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December 2020 | Volume 62 | Number 12
Kate Stoltzfus
When Juliana Urtubey started at a new elementary school in Las Vegas this fall, she knew outreach to families and caregivers would look different. As a special education learning strategist and the newly named 2020–21 Nevada Teacher of the Year, Urtubey has made it her mission to strengthen family connections in the special education space, particularly for students learning English. COVID-19 has radically altered the way educators and families work and live, sending schools like Urtubey's into full virtual mode and necessitating responsive services for students' ever-changing and varied needs. For the 4.9 million English-language learners and the roughly 7.1 million students in special education, challenges related to learning in this altered reality are even more pronounced. What can help, Urtubey suggests, is truly knowing the people in students' lives and the situations they are in—and she believes the current climate is allowing families and educators to work together in important ways. She spoke with ASCD about how to foster connections and alleviate cultural and linguistic challenges between families, educators, and students.
What has this year been like for you and your students?
My school district is fully virtual until further notice and reassessing every 30 days. It's been really beautiful to get to know the families on a deeper level. I think a lot of teachers didn't have that opportunity before, but they do now. It's a spectrum for students. I'm a special education teacher, and how their learning or thinking difference affects their learning is unique—even more so virtually. For some students, they can get their work done in an hour and a half, so they're free for the rest of the day to do whatever exploration and learning and fun they want. And if they have a solid home life and support, it's been great. For other students, they need the social interaction and the proximity to do their best learning. For students whose families have been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, experiencing homelessness or shifts in where they live, that has been really difficult. That's the collective crisis that we're all experiencing—uncertainty.
What do families need to feel supported, especially now?
Right now, just like always, building relationships is something we have to do first. It's about truly knowing not just our students but [also] their families and their communities and constantly reassessing needs. If I have the trust and relationship with the family, we can go through struggles together. We need relationships that grow the grace to navigate distance education. It's also about getting to know each other on a deeper level: What are the goals for your family at this time? What is the most important thing you're focusing on right now? For some families, it's getting by. For others, it's not losing IEP goal success or progress. We have to be humble in knowing that our job is to support families' goals and hopes.
How are educators making connections happen?
The bright spot is seeing family support. We have a student who is in a self-contained autism program. He communicates nonverbally, his range of motion is limited, and to see the way his parents and [caregiver] help him during the classes just moves me. He needs an adult next to him to be able to function and participate in the class, and that's what so many families on every level are doing. For families who aren't able to do that, we have technologies like GoGuardian. When a student is using our school portal, a teacher can see their screen during our school session times and copy and paste links into the student's Chromebook to take them where they need to be. We have a student in a prekindergarten classroom who is being supported by his great-grandma, and she was frustrated by the technology because her eyesight and hearing are limited. A tool like that is life changing. Great-Grandma still sits next to him, but we can handle the tech piece on our end.
What about students for whom distance learning isn't working?
There is still a small percentage of students—I'd dare to say nationwide—with whom all the tried methods and strategies aren't working. I've been thinking a lot about the farm worker children and how they get access to education. The USDA ERS Distance Learning program follows them wherever they might be migrating with their family. It's a flexible schedule in the evening, and there are adults who can support the children. I wonder if we can roll out something like that at the state or district level for families for whom this is not working and where the school has done beyond its due diligence. Once teachers are out of strategies to connect with the families, we do home visits to collaborate with them. It's a small percentage of students, but each student counts.
Students who are bilingual, learning two languages, or developing English are at risk of being under- or over-represented for special education services. How do family connections help mitigate this problem?
It's a more holistic, systems-type conversation to ensure students have equitable access to rigorous, explicit, systematic instruction. It's how to provide teachers the tools and support to make sure all of our students have access to foundational skills consistently. Whether they're at risk for being identified for a disability or another eligibility or whether they're learning English as a second language or concurrently learning English and Spanish together, it works for all students to have explicit, sequential, research-based interventions. A lot of this is being rolled out through a multitier system of supports (MTSS), which I really appreciate, because Response to Intervention (RTI) isn't enough.
What are your go-to places for support and resources?
My go-to for working with families or anything in the special education realm is always Understood and the National Council for Learning Disabilities. My go-to for multilingual education and bilingual education is Colorín Colorado. They're tied to Reading Rockets, which is a great resource as well. When it comes to teacher leadership, reflection, and professional development, it's the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. They have been tremendous in terms of finding out what all teachers need and providing support. They've probably done close to 100 webinars since March, bringing in experts from the field, and they've also extended deadlines for teachers who are candidates for National Board certification. In terms of equity, I am a part of the National Board Network of Accomplished Minoritized Educators (NAME). We have been doing virtual mixers with speakers, an affinity space for teachers of color to be open and vulnerable about our specific needs. We're also rolling out webinars on topics like SEL and inclusive book libraries that are open to all teachers, but they are led by and keeping in mind teachers of color in design and implementation. I love anything visible learning by John Hattie and visual distance learning by Jill Harrison Berg in ASCD publications. And more than anything, our colleagues are the best in terms of filling in our needs.
Anything else to add?
The most important thing right now is to keep telling teachers and families thank you. We see the amount of dedication, love, work, and grace that is being mutually provided. I am immensely grateful for the mountains that families are moving to make whatever situation work. I hear parents being flexible with teachers [and] understanding when things aren't working or when mistakes are made. We need to center on the fact that we are all doing the best that we can, but also remember the gratitude part. Collaboration and partnership are going to make education better for everybody.
Juliana Urtubey (@urtublj) was interviewed by Kate Stoltzfus, an editor for ASCD. Responses edited lightly for length and clarity.
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