Continuity of Learning During COVID-19 Resource Database

This document is designed to guide the Program Leadership Team around considerations for supporting children, families, and staff as they return to the program. The guidance includes Pyramid Model practices you know and encourages you to think about those strategies from a trauma-informed perspective.

The Unified Young readers Club is a great inclusive activity for a younger audience and accompanies Special Olympics Young Athletes play with books and study guides that support teachers as they address such topics as inclusion, awareness, friendship, bullying, and acceptance to audiences of both students with and without intellectual disabilities. Each book has a theme that relates to multiple state academic standards, and aligns with the precepts of positive school climate initiatives.

The purpose of Inclusion Tiles is to support understanding of the true meaning of diversity and meaningful inclusion. Meaningful inclusion is hard to put into words and action, and these tiles help to start the conversation and support people of all ages along their inclusion journey.

STEP, the Parent Training and Information Center in Tennessee released an easy-to-use Return to School Planning Guide to help families prepare for how their children with disabilities will receive the services and supports outlined in their IEPs. A Spanish version of the guide can also be found on the STEP website.

These videos illustrate how parents and grandparents can implement the NCII reading and mathematics sample lessons to provide additional practice opportunities. In addition to the video examples, a tip sheet is available to help parents implement the lessons.

This video and tip sheets provide an example and strategies for how educators can implement the NCII reading and mathematics sample lessons through virtual learning. The video illustrates a sample lesson using explicit instruction principles being delivered by an educator virtually and the tip sheets provide considerations for educators delivering instruction and how they can collaborate with families to provide additional practice opportunities using the sample lessons.

This Voices from the Field video shares the experiences of four teachers in the Exceptional Children department in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools as they adjusted to delivering instruction during COVID-19 restrictions. They discuss the importance of communicating with families, how they have adapted virtual instruction and used instructional materials, their thoughts for continuing efforts in fall 2020, and their advice for other teachers.

This resource was developed by a coalition of projects that are funded by the Office of Special Education Programs in response to requests from state and local educational agencies and parents about how to hold and participate in virtual individualized education program (IEP) meetings. While intended to meet a need during the COVID-19 pandemic, the content is designed to have broader applications.

NCSI presented a multi-part webinar series sharing best practices for state special education leaders to make the best use of available resources during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. NCSI and invited experts shared information to help state leadership teams make informed decisions amid current circumstances, ensuring leaders are poised to continue high-quality educational programming for students and families.

Social media can provide opportunities to clearly communicate policies and procedures to families during remote learning, and this resource provides tips on how to ensure all communication shared through social media follows accessibility best practices.

The use of video to support instruction is growing with remote and hybrid learning, and this resource focuses on the top tips and techniques for creating accessible video content that also engages learners and promotes understanding for everyone.

Families can use this resource to make a family schedule, choose family expectations, and make a plan to teach, remind, reward, and respond to behavior at home.

Many educational materials are not purchased, but created by educators and staff as they are needed. This resource focuses on five practices for getting started with the creation of accessible documents and slide decks that can be shared with families to support continuity of learning for all students, including those who use assistive technologies to interact with educational materials.

The shift to remote and hybrid learning have highlighted the importance of accessibility as a way to ensure educational equity for all learners. This resource focuses on concrete steps educators and administrators can take to ensure the technology they are purchasing meets accessibility requirements.

Brief guidance provided on key questions to consider when planning purposeful adaptations to evidence based practices for new contexts such as online learning or blended learning environments.