This policy brief explores the impact of schools’ response to the pandemic is having on English learners (ELs) and immigrant-background students. It identifies key challenges states and school districts must overcome, and outlines policy recommendations. Recommendations include prioritizing ELs for in-person instruction when schools buildings begin to reopen, providing professional development on how to best work with ELs remotely, strategies for strengthening parental engagement, and ensuring that programs that impact ELs are protected from expected budget cuts.
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NEW: Ensuring Continuity of Learning and Operations
Distance Learning Plans
Information on what districts and states are doing to continue learning for all learners during school closures.
California Department of Education: Information and resources regarding coronavirus (COVID-19) and California's response:
The California Department of Education site provides information and resources regarding COVID-19 and California’s response. The site includes releases from the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, webinars, and general FAQs. It also provides resources for mental health, distance learning, early learning, school meals, and special education. The distance learning resources include English language development learning sites, games and activities, multilingual resources, and the English Learner Update Newsletter.
District Responses to COVID-19:
The Center for Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) has developed a database of school district responses to COVID-19. Each district entry includes how the district supports special populations, including students with disabilities and English learners. The database currently includes 82 districts serving nine million students and will be updated continuously. The page also includes a map displaying districts color coded by whether they offer no instructional resources, access to general resources only, formal curriculum but no instruction, curriculum and instruction, or curriculum, instruction, and progress monitoring.
Oklahoma City Public Schools:
The Oklahoma City Public Schools’ Continuous Learning Plan page publishes packets at the beginning of each week. Printed packets are also available at meal distribution sites. Learning packets are organized by grade for grades Pre-K–8 and by subject for grades 9–12. All packets are available in English and Spanish. The page also links to videos recorded by teachers explaining the weekly packets for their subject. Some videos are available in Spanish. There is a separate section for English language learners with resources for elementary and secondary students as well as dual language resources for grades Pre-K–2. Oklahoma City Public Schools also provides information on meal sites and contact information for counseling services in English and Spanish.
Minneapolis Public Schools:
Minneapolis Public Schools has created a dedicated site for distance learning. All materials are available in English, Hmong, Somali, and Spanish. The site provides information for students organized into pre-kindergarten, elementary, middle school, and high school. Each age-level page provides technology guidelines and support, guides for participating in lessons, student support, and additional resources. There is also a page for Online Enrichment Resources organized by grade. This page includes English Learner Choice Boards for K–5 and 6–12. The K–5 choice board is available in English, Hmong, Somali, and Spanish. The 6–12 choice boards are differentiated by grade and proficiency level.
Chicago Public Schools:
The Chicago Public Schools District Response to COVID-19 page provides a letter from the chief executive officers in English, Arabic, Chinese, Polish, Spanish, and Urdu. The Remote Learning page contains remote learning guidance for parents. This guidance is available in English, Arabic, Chinese, Polish, Spanish, and Urdu. Chicago Public Schools has also provided remote learning packets, organized by grade and available in English and Spanish, and enrichment learning resources, containing independent projects and materials separated by grade in English and Spanish. All learning packets specify the caregiver support that may be necessary for each activity.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools:
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ COVID-19 information page provides news updates for students and families. The page also provides details on meal distribution in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French. The Remote Learning page provides learning packets by grade level. Grades Pre-K–5 are available in English and Spanish. There is a dedicated page for K–12 English Learner Remote Learning organized by grades K–5, 6–8, 9–12, and K–12 digital tools. There are also supplemental learning resources to engage students in learning at home. These resources include the ELL Parent and Family Supplemental Resources document with communication tools, digital tools to overcome a language barrier, and local resources for students and families.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools:
Miami-Dade County Public Schools’ COVID-19 Coronavirus page offers hotlines for emergency operations, instructional learning plan, mental health services, parent assistance, employee assistance, and adult and career/technical education. The Instructional Continuity Plan page clarifies the roles of students, teachers, and families in distance learning, as well as different options for teachers to deliver content. The Distance Teaching and Learning page provides resources and links for educators, parents, and students. These pages provide information on Internet hotspots, online platforms, professional development, the process for requesting devices (in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole), guidance on student attendance, webinars on the instructional continuity plan (in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole) and distance learning Frequently Asked Questions (in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole).
Fort Worth Independent School District:
The Fort Worth Independent School District learning at home page offers resources for students, families, and educators. Information for parents is available in English and Spanish. The Learning at Home: Curriculum At-a-Glance page provides families and teachers with an overview of what students will learn each week for each content area. The elementary documents are organized by grade level and the secondary documents by subject. Each grade level and subject document includes strategies for English learners (ELs). There are separate documents with activities and strategies for ELs. The activities for grades PK–5 and for middle school are organized by grade level, and activities for high school are organized by proficiency level. The Curriculum At-a-Glance page also provides links to activities students can do at home for elementary dual language, elementary English as a second language (ESL), and secondary ESL.
District of Columbia Public Schools:
District of Columbia (DC) Public Schools’ Coronavirus (COVID-19) Updates page offers information on meal sites, distance learning, additional resources for families, and letters to families available in six languages. The Distance Learning page is organized into sections for learners, family, and support. The learners page is organized by grade level for elementary and middle schools and by subject level for high schools. All three levels have a language instruction section, which includes suggested pacing, beginner English as a second language (ESL) learning resources, English Language Arts-ESL learning resources (elementary) and intermediate ESL (middle and high school). All learning resources are organized into weekly learning plans. Weekly learning plans contain links to resources but can also be completed without Internet once printed.