Education Leaders Collaborating to Provide Education and Other Essential Services during the COVID-19 Crisis

Schools are hubs for all kinds of learning. In addition to academic training, they provide a social fabric that prepares young people with skills to navigate career opportunities, relationships, and life. With schools closed for the rest of the academic year due to the COVID-19 crisis, many students are missing out on the support structures and people who play an important part of their everyday lives.

However, superintendents, teachers, administrators, social workers, and many others are stepping up to provide a comprehensive range of services to ensure students are receiving continuous quality education and essential services. A recent SEMCOG University webinar on Best Practices from Education Leaders in Addressing COVID-19 identified some of the efforts in Southeast Michigan’s K-12s and community colleges to provide students with quality learning experiences. Here is some of what these leaders discussed during the webinar.

Donald Hubler, SEMCOG Chairperson, is active in local, state, and national education issues as Secretary of the Macomb Intermediate School District (MISD), board member of the Michigan Association of School Boards, and board member of the National School Boards Association. Hubler stressed the importance of school boards listening to educators and the community as they develop the Continuity of Learning (COL) plans required by the Executive Order to address local needs. He also encouraged school districts and boards to use SEMCOG resources including policies, data, and interactive maps as they plan education services.

How are education leaders responding to the COVID-19 crisis?

For public K-12 schools – responsible for educating 1.5 million Michigan students – the first priority was to make sure that districts did their best to equip parents with resources to supplement formal learning opportunities and meet immediate needs such as food. Erik Edoff, Superintendent of L’Anse Creuse Public Schools, talked about this as Phase One of the response. Phase Two is developing and implementing the COL plans now required by the state. These plans are meant to provide a more formal delivery structure including tools for students with special needs and resources for parents.

L’Anse Creuse continues to provide 27,000 meals per week to students at multiple locations (no questions asked), and frequently updates its website to keep students and parents informed about resources available from the district and other organizations. Edoff recognizes the critical work of the “heroes” in food services and delivery.

Since Governor Whitmer gave ISDs the role of approving COLs, the state’s ISDs came together in a spirit of collaboration to develop two guidance documents to help local districts across the state develop local plans. As a result, ISDs are servicing districts across the state, not just within their individual jurisdictions. Michael Yocum, Assistant Superintendent of Oakland Schools, has been actively helping to develop guidelines and support systems for local districts.

Oakland Schools has convened teams of superintendents to look into different aspects of education to ensure consistent standards. These include remote education, special needs policies, and plans for summer and fall. Oakland is also providing guidance to educators in identifying essential outcomes to guide learning in the last 10 weeks of class so students are ready for their next grade.

Community colleges are also collaborating to address challenges affecting students, as well as their institutions. Kojo Quartey, President of Monroe County Community College (MCCC), talked about how Michigan’s 28 community college presidents meet remotely every five days to share strategies and best practices. Quartey sees community colleges as the “workhorses” of higher education, serving more low-income and at-risk students. The college has set up an emergency fund to buy computers for students to use. It also partnered with community organizations on a food drive, which served 900 individuals.

The critical role of technology

Probably the most significant change in how education is provided, at both secondary and postsecondary levels, is the shift to remote learning. For some districts and colleges, this required crash courses for teachers and faculty. ISDs generally have a higher level of technology because of the nature of their work – supporting professional development for teachers and administrators, introducing technology, and providing other services as appropriate. Edoff has been very impressed with the “tremendous creativity of teachers in sharing tools and expertise with each other to meet student needs.”

Online learning is natural for most young people

Oakland Schools provides technology services for about half the districts in the county, as well as centralized Career Technical Education (CTE) for 3,000 students across the county. CTE students are currently receiving online instruction, but the “hands-on” components so essential to CTE are not possible. Districts are anticipating guidance from the Michigan Department of Education’s Office of Career and Technical Education. Community colleges also offer many technical programs that include practical experience and labs. With campuses closed to students, MCCC has had to make some difficult decisions about how students can complete programs that require an assessment of specific competencies. The college is giving students an “I” for incomplete and allowing them to return in the future to complete the labs or start over at no cost.

Another challenge for online learning is the need for both devices and access to the internet. Although much of Southeast Michigan is well-served by broadband, many families are unable to access or afford the service in their own homes. Quartey estimates that about 20 percent of his students do not have access to the internet, so the college has been providing devices when possible. At other colleges, students have driven to campus parking lots to access broadband to complete their assignments.

Long-term impacts

Quartey anticipates that there will be more online education in the future and more individuals taking short-term-career-focused courses.

Edoff says that face-to-face teaching will always be the best way to learn, but it is important to have a plan for online education available and particularly one that can provide this safely and equitably.

Yocum stressed the need for a more equitable school-funding process that recognizes the different costs of educating students with different needs.

Major takeaways

Educational institutions are an essential part of the community fabric, which has never been more apparent than in the past month. Schools have donated safety equipment from their health programs to hospitals and first responders, and are making additional materials in their labs where possible. These relationships and mutual benefits have been critical to addressing the many challenges facing all of us during the COVID-19 crisis.

A major takeaway from the webinar was the importance of technology in providing education during the crisis and in the future. Technology is an important tool that complements the fundamental role of teachers in providing personal support for all students and extra support to those most in need.

One of the clearest indications that we are all in this together is the level of collaboration – both formal and informal – among states, districts, teachers, and with human service agencies to ensure that students and their families experience the least disruption possible to their education and well-being during these unprecedented times.

Resources

One of the advantages of online learning is access to vast amounts of resources. In addition, most school districts are constantly updating their websites. Education organizations and state departments also provide valuable resources on policies and best practices on their COVID-19 webpages. Following is a list of sites identified by our education leaders with valuable resources for students, parents, teachers, and administrators.

Panelist websites

• L’Anse Creuse Public Schools
• Macomb Intermediate School District
• Monroe County Community College
• Oakland Schools
• SEMCOG Data and Maps

National and Michigan Education Associations: COVID-19 web resources

• American Association of Community Colleges
• Association of Community College Trustees
• Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators
• Michigan Community Colleges Association
• Michigan Department of Education
• Michigan School Boards Association
• National School Boards Association

Best practices from other states

• Alaska School Boards Association
• Indiana School Boards Association
• Kansas Association of School Boards

Best practices from local districts

• Online learning: Miami Dade County Public Schools
• Resources for parents: Saginaw ISD
• Resources for educators: Wayne RESA

Visit your local school district for additional resources available for students and parents. The SEMCOG webinar on Best Practices for Education Leaders Addressing COVID-19 is available on SEMCOG’s website.