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More than 250,000 students in Los Angeles Unified will be eligible for extra tutoring, summer school and other academic help after the district settled a class-action lawsuit alleging that its remote learning practices during the pandemic were discriminatory.
The settlement, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, was announced Wednesday by the law firm representing families who said their children fell disastrously behind during the Covid-related school shutdown in 2020-21.
“After five years of tireless advocacy on behalf of LAUSD students and families, we are proud to have secured a historic settlement that ensures students receive the resources they need to thrive,” said Edward Hillenbrand, a partner at the law firm Kirkland & Ellis. “This critical support will help pave the way for lasting educational equity.”
Los Angeles Unified had no comment on the case because the settlement has yet to be approved by the court. A hearing is set for December, although the settlement goes into effect immediately.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Los Angeles and nearly every other school district in California closed for in-person learning from March 2020 through fall 2021. Students attended classes virtually, and most fell behind academically. Test scores statewide plummeted after schools reopened. Chronic absenteeism soared.
In fall 2020, a group of families whose children were languishing during remote learning sued Los Angeles Unified, saying the district wasn’t doing enough to ensure students were receiving an adequate education.
One parent, Akela Wroten Jr., said that his second-grade daughter was behind before the pandemic and became even more lost during remote learning. She struggled with reading and never got the extra attention she needed because teachers weren’t assessing her progress.
Another parent, Vicenta Martinez, said her daughter didn’t get any instruction in spring 2020, in part because she never received logon information for remote instruction and the school never followed up. When she finally did access remote classes, the lessons were short and teachers offered little feedback.
“LAUSD’s remote learning plan fails to provide students with even a basic education and is not preparing them to succeed,” the lawsuit alleged.
The suit singled out an agreement between the district and its teachers union that said teachers would only be required to work four hours a day, wouldn’t have to give tests and weren’t required to deliver live lessons — their lessons could be asynchronous, or recorded beforehand. In addition, the agreement said the district wouldn’t evaluate or monitor teachers during that time.
United Teachers Los Angeles supports the settlement, saying it provides more assistance for students while leaving teachers’ “hard-won contractual rights” intact and avoiding “unwarranted judicial interference” in the district.
The union also noted that student test scores have recovered significantly since the pandemic..
The plaintiffs argued that the district’s policies discriminated against low-income, Black, Latino, disabled and English learner students, because those were the students least likely to have adequate support to succeed in remote learning. Those student groups also comprise the vast majority of students in the district, the nation’s second-largest.
The settlement requires the district to offer a host of academic support, including summer school and after-school tutoring, to the 250,000 students who were enrolled in L.A. Unified during the pandemic and are still with the district. Among those students, 100,000 who are performing below grade level will be eligible for 45 hours of one-on-one tutoring every year through 2028.
I remember that fateful day clearly, back in March 2020, when we were first told “Go home. We’re going remote.” On the way out the door, one of my colleagues said, “This changes everything.” At the time, I thought they were overreacting. My focus was on health and safety. Naively, I thought the COVID-19 pandemic would pass quickly, and we would soon return to normal.
Rarely have I been so wrong about so many things.
As a communication professor for more than thirty years, I assumed public speaking meant speaking in-person, in public. At the beginning of remote learning, I instructed students to present speeches on Zoom in much the same way I had when our classroom was live, in-person. However, after several semesters of trial and error, I finally appreciated the truth of my colleague’s statement. Everything had changed. While many of the skills required for effective public speaking remotely were the same as public speaking in person, teaching additional skills was necessary.
Public speaking skills: critical for career success
Happily, I discovered learning these remote public speaking skills would not only support students’ academic success but would also support their long-term workplace success. According to research in Cengage’s Career Readiness eBook, 98.5% of employers think communication skills are very important. Additionally, LinkedIn ranked communication as No. 1 on their 2024 list of overall most in-demand skills. Ultimately, this is a skill that will only benefit students in the long run. So, how can students hone this skill?
When it comes to public speaking in any environment, practice is always key. Experts often suggest students give practice presentations, paying close attention to things like their body language, tone of voice and breath control. Practicing in front of others can also be tremendously helpful when preparing.
The challenge of incorporating peer feedback skills in remote teaching
Providing constructive feedback is an essential skill for remote public speaking. Teaching my students how to provide constructive feedback had always been an integral part of my in-person public speaking curriculum.
First, I would offer a lesson with guidelines on how to offer constructive feedback. Then, students would be responsible for completing a speech critique form of another student’s presentation. And finally, students would reflect on ways they could improve their performance based on the feedback they received. Research suggests this type of peer review process helps students to develop lifelong skills in assessing and providing feedback to others, while simultaneously equipping them with skills to self-assess and improve their own speeches.
When I had a full class of face-to-face students, integrating these types of peer review experiences into my public speaking curriculum was relatively easy. However, I quickly learned that the remote learning environment presented a new set of peer review challenges. Just recording speeches to a viewing platform wasn’t enough to replicate the learning opportunities of the in-person experience. Ideally, students needed to be able to record their speeches for asynchronous viewing by the instructor and the assigned students, who would then offer written constructive feedback for the presenter and other peer reviewers to consider. These requirements seemed like a tall order but, amazingly, MindTap, Cengage’s online learning platform, provided me with exactly what I needed.
Using MindTap to teach remote public speaking skills
Prior to my public speaking courses shifting to remote learning, I had already been using online MindTap activities to supplement the print versions of my textbooks. After the pandemic, I began to rely more heavily on MindTap activities. I found using MindTap filled in some of what was lost from my students’ in-person experience, keeping them more engaged. Additionally, using the MindTap BongoPresent activities, which are available with many of the Communication Studies eBooks, solved a number of practical dilemmas including how to systematically evaluate their performance.
Present Bongo activities, found in the MindTap learning path, help students become more comfortable with the act of speaking to a camera while being recorded to a screen through a variety of topic-specific, impromptu-style, low-stakes public speaking opportunities.
Present activities can also be used as an effective delivery and evaluation system for more formal public speaking presentations, such as pre-planned informative or persuasive speeches. When students record their speech, in addition to receiving feedback and a grade from me, they can also receive feedback from other class members, either by a rubric-based peer review or live, real-time comments.
Having the option to assign three or more reviewers for each speech provides additional benefits, for both the reviewer and the speaker. As reviewers, students get to see a wider range of work, and as speakers, they get more feedback on their presentations. If multiple reviewers make the same suggestion, a speaker may be more likely to take that suggestion to heart.
The pathway to public speaking success in a remote setting includes setting aside time to rehearse and record presentations and asking colleagues for constructive feedback. In much the same way, MindTap Bongo activities provide students the opportunity to practice their speaking skills, learn from the review/feedback process and, ultimately, to succeed in our remote age.
Written by Sheryll Reichwein, MA, Adjunct Professor of Communication at Cape Cod Community College
Interested in exploring how MindTap Bongo Activities can help your students develop remote public speaking skills effectively?
Given the number of employees who successfully executed their work remotely at the height of the pandemic, it may come as no surprise that a substantial gap exists between the work arrangements that higher ed employees want and what institutions offer. According to the new CUPA-HR 2023 Higher Education Employee Retention Survey, although two-thirds of employees state that most of their duties could be performed remotely and two-thirds would prefer hybrid or remote work arrangements, two-thirds of employees are working completely or mostly on-site.
Inflexibility in work arrangements could be costly to institutions and contribute to ongoing turnover in higher ed. Flexible work is a significant predictor of employee retention: Employees who have flexible work arrangements that better align with their preferences are less likely to look for other job opportunities.
Flexible Work Benefits: A No-Brainer for Retention
While more than three-fourths of employees are satisfied with traditional benefits such as paid time off and health insurance, survey respondents were the most dissatisfied with the benefits that promote a healthier work-life balance. These include remote work policies and schedule flexibility, as well as childcare benefits and parental leave policies.
Most employees are not looking for drastic changes in their work arrangements. Even small changes in remote policies and more flexible work schedules can make a difference. Allowing one day of working from home per week, implementing half-day Fridays, reducing summer hours and allowing employees some say in their schedules are all examples of flexible work arrangements that provide employees some autonomy in achieving a work-life balance that will improve productivity and retention.
A more flexible work environment could be an effective strategy for institutions looking to retain their top talent, particularly those under the age of 45, who are significantly more likely not only to look for other employment in the coming year, but also more likely to value flexible and remote work as a benefit. Flexible work arrangements could also support efforts to recruit and retain candidates who are often underrepresented: the survey found that women and people of color are more likely to prefer remote or hybrid options.
Explore CUPA-HR Resources. Discover best practices and policy models for navigating the challenges that come with added flexibility, including managing a multi-state workforce:
Remember the Two-Thirds Rule. In reevaluating flexible and remote work policies, remember: Two-thirds of higher ed employees believe most of their duties can be performed remotely and two-thirds would prefer hybrid or remote work arrangements, yet two-thirds are compelled to work mostly or completely on-site.
On August 3, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a notice in the Federal Register seeking comments on a potential pilot program to allow employers not enrolled in E-Verify to harness remote examination procedures for the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification.
Background
DHS’s recent actions are built upon a series of moves aimed at modernizing and making more flexible the employment verification process. On July 25, 2023, the DHS rolled out a final rule enabling the Secretary of Homeland Security to authorize optional alternative examination practices for employers when inspecting an individual’s identity and employment authorization documents, as mandated by the Form I-9. The rule creates a framework under which DHS may implement permanent flexibilities under specified conditions, start pilot procedures with respect to the examination of documents, or react to crises similar to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Alongside the final rule, DHS published a notice in the Federal Register authorizing a remote document examination procedure for employers who are participants in good standing in E-Verify and announced it would be disclosing details in the near future about a pilot program to a broader category of businesses.
Key Highlights of the Proposed Non-E-Verify Remote Document Examination Pilot
DHS’s proposal primarily revolves around the following points:
Purpose: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) intends to gauge the security impact of remote verification compared to traditional in-person examination of the Form I99. This involves evaluating potential consequences like error rates, fraud and discriminatory practices.
Pilot Procedure: The new pilot program would mirror the already authorized alternative method for E-Verify employers, including aspects such as remote document inspection, document retention and anti-discrimination measures.
Eligibility: The pilot program is open to most employers unless they have more than 500 employees. However, E-Verify employers are excluded since DHS has already greenlit an alternative for them.
Application Process: Interested employers must fill out the draft application form, which DHS has made available online. This form captures details like company information, terms of participation, participant obligations, and more.
Information Collection: Employers wishing to join the pilot would be required to complete the formal application linked above. ICE would periodically seek data from these employers, such as the number of new hires or how many employees asked for a physical inspection.
Documentation: Participating companies must electronically store clear copies of all supporting documents provided by individuals for the Form I-9. They might also be required to undertake mandatory trainings for detecting fraudulent documents and preventing discrimination.
Onsite/Hybrid Employees: Companies might face restrictions or a set timeframe for onsite or hybrid employees, dictating when they must physically check the Form I-9 after the initial remote assessment.
Audits and Investigations: All employers, including pilot participants, are liable for audits and evaluations. DHS plans to contrast data from these assessments to discern any systemic differences between the new method and the traditional one.
What’s Next: Seeking Public Comments by October 2
DHS is actively seeking feedback from the public regarding the proposed pilot and the draft application form. The department encourages stakeholders to consider and provide insights on the following points:
Practical Utility: Assess if the proposed information requirement is vital for the agency’s proper functioning and whether the data collected will be practically useful.
Accuracy and Validity: Analyze the agency’s estimation of the information collection’s burden, ensuring the methods and assumptions are valid.
Enhance Information Quality: Offer suggestions to improve the clarity, utility and overall quality of the data collected.
Minimize Collection Burden: Propose ways to ease the data collection process for respondents, exploring technological solutions such as electronic submissions.
In light of this, CUPA-HR plans to carefully evaluate the notice and associated application. Based on its review, CUPA-HR is considering submitting comments to provide valuable insights to DHS. CUPA-HR will keep members apprised of any updates regarding this proposed pilot program and other changes to Form I-9 alternative examination procedures.
Why every school needs a Head of Remote Learning (and yes, we should talk about this during a crisis)
Most schools are facing multiple transformations. These range from digital transformation, to future-skills transformation, to the most important and urgent right now, which is distant-teaching and learning transformation.
Whilst the corporate world has innovated with new roles from chief digital officers to agile coaches to futurists to attempt to capture value from these transformations — the roles we have in schools are still operating within the legacy mindset and systems, ranging from Math teacher, English teacher, PE teacher, and Art teacher, representing probably 90% of the roles that exist in any school.
Leaving the titles aside, if we look at it from a skillset point of view, we know ‘subject’ teachers are more than the purveyors of subject knowledge. They are counselors, data analysts, advisors, experimenters, storytellers, investors (with their time), relationship builders, technologists, and today they are required to be remote teaching specialists.
Teachers are more than the purveyors of subject knowledge. They are counselors, data analysts, advisors, experimenters, storytellers, investors (with their time), relationship builders, technologists, and now they are required to be remote teaching specialists.
There’s never been a better case to be made for a Head of Remote Learning in schools and districts.
With 70,000 students told to stay at home and over half the schools closed across the country as of March 18, 2020, for COVID19 prevention measures. With some schools potentially not opening until after summer break, teachers are scrambling to remotely continue the academic learning for students.
Headlines like this one from the Calgary Herald describe the last-minute scramble.
Before we go on, it’s important to state that this role can be taken on by more than one person in any school, and needn’t have to be a full-time role in the initial instance. First, by experimenting and creating value in the role, it can be used to justify the hiring-case to the wider district to fund this position.
First, let’s discuss why this role is a must-have.
Aside from once-in-a-lifetime (we hope) global pandemics, there are many reasons why schools should now have a remote learning role. Just take examples from the past two years, when schools closed for fires in California and the polar vortex in Wisconsin. Each region has different susceptibilities that threaten the continuation of the education of our children for periods of time.
Remote learning doesn’t only have to occur for school-wide closures. Take, for example, the student with lice or Strep throat who’s out of class for a week who undergoes significant stress on top of their illness due to the difficulty of catching up on missed learning. What if some of those absent days can instead be counted due to remote learning plans?
Never has there been a better time for remote learning than now. The confluence of fast internet capability and quality education technologies, both curricular and administrative, leads to the power to produce high-quality Remote Learning experiences. The considerations of equitable access, student (and home) privacy, screen-time, routine and movement management, and social isolation all need to be addressed. We can look to online high schools, like Stanford K-12 online schools and homeschooling experts, that likely have addressed many of these challenges as a starting point.
March 19th’s article in Politico describes how lack of planning has led to last-minute efforts like how a “school sent home a paper survey Friday for parents to asses their technological access and received 114 responses — 92 percent have smartphones and 94 percent have internet access, but only 58 percent have computers and laptops. There are six different languages spoken at the school, with more than 60 percent of families on the poverty line.” Having someone who is responsible for processing this data in advance would result in better outcomes for the community.
The role of Head of Remote Learning is essential for bridging the gap between school and home. A gap that has existed since the invention of schools. The role includes 3 focus areas, to ultimately create shared-knowledge, skills, mindsets, and behaviors between teachers and teachers, between teachers and parents, and between teachers and children.
Between teachers and teachers
Professional development of teachers to convert to remote learning, including training on the various product platforms and how to integrate technology into learning design, such as with the SAMR Model.
Communication guidelines and templates to make life easier for all teachers to convert to remote learning plans rather than each teacher inventing their own solutions.
Sourcing of products to fulfill the role of communication, curriculum continuity, and emotional support.
Implementation plan for administrators, teachers, students, and parents, whether it’s for a single student or the whole school.
Between teachers and parents
Parent support for difficult conversations with their children to ease anxieties by sharing resources and discussion questions.
Equipment planning, including devices and Wi-Fi hotspots for students’ homes. Why? 10% of students in the U.S. don’t have internet access at home. In these circumstances, the burden falls on parents who aren’t able or confident to take up their child’s education — things have changed so much since we were at school.
Equip parents with the resources to effectively use educational technology, not just to supplement curriculum learning, but also as a way to engage kids in subjects beyond the classroom.
Between teachers and students
There are endless technology options that need to be experimented on, and where there is efficacy of the use-cases they then need to be scaled fast. Creative new technologies that can enhance the learner’s journey, include audio learning tools for connection, communication, and learning. For example, remote learning plans may include podcast tools for students to submit work to teachers and interactive voice technology apps, like Ask My Kid, with social-emotional support, movement breaks, and short academic practice sessions. Unlike most remote learning technology, audio technologies can be screen-free, helping parents stay within the American Pediatric Association’s screen time guidelines.
Show students how to use educational technology to become resilient, independent learners who are capable of organizing their own learning and educational objectives.
A final benefit of remote learning is that they facilitate increased connection to the home. Healthy levels of parent engagement in their child’s education have long been coveted by educators. With children at home, whether due to sickness or catastrophic events, parents can reliably feel connected, and even contribute to the learning, with good remote learning plans.
The most important part of this role is becoming an expert in keeping students calm and on-track. There are sudden isolation and disconnection from classmates, disruption of precious routines, uncertain parents, and distracting home learning environments. Direct daily communication and connection through hearing the teacher’s voice are essential. Students need to know the plan each day and hear it from their own teacher.
Learning in social environments is critical. There will never be a complete substitute for physical togetherness, from the informal play at recess to the smell of the art room and science lab, but quality remote learning plans will only add resilience to our system of education. The role of Head of Remote Learning is central to strengthening the resilience of our schools and the continuity of learning for our children.
Before you go, there are 3 immediate next steps:
If you found value in this article, we would love for you to share with your network to start a robust conversation and spread this thinking.
Everyone is time-poor and dealing with massive change right now. It is natural to think that this conversation should be put on hold, but now is the right time to start documenting what’s difficult so we can define this role with more fidelity when students return to school.
We are working with school, district, and foundation leaders to onboard the Head of Remote Learning role into the education system. Please reach out to us if you are interested to learn more at [email protected].
by Dr. Aparna Ramanathan, CEO and Co-Founder, AskMyClass
Aparna Ramanathan is the CEO and co-founder of AskMyClass. Aparna worked for over a decade as a medical doctor in Australia. After moving to the U.S., she coached professional women in practical stress management techniques, using a data-driven approach. That work led to the development of the first mental health games and programs using voice technology for parents and then the classroom — which lead to the founding of AskMyClass, a Silicon Valley-based Y Combinator-backed startup that creates classroom-specific activities to help students build essential social-emotional skills while increasing their classroom engagement.
