Recommendations & Requirements

Create a district Return to Instruction and Learning working group, potentially led by the Director of Curriculum, Chief Academic Officer or the equivalent, and composed of a broad group of stakeholders on the district and school level, to:

• Gather feedback from families, teachers, students, and school leaders about their experiences with remote learning through online surveys and/or virtual focus groups or conversations.
• Revise the district’s remote learning plan to incorporate feedback and input from stakeholders to improve its effectiveness.
• Share the district’s remote learning plan with all involved stakeholders."

Support schools to assess every student in grades preK-12 during the first few weeks of school, using a screener, diagnostic, or formative assessments that can be given online or conducted virtually, to understand where students are academically and inform instructional decisions for teachers, students, and families.

Set an instructional vision that ensures that:

• Every student will start the year with access to grade-level instruction and high quality, standards-aligned instructional materials in every subject.
• Every student will be assessed on their understanding of prerequisite skills and grade-level proficiencies using formative assessments, screeners, or diagnostics.
• Every students’ academic and socialemotional needs will be addressed with the integration of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) and strengthening connections with students."

Support schools to implement grade-level curricula that is aligned to Michigan preK-12 standards.

• Support teachers to utilize power standards that identify the major work of the grade in order to focus, prioritize, and accelerate instruction."

Establish and communicate guidelines to all staff regarding identification and rapid referral of atrisk students to appropriate building-level support teams.

Establish a comprehensive crisis management plan that leverages available internal and external/ community-based resources, which can be activated efficiently as needed (e.g., loss of student, loss of a school staff member).

Establish ongoing reporting protocols for school staff to evaluate physical and mental health status.

Designate a mental health liaison (school-based) who will work across the school, local public health agencies, and community partners.

Activate communication channels for school stakeholders to address mental health concerns resulting from COVID-19 (for example, a telephone hotline or a designated email).

Execute school cleaning and disinfection protocols according to the CDC School Decision Tree.

ISDs and schools should create a contingency plan to coordinate the use of school buildings for essential actions including elections, food distribution, and child care, particularly for essential workers.