Educating All Learners Alliance

5 Minutes with Pivot Learning on Intervention

For today’s episode we’re joined by Arun Ramanathan, who is the CEO of Pivot Learning. At Pivot Learning, they serve educators and leaders in high-need school districts to ensure academic rigor for all students through support for great teaching, proactive intervention, and aligned district systems – including  curriculum implementation and reform for special education. Arun shared his thoughts on how schools and districts can transform the learning environment for students, including interventions.

 

Pivot Learning's website: pivotlearning.org

 

More information on the Educating All Learners Alliance:

Website: www.educatingalllearners.org

Twitter: @educateall_org

YouTube: Educating All Learners

Learning Loss vs Schooling Loss with Kelly Niccolls

This podcast episode features Kelly Niccols. Kelly has been an educator for fourteen years. She began her career teaching in Southern California and has helped schools and systems reimagine teaching and learning, as well as serving as a school administrator. She is currently a Deeper Learning Equity Fellow and member of the Getting Smart Advisory Board, driven by the relentless belief in the possibility of social justice within education systems. Kelly focuses her education leadership on re-imagining structures for teaching and learning in order to empower all students for the future. After writing an article about the concept of ‘schooling loss’ we had her join us to discuss the why behind this phrasing and its potential impact on students.

 

Mentioned People/Resources:

• Kelly Niccolls’ article about schooling loss: https://www.gettingsmart.com/2021/01/getting-clearer-schooling-loss-not-learning-loss/
• Getting Smart’s website: https://www.gettingsmart.com
• Promising Practices to Accelerate Learning for Students with Disabilities During COVID-19 and Beyond: https://www.ncld.org/reports-studies/promising-practices-to-accelerate-learning-for-students-with-disabilities-during-covid-19-and-beyond/

 

More information on the Educating All Learners Alliance:

Website: www.educatingalllearners.org

Twitter: @educateall_org

YouTube: Educating All Learners

5 Minutes with SELF

This podcast episode features 5 minutes with SELF. SELF is an organization that empowers schools to be welcoming and effective communities for ALL students by developing the capacity of stakeholders through coaching, guidance in systems development, and collaborative trainings. Throughout the 5 minute episode, we spoke with SELF’s Executive Director, Aqua Stovall, and she shared about their Special Education Leader Fellowship, which was created to meet the need for high-quality special educational programming in schools. The Fellowship program develops special education and RTI leaders, aspiring leaders, and their principals to create high-impact programs for students with learning exceptionalities. These programs serve 3200 students across 45 schools. Check out their website for more information!

 

Mentioned People/Resources:

SELF’s website: https://www.selfnola.org

 

More information on the Educating All Learners Alliance:

Website: www.educatingalllearners.org

Twitter: @educateall_org

YouTube: Educating All Learners

Building Empathy for All Learners with Eye to Eye

On today's episode, we're joined by Robby Brice and David Badillo from one of EALA’s partner organizations, Eye to Eye. Emily Art. Eye to Eye’s mission is to improve the life of every young person with learning differences like learning disabilities (LD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Through their programs, they train high school and college students with learning differences, including dyslexia and ADHD, to mentor similarly-identified middle school students.

 

Mentioned People/Resources:

• Eye to Eye’s website: https://eyetoeyenational.org
• Learning Differently 101: https://eyetoeyenational.org/assets/downloads/One-Sheet-Educators.pdf
• CNN video on Eye to Eye’s Founder, David Flink: https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/18/us/learning-disabilities-education-dyslexia-adhd-mentorship-cnnheroes/index.html

 

More information on the Educating All Learners Alliance:

Website: www.educatingalllearners.org

Twitter: @educateall_org

YouTube: Educating All Learners

Discussing Bias in Education Research with Saro Mohammed

Today’s podcast episode features Sarojani Mohammed, the founder of Ed Research Works. Saro fights the injustice of knowledge-hoarding by making deep, meaningful connections between research and practice to expand equal access to educational opportunities, and improve outcomes, for all learners. We had the opportunity to highlight some of the background information on education research by discussing questions like - What should we ask for from research about students with disabilities and what is an example of how bias can transform education research?

Mentioned People/Resources:

Sarojani Mohammed at Ed Research Works: https://www.edresearchworks.com

Follow Ed Research Works on Twitter: https://twitter.com/edresearchworks

Sarojani Mohammed’s personal website: www.sarojani.com

 

Website: www.educatingalllearners.org

Twitter: @educateall_org

YouTube: Educating All Learners

5 Minutes with Relay Graduate School of Education

On today's episode, we're joined by Emily Art. Emily is the Dean of Special Education at Relay Graduate School of Education. Throughout the 5 minutes, we took a deep dive into Relay’s Teaching Exceptional Learners (TEL) programs and discussed the various populations who participate in the program. The programs include: a master’s program for current special educators seeking their initial certification and an advanced certificate program for experienced general educators who are interested in building their skills around working with students with disabilities. These programs have been operating for 6 years and more than 1800 students have attended these two programs across 10 cities.

 

Mentioned People/Resources:

• Relay’s website: https://www.relay.edu/programs/master-arts-teaching#program-options'
• Kyler Lofton, Nadine Mitchell, Maxine Townsend, faculty in the TEL program in NYC, planned and executed Professional Learning Communities during the first 15 minutes of class each week. Giving graduate students the opportunity to connect and engage in shared problem solving as they navigate distance learning together.
• Jill Ordynans and colleagues coordinated two Remote Learning Symposia where alumni and current graduate students presented to one another about best practices they were generating in the shift to distance learning.
• Lauren LeBental, a TEL Dean in NYC, led the Assessment Working group to examine the limitations of Relay’s existing assessment system and to ensure that they are incorporating elements of Universal Design for Learning into our assessment design. Here are the agenda notes from the working group.

Website: www.educatingalllearners.org

Twitter: @educateall_org

YouTube: Educating All Learners

Pathways to Literacy and Community with AIM Institute

Dawn Brookhart, Associate Director of AIM Institute for Learning and Research, joined us on our latest podcast episode to discuss AIM Institute’s work towards supporting students who are struggling to learn to read. We asked her about AIM Pathways and the many courses available for educators, and school leadership, to learn about professional development in the space. There are many FREE resources available on their site (linked below), in addition to some upcoming events that educators and researchers can learn practical skills and tips from, to improve their classrooms and students learning retention.

 

Mentioned Resources:

• AIM Pathways: https://institute.aimpa.org/aim-pathways
• AIM Pathways to Practice Series: https://institute.aimpa.org/resources/pathways-to-practice
• AIM’s Virtual Teaching Techniques Focused on the Language Comprehension Upper Strands of Dr. Hollis Scarborough's Reading Rope: https://institute.aimpa.org/resources/virtual-teaching-techniques-webinar-series
• AIM’s Research to Practice Symposium: https://institute.aimpa.org/programs-research/research-to-practice-symposium
• AIM Access to the Experts Speaker Series: https://institute.aimpa.org/professional-training/access-to-experts-series

 

Website: www.educatingalllearners.org

Twitter: @educateall_org

YouTube: Educating All Learners

5 Minutes with Data Quality Campaign on Assessments

On today's episode, we are joined by Jennifer Bell-Ellwanger, the President and CEO of the Data Quality Campaign (DQC). Jennifer answered a few questions we had on summative assessments, including if and how schools should administer them and how these assessments can affect learning outcomes. She emphasized the importance of providing students, teachers, and families with information on students' performance quickly. As we’ve learned from the past year, students may experience learning loss and if it’s not assessed, we may not have an accurate image of just how much, and wouldn’t be able to act. The goal is positive learning outcomes for all students.

Mentioned Resources:

DQC Blog post: https://dataqualitycampaign.org/kitchen-tables-week-of-december-21/

 

Education Post blog:

https://educationpost.org/without-data-we-cant-fight-for-our-students-futures/?utm_source=brightbeam+Master+List&utm_campaign=6a668191b3-hatc_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6bb7d2d2db-6a668191b3-266735857

 

Op-ed in The 74:

https://www.the74million.org/article/analysis-spring-exams-are-the-best-shot-state-leaders-have-at-knowing-whats-happening-with-their-students/

 

Coalition letter to Secretary Nominee Cardona on assessments: https://edtrust.org/press-release/joint-letter-to-dr-miguel-cardona-urging-rejection-of-waivers-to-annual-state-wide-assessment-requirements-for-the-2020-21-school-year/

 

Recent addition of monthly assessment news coverage:

https://dataqualitycampaign.org/assessment-update-iv-using-data-to-support-students-during-covid-19-recovery/

Find the transcript of this episode in the Educating All Learners Alliance resource library: linked here

 

Website: www.educatingalllearners.org

Twitter: @educateall_org

YouTube: Educating All Learners

To FERPA...and Beyond! Digital Safety in the Classrooms of Today

On today's episode, we're joined by Elizabeth Laird from the Center for Democracy and Technology(CDT) and Amanda Morin from Understood.org. We discussed recent research that CDT conducted, in addition to the major findings. Amanda shared Understood’s perspective on student and teacher privacy, for all educators. Our co-hosts shared some of the the potential risks that come from not prioritizing FERPA and other student privacy measures and how privacy impacts the relationships and trust with teachers/school admin.

 

Mentioned Resources:

1. CDT’s research: here + parent’s guide to privacy
2. Understood + Colorin Colorado: Privacy concerns about distance learning
3. Distance learning on Understood

 

Website: www.educatingalllearners.org

Twitter: @educateall_org

YouTube: Educating All Learners

5 Minutes with NCSECS on FAPE in the Virtual Environment

Today we have a new 5 minutes with episode on the FAPE tool, created by NCSECS and Diverse Learners Cooperative. Megan Ohlssen from NCSECS joined us to discuss the tool their created, which aims to show educators and parents that, despite the ongoing challenges of COVID-19, the right to a free appropriate public education (FAPE) for students with disabilities remains in place. Here is their guide, which offers a decision-making model that aims to balance individual student needs within a virtual learning context, as well as a range of exemplars showing how this model can be applied.

 

Mentioned Resources:

FAPE Tool: https://www.ncsecs.org/resource/ensuring-fape-for-students-with-disabilities-during-covid-1/

 

Website: www.educatingalllearners.org

Twitter: @educateall_org

YouTube: Educating All Learners