begins - and in many places has already launched, we are already seeing outbreaks, and school wide quarantines and closures. 

We encourage districts and schools to leverage the key resources mentioned within this episode to support their planning and preparedness for school year 2021-2022 and beyond.

 

More information on the Educating All Learners Alliance:

Website: www.educatingalllearners.org

Twitter: @educateall_org

YouTube: Educating All Learners

5 Minutes with Miami Lighthouse Academy

For today’s episode, we spoke with Liana De Angelis, the Director of Miami Lighthouse Academy. The Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired is a nonprofit organization for blind individuals of all ages. One of their departments is the Miami Lighthouse Academy. The academy maintains a full inclusion program where 50% of students in their classrooms are blind and visually impaired and the other 50% are sighted role models. Throughout this episode we go over a recent case study that EALA collaboratively created with Miami Lighthouse Academy, as well as a multi-year long study that the school has participated in and what outcomes will result from this research.

 

Mentioned People/Resources:

• Miami Lighthouse Academy: https://www.miamilighthouse.org/MiamiLighthouseAcademy.asp
• Latest EALA case study with Miami Lighthouse: https://educatingalllearners.org/case-studies/miami-lighthouse-how-one-school-innovated-on-their-inclusion-model-for-early-learners-during-covid19-for-lasting-change/
• The Active Learner Journal: http://miamilighthouse.org/Docs/HSActiveLearner_2019ArticleOnly.pdf

 

More information on the Educating All Learners Alliance:

Website: www.educatingalllearners.org

Twitter: @educateall_org

YouTube: Educating All Learners

Spotlight with CNN Hero David Flink

For today’s episode, we were joined by Eye to Eye’s Chief Empowerment Officer, David Flink. David has been recently named a CNN Hero. CNN Heroes are categorized as everyday people doing extraordinary things to change the world. David has had an incredible journey of experiencing a learning disability himself, and using that to help and connect with other students, ever since he was 18 years old. It was his initial step to reach out and connect with others that started the idea for Eye to Eye. Within this episode he addressed questions such as: what does being the Chief Empowerment Officer of Eye to Eye mean to you and what do you see as some of the next steps in education for students with disabilities?

 

Mentioned People/Resources:

• CNN Hero Announcement: https://eyetoeyenational.org/press/eye-to-eye-chief-empowerment-officer-david-flink-named-cnn-hero
• Information on Eye to Eye: https://eyetoeyenational.org

More information on the Educating All Learners Alliance:

• Website: www.educatingalllearners.org
• Twitter: @educateall_org
• YouTube: Educating All Learners

Identity and Self Determination with Dr. Temple Lovelace

This podcast episode features Dr. Temple Lovelace and an incredible program she has worked on, called Girlhood Rising. Dr. Lovelace is an Associate Professor of Special Education at Duquesne University. In her work with Girlhood Rising, Dr. Lovelace noticed the erasure of many young girls’ childhoods because of the pressure to mature or take on additional responsibility, due to various circumstances and societal influence. As she started this work, she asked a few questions: How can I prevent erasure of girls’ childhoods and how do we allow girls to understand their own abilities and learn about themselves? Tune in to the episode to learn about the powerful impact Girlhood Rising has had on many students and the work to come from the project.

 

Mentioned People/Resources:

• Girlhood Rising website: https://www.equityxinnovation.com/girlhood-rising/
• Helpful Living Magazine article: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DPejonIrsaOepq4RIHBGtGHQjeG4g-Ec/view?usp=sharing

More information on the Educating All Learners Alliance:

• Website: www.educatingalllearners.org
• Twitter: @educateall_org
• YouTube: Educating All Learners