Top 5 Tech Tips to Support Your Child with Personalized Learning at Home 

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During the COVID-19 closure, College Board is continuing to post updates concerning AP testing. Here are the latest updates: 

• 2020 Testing Guide 
• Student Exam Checklist 
• World Language Information 
• Music Theory Information 
• In-depth Educator-Specific FAQs 
• New Videos 

Colleges have already committed to awarding credit and placement for this year’s AP Exams. Admissions officers from across the country offer words of encouragement to AP students in this video.

AP students can now attend free, live AP classes and review, delivered by AP teachers from across the country. These AP classes and reviews are optional and designed to enable AP students to complete the few remaining topics of each AP course and then, throughout April, focus on reviewing the skills and concepts from the first 75% of the course. 

As College Board responds to the impact of coronavirus, our top priorities are the health and safety of students and educators. We’re working hard to make the SAT available in school and out of school as soon as possible.

Since students are currently receiving a Pass or Fail and not individual assignment grades, Gradebook in Skyward has been turned off. Parents can only see the progress report or report card under the “Performance” section in Skyward. For the remainder of the school year, progress reports and report cards will only show Pass (P) or Fail (F). 

If parents have questions or concerns, please contact your child’s teacher directly. 

Updates for AP Students Affected by Coronavirus (COVID-19) | College Board

Find out about AP online take-home exams for 2020 and free classes and review sessions for all subjects on YouTube.

 >View AP Updates for Students Affected by COVID-19

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) for AP Students Affected by Coronavirus (COVID-19) | College Board

A list of popular questions and answers around AP changes in 2020 related to coronavirus (COVID-19).

>View Frequently Asked Questions – AP Coronavirus Updates

The District has been collaborating with curriculum publishing companies on ways to provide continued services. With their guidance, the District is making videos and planning to continue to serve these students at a distance.

>Dyslexia Instruction at Home

Subject: Section 504 Student Parent/Guardian Letter

Due to the current unforeseen public health emergency, specifically the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, all school buildings are closed through at least May 4, 2020. Above all else, the priority during these times remains the safety and health of the students, staff, and our community. The state-mandated closure requires changes to the implementation of educational instruction, causing an emergency disruption to regular school-based instructional services. Until notified otherwise, all instructional services necessary for students to make progress in the general curriculum and services necessary for a free, appropriate public education (“FAPE”) must be provided remotely, and in some circumstances, in a condensed manner. The movement of instruction from a physical building to the Personalized Learning at Home virtual educational opportunity requires a temporary adaptation to your child’s Section 504 Services Plan.

The District has summarized below the its plan to effectively adapt the current Section 504 Services Plan until regular school-based instruction resumes. Once regular school-based instructional services resume, your child’s Section 504 Services Plan will again be implemented. At such time, the District will review all data regarding student progress during the emergency to determine whether to convene a Section 504 committee meeting to consider compensatory services.

Based on the virtual educational opportunities being provided to all students and guidance from federal and state agencies, the District has identified the below-listed services as appropriate for your child’s needs while physical presence in a school building remains unavailable. The Section 504 Services Plan will resume, as before, once physical school buildings re-open to students.

1. The District proposes the following access to academic instruction for your child:

· The Personalized Learning at Home virtual educational opportunity

2. The District proposes to support your child’s educational progress in this academic instruction by providing the following:

· Virtual “check ins” from Teachers, Section 504 Campus Coordinators, and Reading Interventionists

There may be accommodations outlined in your child’s Section 504 Services Plan that may be unavailable while the District is closed.

Parents of children with disabilities have protections under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. You can obtain a copy of the Notice of Procedural Safeguards from The Legal Framework at https://fw.esc18.net/display/Webforms/ESC18-FW-LandingPage.aspx?DT=G&LID=en or View Notice of Procedural Safeguards here.

If you have any questions or need assistance, do not hesitate to reach out to Maria Embrey, District Section 504 Coordinator, at 817-547-5785 or Maria.Embrey@birdvilleschools.net. You can also obtain assistance from Region 11 Educational Service Center at 817-740-3600 or the Texas Education Agency. The District appreciates your patience and flexibility as we all determine the best way to serve your student.

In making the determination to move to a pass/fail approach for the second semester, District and campus leadership focused on the following criteria:

• Due to the vast challenges represented by learning remotely and the need to provide support for students, we needed guidelines which were consistent and equitable for all students.
• The guidelines needed to prevent undue inflation of grades, as well as undue deflation of grades. For instance, giving students a numeric grade of 100 would indicate that all standards were mastered and that might not be the actual case for all students.
• Moving to the pass/fail approach would focus attention on the learning and not on the need to earn a specific grade. This would provide relief to all students as they focus on the core work of learning.
• College admissions typically take a comprehensive approach to evaluating high school transcripts. Students are evaluated in relation to their own district offerings, grading guidelines, opportunities for advanced learning, civic engagement, and leadership opportunities. Colleges almost always recalculate GPAs using their own scale as grading guidelines and learning environments differ so greatly between school systems.
• We ran several scenarios and looked at the effect of giving a numeric grade versus a straight pass/fail option. Both approaches presented greater benefit to struggling students and had minimum effects on the GPA of higher performing students.

We strongly believe that the differences between these two approaches will not have a negative impact on Birdville ISD graduates in the college admissions process.

Based on campus and community feedback, we are extending the due date for assignments given the week of March 30th to Sunday, April 5 at midnight. This will give students and parents some relief.

• The BISD Personalized Learning Online Plan will be delivered online and enables students to study independently at different locations and times, without real-time communication taking place. This Personalized Learning Online Plan provides students and families the flexibility to learn on any device, anywhere, anytime, and on any browser.
  
  
• This Personalized Learning Online Plan provides support for students while recognizing that instructional settings may vary. Students may log on at different times throughout the day.

• Students must submit/turn in completed work for each of their classes on Friday of each week by 11:59 p.m. 
  
  
• Students may complete the assignments any time during the assigned work week
  
  
• Students should contact their grade level/content teacher with questions first

• BISD teachers will design weekly lessons following the Personalized Learning Online Guidelines
  
  
• Teachers will be available during virtual office hours as follows: Monday–Friday, 9–11 a.m. and 1–3 p.m.  Teachers may be reached through email, Google classrooms, or Canvas courses
  
  
• Teachers will monitor student work and provide feedback 
  
  
• Teachers will respond to student questions in a timely manner. Teachers will respond to emails and requests for assistance during virtual office hours. As secondary teachers may have large numbers of students, there may be a slight delay in response time.
  
  
• General education teachers will collaborate with Special Education teachers to ensure lessons address  accommodation as identified in student Individual Education Plans (IEPs), to the extent possible.

Parents/guardians and students will find a link on their campus website that tells them whether the teacher is using Canvas or Google Classroom. Students will log into their My.BirdvilleSchools.net portal to access Canvas or Google Classroom. The lessons are tied to the subject area teacher.

• The amount of work is largely dependent upon the grade level, but should be reasonable for the age of the student.
  
  
• Activities should not require instruction from  parents/guardians; however, some assistance, similar to what parents would provide on a typical homework assignment, may be needed.
  
  
• If students are finding the work too difficult to complete or feel overwhelmed, please contact the teacher.
  
  
• Additional time will be given if the situation calls for it or if it is required to fulfill accommodations.

• Due to the constraints of online learning at this magnitude, and the variance of access and learning environments in the homes, formal grades in Skyward will not be taken.
  
  
• Teachers will focus on providing formative feedback on student assignments/activities.
  
  
• Teachers will use a variety of tools to provide this feedback such as comments on assignments, rubrics, Zoom conferences, email feedback, etc.

• Activities for students identified as English Learners will address student’s cognitive, affective and linguistic needs.
  
  
• Teachers will accommodate the instruction, pacing, and materials to ensure students have a full opportunity to master the content TEKS and the ELPS.
  
  
• Ellevation Education will be used to identify students’ language proficiency levels to address students’ linguistic needs.
  
  
• A menu of strategies and online sites that include second language acquisition methods for ELs will be provided to teachers.
  
  
• Students who participate in the Dual Language Program will continue to receive instruction in the appropriate language as determined by the program model.

Instruction and Related Services

• Many instructional and related services can be provided online. Progress will be continually monitored to ensure students are not slipping. As we monitor student progress, ARD meetings may need to occur to make certain student needs are met.
  
  
• Your student’s special education teacher will work with general education classroom teachers to ensure work is appropriate and modified when necessary. In the event there are questions, please contact your child’s special education teacher.
  
  
• Instructional staff who provide services to our students with disabilities, including students with significant cognitive and physical disabilities, will make every effort to deliver the services and service minutes indicated in each student’s IEP utilizing the platforms available. When educational and related services return to the classroom setting, an ARD meeting may need to be scheduled to determine if additional services are needed.
  
  
• The education of our students with disabilities is very important. As we move to the delivery of instruction through an on-line platform the success will depend on the collaboration of the school and home to ensure our students with disabilities receive the instruction and related services needed.
  
  
• Please reach out directly to your student’s teacher should you have questions or for guidance on how to assist your child at home.

• During the time school is closed and not in session (no educational services offered to all students), ARD meetings are not required unless it is an ARD meeting to address the initiating of special education services.
• In the event  an ARD meeting is needed to address a student’s IEP once school is back in session, (educational services available for all students), parents will be contacted to schedule the ARD at a mutually agreeable time.
• An ARD meeting may be held by teleconference or virtually (if all members are able). 
• Should a parent/guardian not be able to attend or participate in an ARD meeting by teleconference or virtually, the school may request that the meeting be allowed to occur and inform the parent/guardian of the decisions made by the committee.
• A parent/guardian may request an ARD at a later date to discuss the decisions made at the ARD meeting that he/she was not able to attend.

The District has been collaborating with curriculum publishing companies on ways to provide continued services. With their guidance, the District is making videos and planning to continue to serve these students at a distance.

Dyslexia Evaluations

• Any requests for dyslexia assessment made from this point forward will take place at the start of the 2020–2021 school year.
  
  
• For the time being, we are pushing the “pause” button on assessments that were requested but not yet completed prior to when we left for break until we’re given more guidance on that matter.

Section 504 Meetings

• Effective immediately, we are suspending the BISD procedure to have Section 504 meetings annually. Instead, we will adhere to the Federal requirement to convene a Section 504 meeting every three years.
  
  
• The only Section 504 meetings that will be required to be conducted will be for students who have not had a meeting in the past three years. For example, if a student has not had a Section 504 meeting since March, April or May of 2017 then they would be on the list to have a Section 504 meeting. These Section 504 meetings would be scheduled and parents/guardians notified by email or phone call. If an email is sent, the “Read Receipt” option on the email should be selected for documentation purposes. Possible methods for conducting a Section 504 meeting include conference calls, Zoom meetings, Google meetings or Go To meetings. Please advise the parents/guardians that their participation is welcomed but not mandatory.
  
  
• For annual reviews that HAVE been scheduled, parents/guardians will be given the choice to either conduct the meeting virtually, over the phone, or to reschedule it for the 2020–2021 school year.

• Current General Education Homebound (GEH) students will continue receiving their services either online through Edgenuity or virtually from their GEH teacher (because homebound teachers will not be able to go into student’s homes). 
  
  
• Any future GEH students would receive the same personalized learning at home as general education. In many cases, the parent/guardian may withdraw their request for GEH. The parents who still want GEH can be notified that depending on the nature of their student’s impairment, they will only be expected to complete as much of their personalized learning as they can tolerate.

TWU Dual Credit has closed until March 22, 2020. All TWU instructors are BISD teachers and they will follow the same platform for delivery of instruction as noted for all general education students.

Tarrant County College Dual Credit 

TCC is committed to continuing to deliver quality instruction and helping our students achieve their goals. TCC classes will resume Monday, March 23. Although your physical high school campuses may remain closed, the dual credit classes will be delivered to your students online through the MyTCC portal.

• Students should verify they can log in to the MyTCC portal and access their class: https://my.tccd.edu .
  For login assistance, click tech support or contact TECH 24/7 at 817-515-8324;
  
  Log in to their MyTCC email and read all communication from their Instructor;

• Prepare for future instruction through Blackboard by visiting the How To tab; and
  
  
• Be mindful that online instruction is not self-paced for Dual Credit TCC students. The Instructor will provide students with a calendar and clear deadlines for completing their coursework each week. To optimize their success, students should prepare to meet these deadlines and log in to their course site regularly.