PreK–12 districts are currently considering multiple options for the 2020–21 school year and beyond. Fully returning to traditional in-person settings seems unlikely next year, and recent guidance from the Centers for Disease Control lists the many safeguards that would need to be in place before buildings reopen and students are back to classrooms that resemble what they had before.¹ It is clear that some type of distance learning—as well as efforts to ensure all students can get online—must be a part of districts' planning for the next school year and beyond. But terms used to describe distance learning are often muddled and misused, leading to misunderstandings about what students, parents, and teachers should expect.

As educators with expertise in designing, planning for, and implementing learning experiences using online tools and digital materials, we have created this resource to clarify the various types of distance learning that will likely take place this fall, as well as propose four possible scenarios for PreK–12 during and in the wake of this pandemic. In addition, we provide categorized lists of questions and considerations that school and district leaders will need to keep in mind. Where possible we provide links to resources and guidance published by organizations we know and trust that have specialized knowledge on the topics we outline.

These new models of teaching and learning require frequent and transparent communication. In the likelihood of these proposed scenarios, we encourage leaders to be as clear as possible to ensure every student, teacher, support staff, parent, and caregiver remains safe, healthy, and connected. Teachers and support staff need to know they are supported through successes and failures. Students need to know they are seen and heard, despite not always being together in person in school buildings. Parents also need to know they are seen, heard, and supported through these transitions. The well-being of every single stakeholder in and around the school is of utmost importance, and we encourage leaders to check in regularly with their community.

The multidisciplinary field of distance education has been growing for decades, with new models and research emerging regularly to add to an already robust body of knowledge and expertise. Scholars have defined distance education as “planned learning that normally occurs in a different place from teaching, requiring special techniques of course design and instruction, communication through various technologies, and special organizational and administrative arrangements.”² It is critical to emphasize “planned” within this definition to help us position the systematic considerations, resources, training, and development that are implemented to support distance learning.

The history of K–12 distance learning in the United States began in 1910 in the form of an instructional film.³ As technology evolved, so did distance learning. For example, in the 1920s, the Wisconsin School of the Air used educational radio to serve K–12 students.⁴ By 1994, K–12 learning via the web emerged from Laurel Springs School, a private school in California.⁵ At the turn of the century, in the 2000–01 academic school year, 40,000 to 50,000 students were estimated to have enrolled in at least one online course.⁶ Now, according to the Snapshot 2020 report from the Digital Learning Collaborative, “the percentage of students using digital content for instructional purposes in some form or fashion is approaching 100%” and, while data do not exist on how many online courses are completed by primary or secondary students each year, the report estimates it is at least “several million.”⁷

In the vast distance education landscape, communication technologies such as radio, television, mobile technology, and the internet act as the delivery methods for distance learning and distance education.⁸ However, communication technologies are not the sole focus of distance education; rather, distance education is a system that encompasses the benefits and challenges of teaching, learning, policy, and administration. In this context, online learning and online education are the most contemporary methods of delivering and accessing learning experiences in the field of distance education.⁹ According to Randy Garrison, an education professor at the University of Calgary, there are two approaches to online education.¹⁰ The first provides access to tools and employs techniques to deliver content for students to receive independently. The second transforms teaching and learning at a distance by leading educators and students to engage in collaborative communities of inquiry (COI).

During the past two-and-a-half months, educators, parents, and students were thrown into what may be described as crisis distance learning, or an impromptu pivot to distance learning delivery to meet the demands of state-wide shelter-in-place orders and federal recommendations. The spectrum of crisis distance learning ranged from “drive-by” course material pickups to telephone check-ins to haphazard online lesson plans and ad-hoc video conferences, all of which can be considered a low-fidelity migration to support continuity. Not only were students and their families challenged in unique situations, but educators were taking on multiple roles which, in a planned move to a well-structured online distance education system, would typically be distributed to an instructional designer, academic tutor, technology coordinator, librarian, media specialist, or guidance counselor. Furthermore, educational systems were forced to hastily develop and unveil continuity of learning and instructional plans to communicate a path forward. Most of these plans acted as “living documents” (meaning they were being updated even as they were being implemented) to address emergency needs as resources were identified, policies were formalized, and structures were developed.

Crisis distance learning exposed existing inequities in schools and districts. Those with broad access to devices and broadband internet, teachers and support staff already trained to use remote technologies, and families who remained employed and financially secure were vastly more prepared to slip into remote mode and support students. And schools and districts across the board were forced to acknowledge that they did not have systems in place to provide services to students with a range of needs, from English learners to students with disabilities. For example, the application of universal design principles (UDL) and accessibility guidelines was a challenge. In a more planned approach, mobile learning (a subfield of distance learning) could be leveraged to deliver instruction and communicate both synchronously or asynchronously with students if access to the internet or computers is limited. Also, some mobile design principles (such as a focus on intuitive and simple interfaces) are closely related to UDL and accessibility policies; features like voice recognition and the ability to zoom in on text can support students with disabilities while also affording younger learners an opportunity to engage with the content.

A more planned approach will also take better advantage of delivery methods that are both asynchronous (when interactions happen over time) and synchronous (happening in real time). For example, we can shift away from traditional teacher-centered models—in which an educator presents in a one-way delivery method, utilizes a static artifact such as a textbook, and works through a linear assessment plan—and move towards a student-centered learning design. By putting students in the center of the learning process, educators can employ active learning strategies including problem-based learning to encourage both critical thinking and reflection in a meaningful way.¹¹ This kind of teaching and learning can occur in any number of environments, whether in-person, blended, or at a distance (see diagram below on how these overlap). Distance learning is usually facilitated through learning management systems (LMS), online learning environments (OLE), and the integration of asynchronous discussion forums and synchronous video conferencing. These tools help to promote student interactions with classmates, teachers, and class content.

Distance learning, as with other modalities and models, offers advantages and limitations. However, the advantages are not achieved by merely replacing face-to-face content with online content. Instead, we need to map the complexity of the learning delivery models and balance the exchange of educational theory with pragmatic decisions including costs, technical support, accessibility, functionality, and quality assurance standards. We should use self-reflection, inquiry, and analysis to share our experiences, findings, and best practices in order to adopt solutions, strategies, and processes within our own professional communities. Now, with a few months to prepare for the 2020–21 academic school year, we can use lessons from the field of distance education to make decisions from a systems perspective.

The Aurora Institute (formerly known as iNACOL) published The Online Learning Definitions Project in 2011, from which we draw many of our definitions for this report.¹² Where definitions are from other sources, we have cited the source.

A return to full in-person teaching and learning in the fall is highly unlikely. Experts are using historical data to predict what will happen this fall and winter, but many school and community leaders acknowledge there are too many unknowns to commit to bringing groups of people together in brick-and-mortar school buildings in the same way as before. Additionally, the CDC guidance released in mid-May suggests that school buildings should not open until a school system is able to protect children and employees at higher risk for severe illness and screen students and employees for symptoms.¹³ School district leaders are facing difficult decisions on how to proceed with in-person learning, such as reducing the number of students in buildings at any one time and changing hourly, daily, or weekly schedules. These in-person considerations, which will depend on local and state guidance, are numerous, complex, and beyond the scope of our expertise in developing this resource. Our focus here is on the distance learning side of the puzzle.

We have envisioned four scenarios that involve distance learning to varying degrees, and the considerations we pose for leaders are designed to assist in thinking through the distance-learning components of these scenarios. None are perfect solutions—each has its own set of challenges and drawbacks and we recognize that each district is approaching this from different contexts, depending on levels of funding, resources, and support up to now. We lay them out here to simply help leaders think through what might work best for their families and students and to consider how and if to undertake various elements of each.

• Scenario A: Brick to Click Learning
• Scenario B: Click to Brick Learning
• Scenario C: Blended Learning
• Scenario D: Online Learning

Please note that in all of the scenarios below, the cost of making these changes will need to be taken into account. Although we do not attempt to break down costs in this resource, the investment needed to make changes will differ greatly across school districts depending on multiple factors, including whether districts need to consider outlays for extending internet connectivity at home for students and teachers. Moving to these modes of learning requires districts to plan ahead and work with community organizations to ensure that high-speed internet access is available to students in their homes. (For example, schools can partner with city agencies, public libraries, or housing associations to provide portable Wi-Fi hotspots.)

In scenario A, the ABC school district has decided to resume traditional in-person classes with the flexibility to quickly pivot to distance education in the event of a COVID-19 outbreak. The superintendent of ABC worked closely with county government and health officials to monitor the CDC guidance and state education agency guidelines to reopen in phases.

Over the course of the summer, all teachers and support staff will receive professional development in online learning, ideally spread out over weeks so that they are not asked to digest and process a whole new way of working in a compressed time frame. While the goal is to return to traditional in-person classes, the expectation of all teachers will be to mirror their classrooms in online learning environments. The likelihood of another rise in infections is relatively high, so this model will allow for a quick pivot to online learning. For example, if the number of cases jumps quickly mid-week, the district would send home instructional materials within 48 hours and then continue learning online the following week.

This scenario requires all educators, support staff, students, parents, and caregivers to remain nimble in the likelihood that there are quick changes in the way learning is accessed.

In scenario B, the EFG school district has decided to start with online learning and plans to resume traditional in-person classes on a modified basis when safe to do so. The superintendent of EFG worked closely with county government and health officials to assess the situation, but deemed it best to start online and continue monitoring public health before resuming school in-person.

Over the course of the summer, all teachers and support staff will receive professional development, ideally spread out over the summer, in how to teach using online learning environments, and professional learning will be ongoing throughout the school year.¹⁴ All academic instruction will be conducted online for the duration of the school year, while plans for in-person learning (when safe to resume) will focus on advising and building teacher-student relationships. In-person schedules will allow teachers, support staff, and students to rotate through the buildings following a half-day schedule every day or full-days one to two times per week. In-person classes may not be fully attended, since it will be up to parental and caregiver choice, so teachers and support staff will be expected to maximize their limited time to support students with technology troubleshooting, mental health, social-emotional learning, relationship-building, and special services that are difficult to provide over the internet.

This scenario requires all educators, support staff, students, parents, and caregivers to consider online learning the primary method of working towards competency in a grade level and/or content area, while in-person learning is focused on relationship-building and developing non-academic skills.

In scenario C, the LMN school district has decided to institute a blended learning model across all schools. Blended learning is a combination of learning that takes place in a school building and in an online environment that can include both synchronous and asynchronous learning opportunities. The leaders of LMN decided on this model because they wanted to offer as regular a school calendar as possible.

Over the course of the summer, all teachers and support staff will receive additional professional learning on how to teach using blended learning methods. The LMN school district will work to ensure some uniformity in schedules across the buildings. Schools may consider one of the seven blended learning models (see Instructional Strategy section below), or any combination thereof. Younger learners may benefit from more in-person instruction if possible, whereas older students may be able work more independently in an online setting. For example, students may have one in-person learning day with the rest of the week’s learning completed online. Schools that already work in a blended environment have the capability to quickly move to full online mode if there is an outbreak of COVID-19, because the coursework already lives online within a learning management system (LMS). Brick-and-mortar activities, such as direct instruction, can be moved to video conferencing, and other face-to-face activities can be adapted for an online experience.

This scenario requires all educators, support staff, students, parents, and caregivers to consistently approach teaching and learning in two delivery formats—in-person and online.

In scenario D, the XYZ school district has decided to move all learning experiences and services online through a proactive, purposeful, and systems-based approach. The superintendent of XYZ chose this delivery model to provide flexibility for all stakeholders through both synchronous and asynchronous modalities and to limit any health and safety risks potentially posed by having students and staff reenter school buildings.

Professional development is needed to prepare for a structured approach for the 2020–21 academic school year. Over the course of the summer, all teachers and support staff will receive at least two weeks (80 additional hours) of professional learning in online learning. In addition to professional development workshops and training on online pedagogy and the technology tools, the XYZ school district recognizes the value and the power in developing mentoring relationships and learning communities for ongoing continuous knowledge and improvement. Furthermore, the technical infrastructure needs to take an “all-hands-on-deck” approach to provide scalable, secure, and intuitive solutions that support state and federal policies.

Because this scenario means that teachers never see their students in person, it requires all educators, support staff, students, parents, and caregivers to find ways to use communication technologies (even phone calls) to pay close attention to the development of each child and ensure that appropriate grade-level growth is happening while learning takes place at a distance. In addition, it may be a scenario that is most appropriate for high schools and middle schools only; requiring younger students to do all work online at home would require an adult to be at home with them, which puts a large burden on working parents.

The following questions are intended to help district and school leaders think about the multiple dimensions of their systems affected by moving to a “brick to click,” “click to brick,” blended learning, or online learning model. Some of the questions are followed by footnotes; click on the superscript number to see quick links to resources specific to that topic. An annotated list of resources is at the end of this report.

• Mission, Vision, Goals, and Strategic Plans: How will you continue to work towards meeting these when education is delivered online?
• Policy Alignment: How will your school district administer, deliver, and sustain high-quality distance education that aligns with state and federal policy?
• Strategic Staffing: Will your school district identify and hire instructional designers, student support specialists, IT support and technology infrastructure administrators, leadership managers and executives, and administrative support staff?¹⁵
• Budgets: Could you revise budgets to purchase new technologies, hire additional staff, and fund student support services? How will you determine equitable, cost-effective, and scalable technology tools to deliver course content and material; support teacher and student interactions; and manage administrative procedures like student services, financial accounts, student enrollment and registration, and quality assurance procedures? Many operating costs will shift from supporting physical facilities to purchasing technology tools and infrastructure.
• Timeline: How will you create a well-defined timeline for faculty and staff to implement course materials and instructional components in an online format? In most cases, it takes months to develop, design, and implement online courses. Using project management skills to articulate a scope of work, outline tasks, and define who will complete the task and when is critical. Will you pilot various approaches? Will you develop benchmarks? Will you expand cross multiple phases?
• Change Management: How will you prepare for a systemic and cultural shift? For those shifting to a student-centered instructional approach (which, as noted above, could be supported by technology-assisted pedagogical methods, such as acting on student ideas emerging from conversation encouraged in online chats), how will this change teachers’ perceptions of their roles?
• Communication: How will you communicate decisions quickly, safely, and effectively with staff, students, and families?
• Staff Meetings: How will you deliver scheduled and ad-hoc staff meetings both in person (using social distancing measures) and online?
• Staff Communication: Which communication channels will you use? Will your IT department support specific tools (Microsoft Teams, Slack, Google Groups, etc.)?
• Bussing: Families are supported in however they choose to get their children to/from schools. If considering bussing options, how will students be seated on the bus? What types of screening for symptoms might be conducted before children get on the bus? How will drivers sanitize buses between routes? What health and safety precautions will be taken for bus riders and drivers?

• Summer: How will you use the summer months to provide professional development on how to teach using online tools and digital materials? How will teachers be involved in making decisions about what instructional materials should be integrated into course content online?¹⁶
• Ongoing Support: How can professional learning be better embedded in the week-to-week routines of teachers and made relevant to specific challenges they face in their virtual or in-person classrooms?
• Teacher-Led: How could you take advantage of this moment to build more opportunities for teachers to take the lead in developing and implementing professional learning. How might you encourage collaboration across teacher teams?¹⁷
• Professional Learning Community (PLC) or Department Meetings: How will these meetings be scheduled and delivered virtually?

• Attendance and Participation: Consider shifting terminology from attendance to participation. Participation may look like attending in person, attending synchronous classes, submitting work, participating in discussion boards and office hours, and contributing to learning journal reflection blogs. How will you determine the criteria for participation? How will your school district determine its attendance window for state reporting?
• Grading: When done well, blended and online learning presents the same level of rigor (in both content and expectations for student learning) as in-person learning, and grading scales should remain consistent. In what ways can students show mastery of standards and skills expected in each content area and grade level? How can grading reflect that? How often are teachers expected to update grades? How will you communicate with parents regarding failures or lack of student engagement?
• Instructional Time: District leaders should not expect teachers, support staff, and students to continue the average amount of instructional time for in-person courses. How will your school district make adjustments for synchronous and asynchronous learning times?¹⁸
• Teacher Evaluations: How will you determine what constitutes best practices for blended and online instruction, and how will you modify teacher evaluation processes to reflect those? How can best practices in blended and online schools be applied to assess how teachers are effectively leading? How will you consult with your state education agency and teachers’ union to approve teacher evaluation?
• Course Quality: Not only does online learning need to meet state learning standards, but it also needs to meet quality standards defined by third-party evaluators in the field. How are courses being evaluated for standards-alignment, rigor, and more?¹⁹
• Assessment: In online environments, schools will need to implement new ways of measuring students’ growth and determining whether they have mastered new skills and concepts. How will you use assessment to continue driving instruction and ensure tests are administered with integrity? For example, the LMS may have options that can be enabled to employ proctoring services and tools to reinforce academic integrity, such as a lockdown browser. What approaches will you ask your teachers to take and what tools will they need? What will you do to measure and address learning loss from the spring semester of 2020?

• District-Issued Devices: Devices administered by a school district are the property of the district. What devices do students have access to for online learning? How will the devices be distributed, monitored, repaired when necessary, and returned? Will different devices be used for primary versus secondary students? How will work and data on these devices be maintained and kept safe through various cloud infrastructures (Box, G Suite, Dropbox)?
• Connectivity: Are you certain all students can get online at home?²⁰ What is your plan for assessing the connectivity needs of your students²¹ Could schools establish partnerships with community organizations, such as public libraries, to provide hotspots for home use or to set up Wi-Fi areas in parking lots and other spaces where students can go online at a safe distance?
• Tools: Which tools already vetted and approved by the school district will be used to conduct teaching and learning in person and online? If there are additional ed tech tools needed to execute certain activities, what is the process of getting these approved by the district in an expedited manner to avoid any interrupted learning?
• Learning Management System (LMS): In order to efficiently and effectively deliver content online, it is critical to have an LMS in place. What LMS will your district use? How will teachers and support staff be trained on it? Will a different LMS be used in primary versus secondary schools? Most LMS have an integration with the school's student information system (SIS) in order to populate courses and enroll students. How will this be handled? Who will be in charge of enrolling students in courses?
• District-Supplied Email: Will all students have access to a district-supplied email account?
• Audio/Video Conferencing: Synchronous learning modalities require these systems. Which audio/video conference tool will your school district use? How can you ensure that it is Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) compliant to maintain student data privacy?
• Single Sign-On: Consider whether your school district should use single sign-on. How would a single sign-on ease student access to all district-approved software?
• Acceptable Use Policies (AUP) and Responsible Use Policies (RUP): Students will need training on AUP and RUP for all technology. How will your school district provide training and ensure each student has completed it prior to signing the policy agreement?
• Data Security and Privacy: All teachers and support staff need training on upholding data security and privacy when outside of the physical school building and when it comes to posting student work and information. How are IT teams delivering this training and how are they ensuring that every teacher and support staff has successfully completed it? Authentication and password protections help ensure designated people have access to courses, content, and information. How will your school district designate these people? Will teachers and support staff be considered, or will it only be IT staff? Who will communicate these policies and standards in easily digestible formats to teachers, support staff, students, parents, and caregivers?²²
• Content Management System (CMS): Teachers and support staff will need access to all of their courses, instructional materials, and resources in one place. How will a CMS be used to provide ease of use for teachers and support staff?

• School Counselors, Psychologists, and Nurses: Teachers will need access to and training in trauma-informed practices. This can help them identify when students may be struggling without directly asking for help. How will students access the services of counselors and psychologists when online? How can their interactions remain safe, secure, and confidential? How can telehealth services, including mental health services, be provided to students and staff?
• Librarians and Media Specialists: How can school librarians and media specialists continue to collaborate with teachers, support staff, and students in an online environment? How can physical books and artifacts be shared with students? How can school librarians and media specialists ensure that every student has access to the digital collections available? How can librarians develop consortium partnerships to increase access to library resources, catalogs, and information systems? How can your school districts dedicate full-time librarian support for learners at a distance?
• Extracurricular Programs: How will extracurricular clubs continue when moving online? Will they regularly meet online like they do in person? Which sports will be able to offer training and exercise routines in safe ways, and will they still have access to tracks, fields, and equipment? What is the role of club sponsors, coaches, and program directors in blended or online environments?

• Print Instructional Materials and Manipulatives: How will print instructional materials be accessed digitally? Will your district allow students to take print instructional materials and manipulatives (blocks, beads, puzzles, and other physical learning tools) home when transitioning to online?
• Digital Instructional Materials: How are your digital instructional materials accessed? Is it through a specific platform or is it pushed out through the LMS? Can every student and parent access them? How will they be organized (e.g., modules, folders, calendar, etc.)?
• Open Educational Resources (OER): OER are freely available resources that can be downloaded, edited, and shared. How will your district take advantage of OER? How might you leverage this growing body of resources to support online and blended teaching and learning?²³
• Culturally Relevant and Responsive: How will you work to bring digital materials into blended and online courses that are relevant to your students and that include characters, historical figures, or stories to which they can relate?²⁴
• Purchased, Curated, or Created: What currently owned instructional materials will support this type of learning? Will additional instructional materials need to be procured? Will purchased materials serve every learner? Will your school district curate resources? Will your school district create resources? How and by whom will these resources be reviewed for standards-alignment and quality?
• Multimodal: How will presentations, videos, text, interactives, images, audio files, and simulations be adaptable to an online format or experience? Will students have access to tools that enable them to create and view these materials?
• Library Collection: How might you partner with public libraries to share digital collections and enable students, parents, and educators to obtain public library cards for checking out e-books and participating in virtual programming?

• Instructional Practice: Some schools were already shifting their instructional practices toward inquiry-based learning prior to Spring 2020 a move that enables students to have more agency over their learning and be more engaged in content. How will you approach inquiry-based learning in an online learning environment? How will leaders support shifting instructional practice to encourage more inquiry-based learning or project-based learning?
• Blended Instructional Models: In order to increase engagement and accountability in all four of our scenarios, teachers and support staff may consider blended instructional models. How can teachers of different grade levels use these various instructional models?²⁵
• Digital Tools: How can teachers, support staff, and students utilize video conferencing and other digital tools (e.g., screen sharing, white boards, recorded lessons, chat rooms, etc.) to collaborate, communicate, create, and problem-solve?
• Collaboration: How can teachers collaborate with students to ask thoughtful questions, seek out answers, research, and create projects showing their learning?
• Prioritizing Human Relationships: Shifting to an online environment can affect the one-on-one relationships needed to support each student’s social-emotional development and academic and cognitive growth. How will you use technology to assist in preserving or developing relationships (using online translation services, for example) while prioritizing human relationships and human-to-human interaction?²⁶

• Special Education Services: Every teacher and support staff member should know which students are on an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or 504 Plan (named after a section of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973) and what accommodations and modifications are required for their students’ learning experiences. How will these plans be shared with other teachers and support staff? How will classroom teachers, special education teachers, and paraeducators provide services in the online learning environment? How will occupational therapy, physical therapy, and/or speech/language therapy continue online?²⁷
• English Language Learner Services: Every teacher and support staff member should know which students are identified as English learners and their level, as well as what accommodations and modifications are required for learning. How will these plans/files be shared with other teachers and support staff? How will classroom teachers, English learner teachers, and paraeducators provide services in the online learning environment? How and when will English learners be assessed for reclassification?²⁸
• Linguistic Diversity and Language Support: Which digital materials will need to be offered in languages other than English? Will translation services and translation tools be made available to students and their families?²⁹
• Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS): How will students receiving tiered interventions continue to receive small group/specialized instruction? How often will benchmarks be given to assess whether students need to change tiers? When will these discussions take place with teachers and support staff?
• Student Characteristics and Preferences: Online learning can be more inclusive, if thoughtfully and purposely designed and supported with teacher facilitation. How will your school district assess student characteristics and preferences in their learning? How will these data be used in course creation and delivery?
• Accessibility and Universal Design for Learning (UDL): Online learning reduces barriers for students with disabilities if UDL principles are embedded in course content. How will your school district ensure classes are accessible? How can instructional designers be leveraged to help design classes using UDL principles?³⁰

• Parent and Caregiver Access: Will parents and caregivers have access to the digital tools their children are using? How will they get access to these tools and platforms?
• Parent and Caregiver Training: Some of these devices and tools are new to parents and caregivers. What training will be provided to help them feel comfortable with their use? How will your school district develop and share resources, including documentation and getting started activities, for parents and caregivers on technologies their children will be using? How can your school district provide basic tutorials on how to use LMS (even if these are from the student’s point of view) and other tools?
• Parent and Caregiver Communication: How will you ensure multiple communication channels are used to reach every parent and caregiver? What translation and interpretation services will be required to reach non-English speaking families? When and how often will your school district engage parents and caregivers?
• Parent and Caregiver Learning Community: Just as students in these new scenarios need community, so too do their parents and caregivers. How will your school district encourage parents and caregivers to develop a learning community where they can connect synchronously and asynchronously? Are there tools/platforms that the school district uses that could also be used with parents and caregivers?
• Tutoring: Will you provide parents and students with resources and guidance for connecting with online tutoring or one-on-one support
• At-Home Learning Environment: How can you help parents and family members create opportunities for studying, learning, and connecting? What kinds of at-home adventures and games (scavenger hunts within apartment buildings, online bingo, word puzzles, and more) can you facilitate that would bring families together for learning moments, especially in households with young children? In situations where space is limited and more than one family may be residing together, how can you help support students’ needs?

We hope that the four scenarios and the elements to consider will help all kinds of school districts. While we would love to say what the future holds in PreK–12 teaching and learning, we simply have more questions to consider.

• What best practices and lessons learned will be carried forward?
• What systemic changes have shifted our policies, relationships, and practices?
• How will we ensure that students and families with less connectivity and fewer resources get the most support?

Of all the questions now, the biggest question is what will be our new “normal”? As we envision post-pandemic PreK–12 education, it is possible that a blend of all four scenarios intertwine to form a more-inclusive and multimodal approach to teaching, learning, and serving the community. Previous barriers to high-quality content and materials, technology and connectivity, and cooperation between institutions may dissolve and ease as we are forced to acknowledge the inequities that always existed. But to get there, whole communities will need to work together to ensure that students and families have the resources they need, whether it is internet access or access to mental health support and tech troubleshooting. No matter our particular context, this is the opportunity to support and engage every learner, everywhere.

The following list of resources is not definitive or exhaustive, but this collection of resources can help get you started in your planning. Some resources are general, while others address specific considerations noted in the table.