Business as Usual: Education Roundtable (TRETC)

 

So good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to a very, very special edition of business as usual. And this is a joint session with called tressie. And it stands for three rivers Educational Technology Conference, and we are going to be having amazing conversations with people who who are so busy, I am thrilled that they have taken the time to be with us today. And I will introduce them in a moment. But if you're accustomed to participating in our business as usual series, you probably might not have heard of Trixie. And I mentioned that it's three rivers Educational Technology Conference. And let me tell you a little bit about this event. It's an annual professional development program that the tech Council has facilitated for a long time. And we are aiming at helping teachers and educators share the best practices in integrating educational technology into the classroom. So we have many partners and many friends over the years. And we have learned a lot in terms of what kinds of things people really care about, and are compelled to think about as we look at what education means, as we move beyond 2021. So today, we're actually joined by educators and administrators from nearby Pittsburgh Shanksville union town in Warren County, but as far away as Virginia and West Virginia, they represent K through 12 organizations, which include after school program colleges, obviously schools, and universities and technical schools. So we try to have a nice grasp with every dimension of education, the agenda and the curriculum for Trixie. It's actually developed by educators for educators. And I would like to especially thank the members of the planning committee, who dedicate their time, their energy, their vision, in making this conference, just a tremendous success, so I cannot thank them enough. So on the other hand, if you're participating, and trustee today, it's likely that you have not ever heard of business as usual. So we hope that you continue, and we hope that you find this interesting. So a bit of the background. In the tech Council, our organization that I'm the president and CEO of we actually our regional trade association that represents approximately 1000 technology companies, Life Science companies, and advanced manufacturing firms that are located all across Southwestern Pennsylvania, they have some presence here. So at the outset of the pandemic, we launched business as usual, as a way just to keep the region connected, just connected, what was happening, we had a pandemic, people working from home, things were changing each and every day. So since then, we've hosted almost 200, daily zooms. And we do it every day at 12 noon. And usually it's about 30 minutes. Today, it's going to be a little bit longer because of the nature of the program. And because of the nature of the guests that we're very, very honored to have. So we've attracted over 5000 participants across the community, sometimes they're from outside the region, and just as a flavor for the programming. And we also have an archive. So you can look at all of our recordings, you can go to PGH tech.org, we'll put it in the chat. And you can see exactly the kinds of people that we've interviewed. And if you want to sit down, have your lunch at any other day and just join in to understand the kinds of conversations that we're having. So tomorrow, we're going to be just as a little bit of a flavor. Tomorrow we're going to be hosting a Jeep pie. He's been the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and to be followed up on Wednesday by Jerry Vard cell. He's the new leader of an organization called Life x. It's a life sciences incubator for startup companies founded by the University of Pittsburgh. And if you know a little bit about our community, do you know that life sciences is actually a very important part of the future in terms of building technology, innovation, so we are very committed to building bridges between our region's community of educators and the entrepreneurs and STEM professionals who are powering our region's technology economy, Marie pallone, and she leads all of our efforts to attract talent to the region and develop the pipeline talent for future is an educator herself and she can serve as an excellent resource for your organization. We will put her info in here because that's her role. Her role is to bridge the to provide those bridges and I know that's a Pittsburgh

analogy that we always use, but we really mean that in a very material way. This year alone through our STEM summits and speakers of the STEM program. She's actually helped connect with she 1000 caters, I think that's correct. And field trips that have been amazing virtual field trips that have blown my mind in terms of We've had students that have been able to actually see surgeries being performed. They got inside views early on to people who were working on solving vaccine experiments doing some of the initial vaccine experiments and research over at the University of pet to work with virtual reality labs, you name it, we're trying to make those kinds of connections so people can see the possibilities for the future. So get to know Marie will put her name in the chat. If you don't know her, you really need to know her because she's part of the secret sauce in terms of the work that we're doing. So now we have an incredible panel of K through 12. administrators who are going to discuss a timely topic about equity in education during this age of COVID. And during this age of Black Lives Matter. And I would like to before we start the discussion, I really want to give a shout out to the sponsors of today's sessions. And they've been involved with us and all tressie. And there are a lot of them, so bear with me, but get to know them because they are an essential part of the work that we all do. So Commonwealth charter Academy, c d, w, Lucas systems, niche, e hall pass, and jelastic, overdrive education, pit college and high school FTV tutor get more math, and the living donation 40 by 80, which is the longitude and latitude of Pittsburgh. And it's a wholly owned subsidiary of the tech Council, Huntington bank, PA, cyber and shell games. So there you have it. And I'm going to tell you a few things. We've muted your microphones, we do that on purpose so that we hopefully can give some honor to the people who are going to speak in a moment. And I know I have dogs, so if they bark, I will do what I can to make sure that I'm shutting that down. And then we also have a chat, and we have a chat so that you can ask questions, okay, and we'll do what we can to try to make sure that we can afford everyone the opportunity for questions. So it could today's discussion could not be you know, more better timed right. In terms of the lessons of the great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. So we're going to be exploring educational equity and COVID with six administrators who are leading this cause each and every day in their respective districts. So with that, I would like to welcome the superintendent. I'm just going to say their names and then we're going to after I finished we're going to jump in to the conversation. So here we have James Harris from the woodland high school with the Woodland Hills School District. We have Sue Moyer from the Duquesne School District. We have Dr. Todd Crossan from the Elizabeth forward School District, Dr. Janet sarton, from the yaak School District, Dr. Linda Iverson from the Williamsburg, the wood, the wilkinsburg School District, and Dr. Anthony Hamlin who has been with us before on our show from the Pittsburgh public schools. So in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Our lives begin to end the day, we become silent about things that matter. And today, we're here to talk about something that truly matters, the education of all of our children and the next generation. So thank you all for being here. Thank you so much. I'm going to jump in, you're going to hear less of me now. Okay, I'm going to jump in. And I'm going to say in the face of the challenges that your district has faced during the pandemic, what has your district done? Well, to maintain the quality of education for all I know, this is big for all of your students? And what are you most proud of? And I'm going to ask each and every one each and every one of you and it looks like perhaps one of our one of our one of our panelists is not here, so I'm going to make sure that we afford the opportunity. So I'm going to start with Dr. Hamlet. Dr. Hamlet, first of all, thank you so much for being with us again. And what do you think in terms of face of the challenges that your district has experienced during the pandemic? What do you What are you proud of?

What what Thank you for having me once again and Hello, everyone happy MLK Day. So number one, I you know, for me, I have to acknowledge based on what I've seen thus far and what have experienced thus far, I have to acknowledge number one the personnel, the teachers, the principal's the central office staff, the social workers, the guidance counselor's the food service workers. The custodians, and I can go on and on about the personnel, but also our students, their families, the community, and how we've come together to make sure that this pandemic does not stop the learning. for our students. By and large, we know that being being in person is the best for our students. However, based on our circumstance, providing online and going to being able to go to a one to one district has been a huge and a game changer for Pittsburgh public schools. And in the midst of this, continue to feed families can feed students, as well. So we're really proud of our accomplishments thus far, but but understanding that we have a long way to go. And we're staying focused and committed to doing the things we need to do to support our children and our communities and families as well.

Thank you. Thank you so much for that. Now. Let's let's go to someone. Thank you for being with us. And from the Kane School District,

we are so thanks for having us. You know, much like Dr. Hamlin had just said, you know, you can't be more proud of the staff, the committed staff, the custodians, the teachers, the,

the,

you know, your paraprofessionals, your PCA, you know, they all stepped in, we're doing home visits, to try to help parent, you know, parents and students so, you know, navigate this time of uncertainty. You know, we went to lunch, and we were already away

when I'm back in I can't hear thing. Okay,

that's that's Linda.

I think that's Linda. Right?

I don't know. But let's continue to go. Sorry about Okay, continue.

That's okay. Um, you know, I think one of the things that we're most proud of is that continuation of learning that occurred, we were already a one to one district. So it was a pretty seamless, a pretty seamless transition from in person instruction to, to, you know, to that platform of online learning. I think our biggest challenge was the food, the food insecurity. So I think that was one of our biggest things. And we were able to overcome that with doing a bus stop deliveries that was in partnership with Eden Park, for one to Food Rescue the United Way. And allies for children, they really kind of helped kind of secure that. And that really transformed the district. And now it's really been beneficial because the only district The only grocery store and Duquesne city has closed its doors. So now we face a bigger a bigger issue now as a community, with the doors closing so that this food service and our partnership with those organizations have really been beneficial, but doesn't

mean one to one. You mentioned that.

So every student has an iPad or a Chromecast. Excellent.

And you were able to get people what they needed you able to get the students I know Dr. Hamlet has been working on that as well. Yeah. So Todd, thank you so much your view as well, our good friend to our tech community, and thrilled that you're joining us from Elizabeth forward. What about you?

Well, thank you for having us. And, you know, I'm really proud of our staff, just like the other superintendents talked about staff and students and parents and our entire community working together and kind of we're in this together. And that's kind of what we've been saying since March 13. When this happened, can't believe it's almost been a year. Elizabeth for it's a little unique because we've had one to one, we've been one to one, every student having an iPad k 12. For almost nine years now. Our former technology director Mary Beth Wiseman, myself, and and Dr. Rocco former superintendent worked pretty hard to put that in place nine years ago, almost 10 years now. And we've done a lot with learning management systems and making sure that we have a robust learning management system so kids can actually get on and access all the information from textbooks to our online resources, creating a digital ecosystem. So we've worked really, really hard and when March 13, hit with COVID, we only missed one day of we went missed one day of school that following week, and then we actually met 180 days requirement last year with remote learning because we had the one to one we had our professional development and really our work has been scaling, scaling, creating this digital ecosystem to end scaling and in every classroom with every teacher. So you know, before COVID we were doing a lot of this work beforehand, which helped us a lot when when COVID 19. And we had closed our doors on March 13. So and then this year, we've only really been nine days in remote learning we've had in person learning since since August. So we've been working really hard and just proud of our students, our staff, our community, trying to give the best possible education during this global pandemic.

Thank you. Thanks for being with us. And so I think talk to Linda Linda Iverson from the wilkinsburg School District is here. I saw her. And I want to see if she's, she's joined us again. Okay.

She's having some audio issues. So

we're trying to get this fixed seek

reps. Great. So Dr. Janet sarton, from the Yop. School District. What is your district done? Well, what are you most proud of?

So, so I will reiterate what some of the other superintendents have already said, I want to say, especially our teachers, our administration, our families, and our parents that have stepped up to the plate during a very difficult time. During transitions where you're open, you're close, you're open, you're close. And I think as a district, what I'm most proud of is our collaborative, and teamwork effort to put together a program that allows for equity for kids across grade levels, and buildings and communities. You know, we are able to offer a platform where kids are in the classroom, they can be virtual lie where they're still in the classroom, but from home, or for those that need virtual recorded. They're all receiving the same curriculum from the same teachers. And as we have to transition because the pandemic is so unpredictable, our kids are able to transition from program to program, whether it's something the state has us closing, or we as a district have to close due to COVID transmission cases, I think our ability to develop a structure, a program that allows for equity for children, across regions across our schools has been really important. And that that really has been done in conjunction with everyone in the district and in a time of need our staff, our community, our families, our parents, our students have stepped up to the plate to make that happen. And and we're so proud of that here at jacc.

Okay, thank you. Thank you, Dr. sarton. And it and Taylor, I'm assuming that we still have some technical issues with Dr. Iverson from wilkinsburg

are now

Oh, Hi. How are you? Thank you, sir. Here, how are you? I'm good.

Thank you for this. And thank you for inviting me to be a part of this panel. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you for your work. So our question is, I'm going to rephrase it, you know, what have you done? Well, let's just talk about what you are most proud of?

Yes, and fear. But thank you for this opportunity. So yes, as so much has happened in weapons for that I am very proud of and as we are beginning to think and plan for next school year that I look, as a superintendent, I'm hoping to pivot and to sustain some of the things we're doing now. I mean, where we are right now is, you know, a small, poor urban district right outside of Pittsburgh, you know, 99%, African American 100%, free reduced lunch. And most of my parents living at or below the poverty level, we are very proud that we have implemented in a whole online platform that we did not have before, and one where our children have been able to access learning to on this COVID experience, we have found that, you know, we all know that nothing replaces traditional in person learning. But without implementation of this online platform, our families who were hesitant, have really embraced it. Our teachers have really embraced it. And we are meeting with some successes. We're watching attendance data, our attendance data around our students logging in for that synchronous live learning is over. It's between 80 to 100%. And we watched it Yeah, we watched it weekly. And we our parents are engaged. And we've seen a different level of engagement by our parents, and parents who work with students at home or even giving feedback unsolicited. Because they're in earshot of the live learning that students are getting from their teachers. The feedback from our parents is that they they have a greater appreciation for what we do. Some have actually said that they are learning a lot from watching the teachers working with the students, they're amazed at how our staff has been able to embrace all of the technology all the hand raising, how to download assignments, how to teach kids to do that, as well as they've picked up how to manage even some of the discipline to keep kids engaged that they're using in their homes. So we're very proud of that. And as I said, We're looking now, because it's working so well we know we're never be the same. We want to capitalize on this experience. And we're looking to see how we can pivot to be able to provide a different pathway or more than one pathway to education for our parents and students when we when we when we go back hopefully in school in the fall so that we sustain this online component.

So thank you so much, Dr. Iverson for joining us and now I see we have James Harris from the Woodland Hills School District. Thank you so much for joining us as everyone can see. We have we have a Rock Star family or people who are doing just incredible work over this last year. So what are you most proud of what

the consistency and how we've been able to sustain the online platform, we ended the last school year online. And we started up again with a more robust program going virtual. And we did have about a small portion of our underserved special ed students back in person. And then we were allowing the teachers to teach from the buildings, but with high COVID cases, they're now all teaching 100% from home. We didn't we never wanted to have, you know, the start and stop, start and stop. So in order to be consistent, we just stayed online. we're attempting to bring students back by and we do surveys and studies and talk to teachers and talk to families. It looks a right now though, they're really comfortable staying virtual, we would like to bring them back, you know, maybe by March at least to get some in person in class experiences. But most proud of just being able to transition from a true brick and mortar school to, you know, a virtual school. And like, Superintendent Iverson said, this is really going to change how we instruct in the future, where we do more of a hybrid platform, because we were forced to, you know, move ahead three to five years before we were even going to even consider this, but we always talked about it. Now, it's a crash course in how to do it. And our teachers are comfortable, because in the beginning, they were not comfortable. Now they know they are some have been doing some really innovative things. Virtually some teachers who may have struggled with classroom management don't have that problem anymore. So students who had trouble with being in the classroom with other kids disrupting them are really doing well now. And it's been an interesting process. So, so far, so good.

Yeah, I mean, we the world has all been talking about all the rapid transformation in businesses, things have occurred that were on people's business plan for five years occurred in two months. And that's what all of you have faced as well. So I'm thrilled to be able to shine the light on education. Because you all have done that you've experienced the same things with with less of the resources then many of the businesses out. So let's let's flip it. Now let's talk about, you know, how you addressed the issues of educational equity, you know, and inclusion, and especially, you've talked about the use of tap, but what their challenges that remain, there really are. And those are the things that I'd like us to be able to to talk about here. And what I'd like to do is jump to Dr. sarton, from the yaak School District and let everyone know where the yaak School District is, I think people need to understand just geographically

or so your school district is located in Westmoreland County, we are a fairly expansive district, and we do have a lot of we have a few small towns, and then we do have a lot of rural areas. So when you start to talk about educational equity, one of the things we struggled with, especially at the beginning of the pandemic is how are we going to make sure that in our most rural areas that students have access to internet services, and even to today that it is still a struggle to make sure that all of our students have access to that technology have the ability to be online. You know, as a district, we were able to procure some mifi boxes that allow, you know, some reception within some homes. But even those don't help our most remote areas. And they struggled to get those internet connections. So even with some of the supports, we still struggled to get those connections out to our most rural areas of the building, I can tell you that we were able like the other districts on here today to provide Chromebooks for families. But if you don't have internet connection, Chromebook for families, is really challenging. We've done some other things to try to assist by putting, you know, Wi Fi connections within our school parking lots. But again, you know, a lot of times that's not convenient or or conducive for families to do that. So I think our biggest issue of inequity here in a more rural school district is how do you make sure that kids are on an equal playing field with technology, not just with equipment, but also with that connection that they need to be successful? I would say if you were the gas, we probably have been successful with about an 85%. But there's still 15% of the kids out there that struggle every day to be able to get online and to have affordable, you know, internet connections within our region and within our area.

What about in wilkinsburg? Dr. Eisen,

she echoed some of the same concerns we had, I will have to preface first to let you know that he Welcome to our school district, our board has been very committed to our students having access to some form of technology. So prior to my even coming to the district as superintendent, and since then every challenge wilkinsburg does have an iPad, they use them classroom within the classroom on a daily basis, to access an online application to help diversify what they need in terms of instruction and learning. So that was in place when COVID hit that we were able to capitalize on using those iPads to begin some form of instruction that was level playing field across our special education students as well, where we were able to download some applications and some assignments for students to do. While we began to plan for the move. And moving to our Chromebooks. Chromebooks have always been our vision. And we have begun to purchase that we did get some state funds and continuity of education funds and asset funds, where we're able to buy more Chromebooks for our teachers as well. And some hotspots. We did put out a survey to our faculty and to our families to find out how many had technology in a home, because having technology and no broadband did not work. And so we were able to get data to help us decide on who had it, who did not. And we were able to distribute them iPads to parents at home, for students to be able to access some of the online learning for them to do those assignments. So the funds that we received, were able to help us do that. But we did have some issues around that broadband. And so and we the hotspots came in handy. But we do occasionally have a parent who will email and say my kid could not get on. And so I mean, those are case by case basis that we deal with on a regular as they come but they have not been that many, and most of our students are able to access online learning. And they're able to do the synchronous live instruction as it is delivered. But it's an ongoing challenge and something we've watched every every day.

And then what about food insecurity?

Well, we did not provide you said food. So no, we did not provide provide food to our students, we did not do the grabbed them. Well, we did prior to the beginning of the school year, we did provide lunch over the summer and, and breakfast grab bags over the summer when COVID first hit pre March, around March. But when we open the school year, we did not continue to do that some of our students are able to go to pods within the community that had opened up their doors for parents to drop their children off. So they could go to work. And they receive meals there. So a lot of our parents and students took advantage of sites around the city of wilkinsburg. And they would access the learning there be there all day, and there's or they will also get grab and go breakfast and lunch meals. So that's how we were able to handle that. Okay,

thank you. And what about it, Elizabeth? forward? Tod, Superintendent corruption, what do you what are you seeing? What are some of the challenges that you're still facing?

At the beginning, we had Wi Fi issues, we pushed out hotspots to parents who are struggling, just like Dr. sarin said, though, some of the rural areas of Elizabeth Ford were about 43 square miles. But even if we pushed out hotspots to certain parents, in some of the rural areas, there was no cell reception. So the Wi Fi hotspots would not work. So we've dealt with that. You know, again, with our district having iPads for eight or nine years, 10 years now. And all the professional development I it's just hard for school districts to flip that switch of going 100% remote and, and pushing out, you know, technology and every every student and then providing that professional development. When we look at equity, we want to make sure that every kid is getting the same quality of education. So making sure that every teacher has that professional development to be able to meet the needs of all kids using our learning management system. So making sure they're engaging lessons, making sure that we're continuing to be in the same ballpark of curriculum wise, of our pacing guides that we would be if we weren't in a global pandemic, or about a unit or sub behind, even at the elementary level compared to what it was in the past. So we're looking at all that. But one of our goals is really scaling the work in every classroom and making sure that every teacher has all the tools that they need to be successful, so we can provide that equity to every single kid. So every kid is getting quality education.

Thank you. So I want to shift a little bit to Dr. Hamlet, in terms of what do you think are some of the permanent changes? You know, we've talked about this massive transformation that's occurred in a short period of time. I know that Pittsburgh City Schools worked really hard to get the technology in everyone's hands. What what are some of the permanent changes that you suspect right now will be part of education, particularly K through 12?

Yes, um, so I think moving forward, we're definitely in this space. Again, being going to one to one district like other districts have gone, provided students with also, access to Wi Fi was important as well, I think that is going to be a game changer in itself. But more importantly, how we use this technology moving forward after the pandemic is going to be huge as well. And so we're in this space with constant learning mode of where we are and what we need to do to provide the most robust educational experience for our students that we can. And so we're in that space. But I also want to put put something here as well, is that we had to actually provide our faculty and staff with computers as well. And so so so I think that goes missed sometimes that our faculty and staff had to be loaded with laptops and the support, they need to really, really make sure that our students are getting the best educational experience they can. So and investment in professional development, we had to do overtime as well. But also moving forward, having the ability to have our students who normally would be in this digital divide, have computer, have computers have access, and have constant, being able to constantly be taught or getting online and learning and dialogue with their teachers and their peers is going to be a game changer. I think that's that's the biggest thing I see right now, for our students and in our districts across the United States at this point.

And, and and Dr. I mean, and Superintendent Moyer, over in Duquesne. I mean, you're facing some significant challenges in your own community. So, you know, what, what do you think some of the changes are? What are the things that you think positive and and perhaps we should be alarmed about?

You know, when Dr. Hamer talked about the digital divide, I couldn't, you know, I really couldn't agree more, you know, we're finally, because we were able to provide the one on one, we're kind of ending that divide where, you know, some kids are going home and able to do their homework, and some kids were not, you know, we're kind of, we've been able to end that. And I think as we move forward and think about the future, you know, this is a way to, we now have put in place some different learning management systems. And I know, I was part of an a group with Dr. Bruce Ellis before where we went through, and we're able to write a grant and get our learning management platform to be able to, that will allow us the ability to really differentiate for kids. And I think that's one of the big takeaways, as we move forward, I don't necessarily see it as something we need to that is, you know, scary or not, not ability to actually think it's a positive as we move forward. But in light of the pandemic, and, you know, some learning lesson, I'm actually, you know, pretty proud to say that, you know, we just did a just had our numbers and for the number of special education students that we would have compensatory Ed for the learning loss, and only 30% of those kids have have had are owed. You know, that's, that's pretty remarkable. In a school district for kids, we're already behind, you know, that we've been able to close that, close that gap. And we have been closing that gap. You know, with a more robust curriculum, when we were able to, with the, with the, with a pandemic, to put all of the same resources that we were using, in the regular, you know, brick and mortar school, they're now all online, so that learning loss never really occurred, I think it was a platform switch. And I think it goes back to I think Todd alluded to before about, you know, giving the teachers the professional development, who then or now, we're offering tailored support to individual students and their families on how to use the resources from home, you know, there's still, you know, that that group of individuals, and sometimes I'm one of them, you know, from time to time, depending on what the reading is, so used to have an as I have paper notes in front of me, you know, I mean, that handheld copy of a book, even just as a book as a textbook, and that's a hard, you know, transition. And we work through those, but it's really been, I think, a positive as we think about the future, and what really we can do and our abilities, and that we've been set our teachers up for success, and how much further we can kind of push the envelope.

Thank you. Thank you. So there's some questions out here. I mean, there's there's a lot of questions out here, which makes me both very happy because I believe that people are passionate about this. And of course, I want to make sure that we figure out ways that there are pathways for all of us to be helpful to each and every one of you in the roles that you have. But I'm going to ask Jonathan kersting I failed to add so many introductions in the beginning and I fail to introduce them, and he is he oversees marketing and all things storytelling for the tech Council. So Jonathan, can you just grab a couple of the questions and then Anyone can answer them, because I think there's some great ones in here. And we'll save them superintendents will save those questions for you as well, so that we can follow up. But Jonathan, would you grab one of the questions and I want to remind everyone that this is, this is an advertisement free zone, I know that there are people who are trying to sell. And that's not what this this is about. And I meant to say that at the beginning.

Absolutely. So this start with things is a really good question. I think they will cover everybody here. You feel that high school seniors are learning at a pace that's prepared for college next fall, have any of you proctored si t or a CT exams are specifically for students in your district.

Anyone want to take that?

I would say based on analysis that we did with our first quarter grades, and subsequently, we'll do the same with our second quarter grades to gauge where our students are, we know that some more students are struggling, more students are having are receiving D's F's and E's than they did in previous years. So that's an indicator. But again, that's only one data point that we look at, where we have the upcoming possible pH PSAT, which is going to be a struggle for us to get done, and especially with them, our buildings, being all remote, and what does that mean for our faculty and staff, but we're working, working it out and the school day SAP is forthcoming, as well, where we give the sap free for all of our 11th graders, so we have an indicator of where our students are, once we get those results back based on how many students participate.

So and then I just be, there was one answer that I love that Todd has shared, he shared with everyone, just all of his staff development. So he's sharing that with everyone in a couple of different tasks. So I think you can answer that that question might be answered. But thank you, Jonathan, what else do we have out there?

Yeah, let's go to Ingrid cooks question here. So she asked her she says according to the Pittsburgh post Gazette, the city's median household income and quality score worsened, with report showing that household incomes among black residents decreased from 26,000 and change in 2016 to 22,000. In 2017, while increased for whites from 54,000, and change to 55,000. I'm given the sad reality here in Pittsburgh, what are we doing to identify at risk children who are not participating in a pod with hot meals, those who may be home alone without internet services, or the support they need to succeed? What can Pittsburgh Tech Community do to support children who fall into this category?

Who wants to take that it's a long one, or I'll just call on someone, James, anything that you well, that

the tech community, I don't know what the tech community can do, I can tell you what the schools have been doing. We've been using utilizing our other employees outside of teachers, to assist going to homes, doing small group, mental health providers, we've been staying connected with their families to make sure that we're still in touch with them. So on the tech side, I'm not sure but we're using the tech outside of the classroom, to make sure that students are engaged. And what we are finding is that those students, some students may have been held back by classroom instruction, they want to move ahead faster, they're able to do that through online learning. The social workers, the reading specialist, that the math intervention is all those those counselors have been steadily in contact with the students and the families. What we've been doing all along this basis was teaching the parents how to teach the kids and inviting the parents to sit in on lessons a lot of times not to interrupt sometimes, but actually teach them techniques on how to engage their child because a lot of times the families haven't seen their children in this place before. And it's new to them. I remember that back in March, when we first shut down, a mother got on a mental health meeting, I was on the teaching parents how to deal with that. And she was trying not to give her child the medication to keep him calm throughout the day. And the young man, he's probably about eight years old was doing cartwheels behind her on the zoom meeting, and he was doing backflips, cartwheels, and she finally said, He's now getting the full dose. You know, she realized what the teachers were going through in the classroom, she said, Oh my gosh, my son does not sit still. And she would give him breaks throughout the day. And that's just like recess and things like that. So I think that the texts I opened the door or the window into what a Teacher's Day is like, and how their students, their children are interacting. But

one of the things one of the ways just to sort of clarify that is that the tech community when we when we mentioned when we say that what we mean are all the businesses that are working Innovation and tech and they're feeling they want to figure out ways to be helpful. And one of the ways that we worked early on and I'll talk to Dr. Hamlet about this is what we worked early on was we saw the digital divide right away. And the digital divide included people not having access to the internet, no less having access to books. So we actually worked with Aurora and Google to start to create something with neighborhood allies called Beyond the laptops. So Dr. Hamlet we right, we started that and our focus, it wasn't necessarily only the city schools, but it became the big the big piece of it. And that that's sort of James, that's sort of where we were headed, that question tends to emanate from, we want to be helpful, we want to be helpful in a meaningful way,

you definitely want to want to give a shout out to our tech community. And you guys, you did a yeoman's job of of pulling it together, providing the beyond the laptops for us, which helped us get a large portion of our one to one devices for our students, and that we were able to make sure that all students based on need who needed a laptop to begin the school year, they had a laptop, but also they had access to the internet as well. We have partnerships with them Comcast t mobile and sprint that provided those hotspots and hard wired internet access in homes as well. But also partnership with the Housing Authority, the Housing Authority, caster, Binney, and his staff actually provided all the all the computers and internet access for families, and students that were in the housing authority buildings, so great partnerships around the city, with our foundation communities, as well, with our university partners, tremendous outreach and collaboration. Thank you.

Thank you. And to all of you though, and, and back to James's questioning on this to all of us that the tech community would like to participate if there are ways in terms of mentorship and, and contributions as well. So it's both financial as well as time. And our job at the tech Council is to make sure and our wishes to make sure that we are connected. Because none of you in during these incredible times, none of you can do this alone. And us wanting to have an impact. And to touch that is real, is real people care about that. And I think that's why we have so many people that are interested in this conversation today and hopefully in the conversations that that continue. So Jonathan, are there a couple of more questions? I know there was conversation out there some chatter about trust, about conversations around trust, and maybe you can craft a question from that. Yeah,

I think we've a couple of questions around to you. How do you build that trust for you know, allowing schools into people's homes when it comes to the the at home education and so forth?

Who wants to anyone want to take that? Because now we're I mean, I

can, I can speak to that a little bit. Because we do do Google meets where kids are online, and we are in their homes, and, and we do our best safety wise, you know, cameras off microphone off, when we're teaching lessons and students aren't on, you know, the entire time, open to the public, I can tell you that we have built a great deal of trust with our families, it's important that they know what our expectations are. And we know what they expect in their homes and, you know, working and having conversations if and when there are issues with those families. And working together, I think that's really been the biggest key is is the development of that trust, and making sure that the communication is out there open and honest. And I think if you do that, that helps. And then I also think you know, the platform you use, as long as you're making sure that you use the proper security, and you make sure you're prepared for that. And the teachers are that are teaching lessons are prepared for that. I think that allows for us to develop that trust of being in homes.

I'd like to speak to that as well. We have we have found in wilkinsburg, that the engagement of our families and the trust that between the families and our school district has really, really increased. I think there are parents are feeling more comfortable with that. Like I said, the online platform, as superintendent Harris mentioned, we have every teacher in our district is paired with an online teacher and I mean, say like a guidance counselor, our social worker, our school nurse, every one every staff person is all hands on deck there, they're paired, so that there is someone always available to connect with the child and or a parent who's having any type of difficulty. And so if a child is not logging on, we have that teacher has a partner right on the spot to be able to say can you email that parent can you call that parent I can't tell you how much our parents are appreciating that. And that's helped them feel comfortable around this online platform. So that's something we put in place we communicate regularly with them, I do a lot of messages via the robo call system, they get text messages from me all the time, and just about any and everything. And I've gotten feedback around how they really do appreciate that. So much so that if you know, as we listen for concerns, we just have not heard them. I like to say sometimes the silence has been the greatest indicator of data to us that things will work well around that continuity of how we remain consistent in our approach, and so that their kids are consistently getting what they need. And so our parents and I'll turn around responsive rate is beyond anything we could imagine during this very difficult time. So I think we've done a great job of that it will spread. And that's something again, we will continue to capitalize on us because many of our parents are engaging, and loving us more. And I'll mention one other thing around our special education piece. You know, there's always been a concern around just attendance at meetings, we're finding that our parents are appreciating that opportunity to have IEP meetings online, and the tendency of these meetings is increased. So that engagement around that piece and around very intricate, delicate information, confidential information on the student, they're very comfortable with how we've set that up online so that they can be engaged, participate and get the necessary paperwork that comes out of that meeting, to sign. So that's an ongoing goal. We continue to look at that we meet on it all the time, how can we even increase that, and but it is very important, I think we've done a good job of that it won't

hurt. Anyone else want to want to add to that? Jonathan is probably Time for one more common

in terms of professional development for teachers, given the new hybrid environment that we're in how to teachers maintain their skills.

So I'd love to talk to someone else.

Superintendent, who Ruskin already put a whole list in the chat in terms of what he does. So is there you know, make sure that you look at that. And you can see the list of development. Anyone else want to take a stab at answering that?

I'll try to add to this. our learning management system we use is Canvas, which CMU Penn State Harvard uses. Our students are using it in a lot of other schools. I know Duquesne, Susan's shaking her head, kindergarten all the way through 12th. grade is using Canvas, our learning management system, but we're using our students are utilizing this but we're also building courses out for our staff to be able to take courses using our learning management system. So the staff is, is utilizing the same system our kids are learning from their learning, professional development. And even one of the superintendence talked about, almost like personalized learning kids can work at their own pace. It's the same thing for staff, some staff, you know, they struggle with some initial things with with digital with a digital ecosystem, and then others pick it up a lot faster. So you can use your learning management system for professional development for your staff, and they can work at their own pace, and move ahead, you know, the days are over putting all your staff in an auditorium and giving them the same information. We have to personalize the learning for our staff too, because they all have strengths and weaknesses.

Yeah, I like to piggyback on that we did something similar to the end and Wilkins furred. I do like the point about that self paced because this whole Google platform was new for us, we embraced it over the summer and out we partnered with the A IU and Allegheny County and we were able to provide for our staff a cycle of learning around Google Classroom, they went through about 13 separate units on from learning the basics to learning all of the technology, how to teach kids face, their head, all the technical pieces that our teachers would need to know. And I will say we were able to do a lot of that we found some programs online that our students our teachers were able to use to enhance those skills so that professional development is is key. Because we knew that we had to raise the rigor around that instruction. And we will also not only raising the instructional rigor we were trying to definitely sustaining that. But now you have this technology piece on top that they are delivering this instruction to that platform, and we did not want to sacrifice the learning of our students. So the platform over the summer was to engage in very heavy professional development on we have a half day out to the year now we have seven, six days on the year. And all during this, every platform every PD day our teachers are actively getting now more training around the Google passive implementation to content like math and literacy. So it is an ongoing challenge but I think that's something that never goes away and something we will keep To look at it wilkinsburg

I think that on a smaller school districts and I just wanted to respond real quickly, you know, all of a Todd and Linda said are important. You know, there's no more huge professional development, a lot of independent, but we have found as a district, that some of our very best professional development comes from within of those people that have made themselves experts in different technological sources or resources or programs. And they teach each other and we have found that that has been some of our best professional development, and is not necessarily at a huge cost when districts struggle during this time of the pandemic, you know, money wise, that has proven to be very effective in helping us implement our technology program. And that is obviously kudos to our staff and administration.

So I know that we're we've exceeded our time. And I could spend a lot more time with each and every one of you, I want to, I just want to say to all of you, as well as the people who are listening, that we have a speaker's bureau at the tech Council, it's a stem, we call it like the stem Bureau to bring people who are across the technology and innovation community who have expertise or who have a passion around, you know, engineering, computer science, security, etc. And our aim is to bring them into the classrooms, as it makes sense with the curriculum design. So we have lots of people in in these companies that want to share their expertise. And our role is to bridge that gap. So I say that to each and every one of you superintendents that we're here for you really we're here for you, because we intentionally want to be able to do that. And we can do that easily in this world right now, as well. But we know that it takes both sides to sort of create a nice bridge for those partnerships. So I want to I want to say that the other thing that I want to say that you know, we are work today is tressie Three Rivers Educational Technology Conference, and it is continuing education. And when we've had speakers, we even include speakers like the founder of do Linga, talking about his history coming from Guatemala, building his third company coming to Carnegie Mellon and and talking so we're giving students and teachers access to people who are actually building tomorrow, both right here in Pittsburgh and around the world. So I want to thank everyone, each and every one of you James Harris, from the Woodland Hills School District. Thank you so much. Sue Moyer, from Duquesne school district you can hear each and every one of them are taking their own approach with it's really hands on. I don't know how you do the work they do. Same thing to our friend Todd, Dr. Kuru skin from the Elizabeth forward School District, who was always such a good student and provided lots of information inside the chat. And Dr. Anthony Hamlet, thank you again for for the work that you've done over time and taking on the issues that have faced the Pittsburgh School District. And I know it's been a lot and I know that you and your team have been working feverishly around the clock. Also, thank you, Janet, Superintendent sardian, from from York to make sure that we, you know, we understand that there's rural areas that are deeply impacted and don't have access and that you've been working ferociously to make sure that people and their families have the tools that they need. And in Williamsburg, which is adjacent to Pittsburgh, and it's a very diverse community. Dr. Iverson, you've been leading a lot of work. And really, there was a, there was a shout out to you in the chat, for the work that you did to make sure that technology was in everyone's hands. These are complex times know, an hour of conversation with all of you doesn't do it justice. I know that your time is precious. But really, you spending the time with us actually matters, because schools make Pittsburgh schools make this region, having great schools and having great education are what attracts businesses and companies and people to plant their flag near the future. And we're competing, we're all competing for the same kinds of talent, and they are our future. It's not necessarily people who come from outside the region, who are going to solve the problems for tomorrow. They're right here in our backyard, and we're not giving them the support they need through our business relationships. We're not doing our work. So I hope that each and every one of you find time to take care of yourselves. I know that's got to be hard with a year in this pandemic. And hopefully soon you'll have a vaccine and you'll be able to move out a little bit more freely. But I can tell you, we're not going backwards. We're not going back. We've seen the changes and we're not going back. So I'm going to wrap up the show saying I am just So in awe and appreciative of each and every one of you, we will stay connected. Don't we are not strangers, your work matters to us. So I want to thank everyone for joining us today. And for those of you who never have joined business, as usual, get on our mailing list, because we are having serious conversations about all things that affect us. And each and every one of us, whether it's kids, whether it's business, whether it's food, whether it's public policy, we are talking about those things and trying to figure out stronger solutions. So I want to thank all of you. We're gonna take, we're gonna sign off for now stay safe, and it wasn't even a school day. So what do I mean snow day? There's no more snow days, right? That's a thing of the past, right? Yes. No days. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai