Coronavirus crisis: Portland finds remote teaching, learning harder than expected

The Portland Public Schools has reset its expectations for teachers and students because remote education is proving difficult and some students are still not connecting. 

“Of great concern to me is the sense that this is not sustainable,” Superintendent Xavier Botana told the School Board in a remote meeting March 31. “Our folks are tired. They’re working around the clock for going on three weeks now with three more weeks to come.” 

In response to feedback from teachers, students and families, the board was told the administration has reassessed and set new goals for remote learning. 

The first priority, according to Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning Melea Nalli, is for each student to maintain a sense of connection to caring adults. But some students may still not be set up with the technology they need to connect. 

Seventh- and eighth-graders and high school students already had school-issued devices before schools were closed to accomplish social distancing. The schools conducted a survey to find out how many students did not have a way to work online at home, and have since distributed more than 1,050 devices to elementary and sixth-grade students, and they have also been making hotspots available to the approximately 400 families that did not have internet access at home. 

Teachers, the social work team, the multilingual team, and administrators have also been identifying which students have not connected with their teachers remotely and trying to find out why. 

Some of these students, despite having equipment, still cannot access their online lessons.

Carlos Gomez, director of language development, said lack of familiarity with online learning platforms is a barrier for some immigrant families because parents can’t assist their children. The Multilingual Center team and ESL teachers have been distributing printed learning packets designed for English learning to those students.

Getting students online is only one step toward the goal of maintaining a caring connection. The social work team has provided social-emotional lessons that can be completed online and guidance for teachers on trauma-sensitive approaches to remote learning. Social-emotional learning includes such things as understanding and managing emotions, setting positive goals, and maintaining positive relationships. 

Expectations for student learning have also been adjusted as students and teachers adapt to the new format. Maintaining mastery of the standards already taught is now the priority, and advancing new learning will be done when teachers determine the students are ready. 

Nalli said the next goal is to support teachers as they rapidly transition to a new way of teaching. 

“This is really, really hard,” she said. “It’s hard to change the way you do business immediately. It’s hard to have the emotional energy to show up for your students and (in) the ways that they need. It’s hard to juggle working while you’re having your own kids or parents or whoever it is, or whatever responsibilities you have at home.” 

To reduce the workload and give teachers more time to focus on connecting with students, administrators are providing standard lesson plans for each elementary grade that teachers may use instead of developing their own. They are also encouraging sharing and collaboration of lessons and learning materials among teachers through the Google Classroom platform. 

To help manage stress levels, all teachers also now have free access to the Headspace meditation and mindfulness smartphone app.  

The School Department has also set a goal to mitigate the widening achievement gap that remote learning may create for disadvantaged students. Gomez said ESL teachers, parent and community specialists, language acquisition and English Learner educational technicians have been “Herculean” in their efforts to ensure they are connecting with immigrant and English language learner students and their families. 

He said they are finding that in immigrant families, concerns about food security, job security and meeting basic needs are taking precedence over academic learning. 

To address food security issues, Botana said the schools are distributing between 500 and 1,000 meals a day, following safety protocols developed by the head nurse and reviewed by the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. That compares with the 3,000 meals served when school is in session.

Botana said staff will be conducting a survey to ensure that those who need meals know how to access them, or will find out if they need the meals delivered closer to their homes. He said an extra meal is now included on Friday for students to have on the weekend. 

District social workers are also identifying homeless students and finding out if they are connecting to their classes online. 

For special education students, educators have started delivering individualized instruction through the Google Classroom and Classroom Dojo platforms, and have coordinated with teachers to make accommodations in their lessons. However, individual education plans are not being met to their full extent. 

“We realize that remote learning won’t meet the needs of all of our students,” Deborah Mullis, director of student support services, said. 

Mullis said her department is planning a more robust summer school or extended school-year services for special education students and is working on developing teletherapy plans. 

In the spirit of simplifying, the schools have also dropped efforts to capture data on student participation in the attendance-taking process and is back to recording attendance as simply present or absent.  

In light of the challenges, Superintendent Botana also told the board he has discussed the possibility of cancelling the upcoming April 20-24 recess. But he said he is not inclined to do so given everyone’s need for a break.