In the span of one week, I received over 12 separate emails from various organizations all describing the same issue. Namely, students who qualify for special education haven’t received their services or, if they did, they did not receive all of them per their Individual Education Programs (IEP) and/or by appropriately credentialed educators. This is a failure legally, ethically, and programmatically. The reasons include the aftermath of the pandemic, lack of qualified teachers, and low morale. But there is a way forward.
These factors, coupled with the remaining federal ESSER-ARP funds, present a unique opportunity to rethink what it means to educate ALL students and especially students furthest away from opportunity, including students with disabilities and students learning English as their second language.
Here are two strategic ways district/school leaders can leverage the practices and braid their remaining rescue funds to create a sustainable path forward—right now.
Strategic Actions
- Implement the Double Helix System of Support with fidelity to create safe and engaging learning environments for all students. Related service providers (i.e., social workers, counselors, intervention specialists, including Title I) can co-design and co-deliver effective instruction that improves school culture and provides student academic supports in real time—inside the classroom.
- Implement a collaborative team structure across grade levels with scheduled time to meet within the school day. Each collaboration team would engage in a cycle of inquiry aligned to these four corners of teaching and learning:
- Identify what students need to learn per unit of instruction.
- Analyze formative student assessments to determine if students have met the success criteria.
- Identify, implement, and monitor effective instructional strategies for students who haven’t achieved mastery yet.
- Identify, implement, and monitor scaffolded rigor strategies for students who have already mastered the content.
Double Helix System of Support
Think about the current response system where the tringle is displayed like this Δ or like this ∇. Regardless of where the tip points, the assumption is the process funnels one way toward the tip. However, this type of support structure is insufficient for describing how schools can improve outcomes for students because it is based on the concept of linear directionality.
Instead, the Double Helix represents a comprehensive system where each strand serves as the complementary backbone of the other, creating a complete structure. The elements are nondirectional, and yet absolutely dependent upon the whole, creating a cohesive system. In other words, when the structural conditions are right—everyone in the system thrives. Students along the full continuum of learning, for example, can engage with ambitious content, supported by real-time differentiated instruction and scaffolded supports, and teachers have the right data to take actionable next steps (Figure 1).
The elements of the Double Helix System of Support © are intentionally designed to achieve a comprehensive approach to the very real concerns of supporting all students including those furthest away from meeting the established academic and social emotional dimensions of learning and accountability. The Double Helix is designed to serve as the foundation for the overall school improvement process because it places students at the center of every point along the decision-making\ process. This means there are high expectations of the educational, financial, and human resources to intentionally align and allocate all recourses in a coordinated and aligned manner within and across the organization and inside every classroom. This strength-based approach can meet the needs of all students, including those with complex needs including disability. Braided use of funds can build the capacity for deep change within and across the organization. This will mitigate the deep funding cliff and staff reductions that are on the horizon.
Collaboration Over Isolation
The most powerful way to improve outcomes for students is through the adults in the system. So when educators work together in collaborative teams, shared accountability takes root, resources of all kinds are aligned, and students win.
There are not enough hours in the day or weeks in the year to teach all the standards, so identifying those standards that have power and stretch to go the distance is critical. Power and stretch means identifying the standards that are foundational for scaffolding to higher and more complex skills that students will need for the next unit of instruction, across content areas, and that inform vertical alignment. For example, what English Language Arts standard(s) are required to improve comprehension and written expression of nonfiction text for the third–fifth grade band? This example demonstrates the standard(s) for reading nonfiction text and responding to a persuasive writing prompt requires the student to cite evidence to justify their position for Grades 3-5.
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With this clarity, collaborative teams can intentionally plan, implement, assess, and scaffold strategies that ensure mastery. This collective practice is supported through the team meeting structure, and includes regular and special educators, and related service providers a rotating cycle so they can lend their expertise. Then the team can use formative assessments to analyze who got it and at what level of rigor, and what scaffolded supports need to be provided with precision to close gaps and/or extend learning.
Conclusion
These two strategic actions have the power to dismantle siloes, mitigate the false positives of disability created from the pandemic, and provide a sustainable pathway for real improvement. Right now, it’s time to think deeply about investing in a select number of high-leverage strategies that will ensure ambitious students outcomes well after the federal ESSER-ARP funds go away. The benefits will be educators being supported, parent concerns being addressed, and school leader having the tools to guarantee improvement.
To learn more about the Double Helix or Collaboration Teams, please visit www.edpolicyconsulting.com or by ordering my latest book, Radically Excellent School Improvement. You can also contact me directly at Kate@edpolicyconsulting.com for more information or to schedule a meeting.
