Parents & Schools
December 12, 2020ID5997
To CiteDCA Citation Guide
- 00:00A really full full hour and I want
- 00:03to be sure that everyone who's
- 00:06speaking has their full time.
- 00:09I am once again Linda Mays from the
- 00:11Child study center and thanks so much
- 00:13for those of you who are joining us
- 00:15for the first time today and those
- 00:18of you who joined us yesterday
- 00:20and had the continuity with today.
- 00:22As you know, if you joined us yesterday,
- 00:24this has been a remarkable time for
- 00:27the center. As for our country,
- 00:29As for all of our communities.
- 00:31And we have.
- 00:32We have been in the middle of the
- 00:34pandemic and are in the middle now of
- 00:37our second surge or our third surge really.
- 00:40And there we've learned a great deal,
- 00:42and we've learned a lot about the
- 00:45impact on children and families
- 00:47and all that we had need to do.
- 00:50We've transitioned to Tele Health.
- 00:51Our research is continuing,
- 00:53our interventions are training programs.
- 00:55All are continuing.
- 00:56And we're just delighted to be able to
- 00:59host all of you in this new format.
- 01:01Which we've created out of necessity,
- 01:03but it may be a format that we
- 01:06continue because it is allowing
- 01:08for many people to join us in
- 01:10many different ways.
- 01:12I cannot thank our associates
- 01:14enough for your support and your
- 01:17loyalty to the center and all the
- 01:20ideas that you bring to us as well.
- 01:23The continuity from yesterday to today.
- 01:25Yesterday we spoke about stress and
- 01:28trauma on children and travel child
- 01:30appointment and especially the surgeon
- 01:32anxiety and post traumatic issues that
- 01:35are we're seeing across the country,
- 01:37not just in New Haven related to
- 01:40the pandemic and related to all the
- 01:43social unrest that goes with that.
- 01:46Today,
- 01:46we're actually focusing down on
- 01:48schools are work in schools the
- 01:50impact on children's education
- 01:52from preschool through high school?
- 01:55How we can support both teachers
- 01:57and families so we have actually
- 01:59a full a full group and we will
- 02:02begin with a developmental sense.
- 02:05Will start with Professor Walter Gilliam,
- 02:08who is the House Jamison professor.
- 02:11And Walter has been doing a
- 02:13tremendous amount of work,
- 02:14which I hope he will tell you
- 02:17about a tremendous amount of work
- 02:19around early child care,
- 02:20early childhood education.
- 02:21In this pandemic time coming
- 02:23for them from Walter,
- 02:24will will move to Doctor Brackett
- 02:26then to doctors Faye, Brown,
- 02:28Anne, Camille Cooper and then to
- 02:30Doctor Nancy close.
- 02:31So Walter may I turn the program to you.
- 02:34Let me also just ask people for a
- 02:37couple of housekeeping things to mute.
- 02:39If you're not speaking, please mute.
- 02:41So that we don't get background.
- 02:44And if you have questions,
- 02:45please put them in the chat and
- 02:47I'll be moderating and sending
- 02:49the questions to our speakers.
- 02:51But also,
- 02:51don't hesitate if you want to
- 02:53just shout out a question.
- 02:55Will be glad to do take questions
- 02:57in that way too.
- 02:58So now Walter,
- 03:00I'm genuinely turning it to you.
- 03:02The resume forager thank
- 03:04you very much, Linda.
- 03:05I'm going to go to a share screen
- 03:08now and hopefully you'll be able
- 03:11to see my presentation here.
- 03:14So I am. As Linda said,
- 03:17I'm a professor here at the Yale Child
- 03:19Study Center there for the past 25 years.
- 03:21I suppose I've been at the Charles
- 03:23today century and I also direct
- 03:25the Edward Zigler Center in Child
- 03:27development and social policy,
- 03:28which is part of the Child State
- 03:30senator and Ridiculous Center is
- 03:32the nation's first and oldest
- 03:33child development and social policy
- 03:35center based in the University.
- 03:37So going forward with the presentation,
- 03:38I could be here to talk to you about
- 03:41some of the regular work that we do,
- 03:44such as the work that we've been doing.
- 03:46Deliberating early childhood mental health
- 03:48consultation systems across the nation.
- 03:49These are these are systems whereby
- 03:52mental health providers are out of
- 03:54their clinics in working in preschool
- 03:56programs as a way to be able to help
- 03:58child care providers and preschool
- 04:00providers to be able to better attend
- 04:02to the mental health needs of children.
- 04:05We've studied many years ago,
- 04:06children being expelled from preschool
- 04:08programs and often times are expelled
- 04:10from one preschool program only to
- 04:11end up in another preschool program
- 04:14within another preschool program and
- 04:15then eventually in a child guidance.
- 04:18Like the Child study center.
- 04:20So what if instead of expelling
- 04:22children from preschool programs,
- 04:24we expelled clinicians out of their
- 04:25clinics and into the preschool
- 04:27programs as source of prevention.
- 04:29And So what we did was back in 2014
- 04:31with the reauthorization of the Child
- 04:34Care Development Block grant this at
- 04:3635 billion dollar piece of legislation
- 04:38we we wove in some specific language
- 04:41in order to be able to fund early
- 04:43childhood mental health consultation
- 04:45systems across the nation and did a medium.
- 04:48Last time that in 2016,
- 04:50and then two years,
- 04:52three years since 2016 up until
- 04:542019 and going into this pandemic.
- 04:5726 states responded with 15 states
- 05:00completely banning preschool expulsion
- 05:02as a negative 1.6 preschoolers per year
- 05:04directly as a result of the work that
- 05:06we were doing and some of the things
- 05:09that we put into federal legislation.
- 05:11It also created an opportunity for
- 05:13states to be able to fund early
- 05:15childhood mental health consultation
- 05:17and so we've been working with a
- 05:20variety of different States and we've
- 05:22now conducted two statewide rigorous
- 05:23random control trials of early
- 05:25childhood mental health consultation.
- 05:27Including in Connecticut and one
- 05:29that just was released on in Ohio
- 05:31and in these two states.
- 05:32But we were doing as we were looking
- 05:34at the effects of what happens when
- 05:36you take a mental health condition.
- 05:39You pair that mental health Commission
- 05:40up with a child care provider and what
- 05:43we found in the Connecticut model was
- 05:45that in a relatively short time we
- 05:47were able to affect very significant
- 05:49changes and challenging behaviors in
- 05:50the children that prompted the referral.
- 05:52But we found in Ohio was even
- 05:54more spectacular.
- 05:55We found the same thing that
- 05:57we found in Connecticut.
- 05:58But we also found that improve
- 06:00the social emotional skills of
- 06:01the bystander children as well.
- 06:03And that's what's really
- 06:04what we were hoping for.
- 06:05With a system like this,
- 06:07you know, can you?
- 06:08Can you be able to provide supports
- 06:09in a way that leave behind residual
- 06:12effects that help all of the children?
- 06:14It just simply won't be enough.
- 06:15Mental health clinicians to be able
- 06:17to help every single child needs it.
- 06:19One child at a time.
- 06:20So we need to be able to have
- 06:22models by which we can leave behind
- 06:25residual effects that we're not just
- 06:27trying to help one child at a time.
- 06:29So we can have impact entire systems,
- 06:31and I could also be talking to
- 06:33you about some of the work that
- 06:36we've been doing on the child.
- 06:38That's the climate for healthy
- 06:39interactions were running in development.
- 06:41It's a measure in a whole set of toolkits,
- 06:44the round trying to improve the mental
- 06:46health climate of early learning settings.
- 06:48This is work that's been done by
- 06:50mostly by Chin Reyes in my group
- 06:52over at the Edwards Differ Center,
- 06:54and it's a measure that was designed
- 06:56mostly to support early childhood
- 06:58mental health consultation systems.
- 07:00Available Franklin's in toddlers,
- 07:02preschoolers, home based program,
- 07:03center based programs and a Tele
- 07:04health version that we've been working
- 07:06on with partners in Minnesota.
- 07:08We've now proliferated that through
- 07:0917 States and growing,
- 07:10Maine is our newest one.
- 07:12Not even on the map yet,
- 07:14and I could be talking to you also
- 07:16about some of their equity and
- 07:17justice work that we've been doing
- 07:19building on some of the bias in
- 07:22early childhood research that we did
- 07:23stemming back from a few years ago
- 07:25and some of the equity tools that
- 07:28we've been building off of that,
- 07:29but.
- 07:30I'm not going to talk about those things.
- 07:32Instead,
- 07:33I'm going to talk to you today about
- 07:35some of the work that we've been doing
- 07:38more recently regarding COVID-19.
- 07:40Now,
- 07:40as you know,
- 07:41with you know when the pandemic first
- 07:43hit and the World Health Organization
- 07:45first declared a pandemic 194 count
- 07:48countries within the 1st three weeks
- 07:50of the pandemic virtually closed.
- 07:52All of the schools that they had and that
- 07:55affected 91% of the world's children.
- 07:57Just imagining 91% of all the
- 07:59children of the world no longer in.
- 08:01School,
- 08:02but it wasn't just schools,
- 08:03it was also child care programs.
- 08:05Between the months of February and April,
- 08:0835% of all jobs within the childcare
- 08:10industry were lossed.
- 08:11I don't mean 35% of them were laid off for
- 08:1535% of them are temporarily out of work
- 08:17because the program was temporarily closed.
- 08:20I mean,
- 08:2035% of them fired from their jobs
- 08:23because their job no longer existed,
- 08:25and a whole host more than that
- 08:2735% no longer being able to work,
- 08:30at least temporarily because
- 08:31the programs were closed down.
- 08:33It's just huge impact on the
- 08:35child care sector,
- 08:36but also a huge impact on all
- 08:39of the parents who rely on child
- 08:41care in order to go to work,
- 08:44including essential workers,
- 08:45which then lead us to really needing
- 08:47to focus less on just policy relevant
- 08:50science but also rapid response policy.
- 08:52Relevant science.
- 08:52How can we mobilize the work that
- 08:55we do regarding conducting good
- 08:57science regarding working with?
- 08:59Policy entities at state and federal
- 09:01levels and communications science.
- 09:02In order to be able to do that
- 09:04at a much rapid,
- 09:05much more rapid pace in order to
- 09:07be able to respond to some of
- 09:09the things that we're currently
- 09:11happening because of COVID-19.
- 09:12So I'm going to show you one of
- 09:14the first things that we did.
- 09:16We targeted a. Tech company that creates.
- 09:22Software for for iPhone and for
- 09:24Android and what they do is they
- 09:27created the software program that
- 09:29allows us to be able to send it out
- 09:32to different providers and allow
- 09:33them to be documentarians talking
- 09:35about what it's like for them during
- 09:38the pandemic and so one of the
- 09:40first things that we did with this.
- 09:42So under the pandemic is we we
- 09:44sent this out to two different
- 09:46types of folks who were health
- 09:49care providers in order to be able
- 09:51to learn a little bit more.
- 09:53About what some of the challenges are
- 09:55that they were facing here is one
- 09:56of the things that we've heard from
- 09:58one of these health care providers.
- 10:00St Louis Mo.
- 10:01Hi, I'm Allison. I'm
- 10:02in Nurse manager at Saint Louis
- 10:04University Hospital in St Louis,
- 10:06Mo and mother to Brecon,
- 10:07who's 18 months old before I
- 10:09report to my floor I get my
- 10:11temperature and symptoms checked.
- 10:12I then come and check on my patients
- 10:14and staff to ensure that they have
- 10:17everything they need to protect themselves.
- 10:18I swap patients under investigations.
- 10:20I also attend meetings to
- 10:21update them on anything new.
- 10:26My son Brecken, previously went
- 10:27to an in home care provider,
- 10:29but she closed due to the pandemic.
- 10:31So my husband, parents and I are
- 10:33trying to take turns and then work
- 10:35from home and also watch my son.
- 10:37I'm currently in the process
- 10:39of applying for emergency care
- 10:40provider through the state,
- 10:42which is a process in itself.
- 10:43It's been very stressful.
- 10:46My son Brecken been 18 months old.
- 10:48I worry about his development
- 10:49and peer interaction.
- 10:50This is the time of his life where he needs
- 10:53to be soaking this all up like a sponge.
- 10:56I worry he will adapt to the
- 10:57change that we will have to find
- 10:59another in home care provider.
- 11:01I worry most about exposure and
- 11:03exposing him and my family who are
- 11:05also relief care providers for him.
- 11:10I am lucky that I will never have to make the
- 11:13decision between work and my son.
- 11:15I have parents and my husband who can
- 11:17always watch my son in an emergency.
- 11:19I really think about the people that
- 11:21are single parents and don't have the
- 11:23options that I have where they have to
- 11:25choose between their job and their child.
- 11:27That was some was very fortunate. She
- 11:30had family that she could
- 11:31rely on for childcare,
- 11:32but many of the people that work
- 11:34with her and many of the people
- 11:36who work for her as a charge nurse.
- 11:39Someone so lucky and she was
- 11:40concerned about some of those.
- 11:42So what it would mean for them
- 11:44to have to make a choice between
- 11:46childcare for their own Alvarez is
- 11:48coming into work in the hospital,
- 11:49and so that led me to start working
- 11:51with some folks here at Yale who
- 11:53were over in our natural resources
- 11:55and economics program within the
- 11:57School of Forestry and Environment to
- 11:59harness big data in order to be able
- 12:01to use data coming from the American
- 12:03Community Survey a in order to be
- 12:05able to create an interactive map to
- 12:07be able to track exactly how many
- 12:09child care slots would be necessary
- 12:11in order to be able to keep our nations.
- 12:14Skittles and Child Care Hospital
- 12:16programs in health care facilities
- 12:18open during the pandemic.
- 12:19I can't emphasize how quickly this happened.
- 12:21We began work on this map on on March
- 12:2419th and we had a live prototype up
- 12:27covering the entire nation by March 21st.
- 12:30National rollout of this through
- 12:32child care Aware of America,
- 12:33where I happen to be board
- 12:35president between March 23rd,
- 12:3725th.
- 12:37Lots of coverage in the news when it
- 12:40first came out and then by March 30th.
- 12:43Senate letter to the US Office of Child Care.
- 12:46Making sure that 3.5 billion
- 12:48dollars that cares funding would be
- 12:50targeted specifically to child care
- 12:52services for healthcare providers.
- 12:53And this is what I was trying to
- 12:56refer to earlier when I'm talking
- 12:58about using science in order to be
- 13:01able to rapidly respond to challenges
- 13:03in the moment and then being able
- 13:05to translate that into policy change
- 13:07through communications levers.
- 13:09Recently,
- 13:09we've also embarked on a on a
- 13:12different study.
- 13:12This is a study that tried to
- 13:14address the need to understand
- 13:16better about the transmission of
- 13:18COVID-19 within child care programs.
- 13:21And whether we would know whether
- 13:23it would be safer not for children
- 13:25to go back to child care programs.
- 13:28We had a bit of a natural experiment of
- 13:31sorts that was happening at the time.
- 13:33It was a study of 57 thousand child
- 13:36care providers that we recruited into
- 13:38the study from around the country.
- 13:40We needed to be able to do this
- 13:43incredibly quickly. Becausw in May.
- 13:45When we first conceptualized the
- 13:47study make this to be exact,
- 13:49we knew that I June manyavar.
- 13:51Starbar childcare programs that
- 13:52have been closed around the country
- 13:55were going to be coming back online.
- 13:56In other words,
- 13:57we had this strange moment where
- 13:59about half of the nation's child
- 14:01care programs were closed,
- 14:03and that meant that half of our
- 14:05nations talked.
- 14:06Her providers were not coming into
- 14:07contact with children in childcare
- 14:09and about half of our nation's
- 14:11child care providers were open,
- 14:13and so they were coming into
- 14:15contact with soon.
- 14:16That would be very different
- 14:17as child care programs to
- 14:19reopen. Now with this, Davis was an
- 14:21opportunity to be able to study.
- 14:23What the transmission of child care was
- 14:26by looking specifically at child care
- 14:28providers who were either exposed to
- 14:30child care were not exposed to childcare
- 14:32during the height of the pandemic.
- 14:34At least three months into it,
- 14:36and so we put together an
- 14:38interdisciplinary team that consisted of
- 14:40folks here at the Child study center,
- 14:42Epidemiology and public health,
- 14:43pediatric infectious Disease Control and
- 14:45economics for their work on large datasets,
- 14:47and conducted what still is the only
- 14:49systematic study of COVID-19 transmission
- 14:51and either child care programs.
- 14:53Or in schools.
- 14:54Now again,
- 14:55this was a large scale study of 57,335
- 14:58child care providers across the nation.
- 15:00All 50 states,
- 15:02Washington DC and 71% of the nation is 3100.
- 15:05Counties were represented within
- 15:07this study and will be ultimately
- 15:10found when we compare child care
- 15:12providers to those who were open
- 15:14versus those who were closed was was
- 15:16no relationship whatsoever between
- 15:18exposure to child care and their
- 15:20increased likelihood of catching
- 15:22COVID-19 were being hospitalised?
- 15:2419 we combined our data set with the
- 15:26Johns Hopkins University data set in
- 15:28order to be able to get information on
- 15:3119 transmission at the County level
- 15:33so we can control for that as well.
- 15:36But that doesn't mean that child
- 15:38care providers were were somehow
- 15:40immune to COVID-19.
- 15:41427 of them in our study actually
- 15:43did conduct catch COVID-19 and
- 15:45about 1/4 of those that caught it
- 15:47were hospitalised for COVID-19.
- 15:49But what we found was that their their
- 15:51likelihood of catching COVID-19 to be
- 15:53in hospitals for COVID-19 had to do
- 15:56with a variety of community factors,
- 15:58none of which was whether or not they
- 16:00were going to work in childcare.
- 16:02We also found that our providers of color,
- 16:05or black,
- 16:06Brown and indigenous child care
- 16:07providers were certainly carrying
- 16:08the heaviest burden of COVID-19.
- 16:10But even for them it wasn't related
- 16:12to whether or not they were coming
- 16:14to work in childcare or not,
- 16:16which then allowed us to be able
- 16:18to see the finding that it doesn't
- 16:20appear that child care programs
- 16:22were causing a significant amount
- 16:24of threat to communities.
- 16:25But that doesn't mean that communities
- 16:28can pose a significant amount of
- 16:30threat to child care programs.
- 16:32And at the community rate is too
- 16:34high within the community.
- 16:36That certainly will find its way
- 16:38into the child care program.
- 16:40That child care programs themselves are
- 16:42not significant spreaders of COVID-19.
- 16:44When we first released this in
- 16:46October 14th we have,
- 16:48we have massive media uptake on
- 16:50this 1.9% readership,
- 16:511.9 billion readership in the New
- 16:53York Times and the Washington Post.
- 16:56Writing about other places that it
- 16:58appeared 8188 thousand Point 1 social
- 17:00media hits all within the first week
- 17:03and altmetric which tracks the amount
- 17:05of media attention to studies,
- 17:07has ranked the study just within
- 17:09the first couple of weeks after
- 17:12it was released as a 1680 seventh
- 17:14out of out of 16.2 million studies
- 17:17that have been released
- 17:18in the past decade.
- 17:20Not too bad for a study that
- 17:22was released right in the middle
- 17:24of a media saturated time.
- 17:27Going up to the to the election,
- 17:29but the most important coverage
- 17:31of it was was was the work that
- 17:33we did specifically with the
- 17:35Center for Disease Control stamp,
- 17:36which is the collection of all of
- 17:38the state people who run child
- 17:40care programs and some of the work
- 17:42that we're doing right now with
- 17:45the National Governors Association
- 17:46and others in order to better turn
- 17:48this information into important
- 17:49information going forward to be
- 17:51able to help make sure that child
- 17:53care programs can remain safe,
- 17:55we would not have been able to
- 17:57do this work without a lot of
- 17:59generous can incredibly fast.
- 18:01Work from all of the funders
- 18:03that you see there,
- 18:04including especially the
- 18:05cleaning Steam Foundation,
- 18:06which was the first 2 to provide
- 18:08a support for this and help us
- 18:10bring another supporters as well.
- 18:11Will host of other types of
- 18:13work that's going to be coming
- 18:15out of this going forward,
- 18:17but I'll end right there
- 18:18by basically saying that,
- 18:19but we're working on right now
- 18:21because of the time it is policy
- 18:23relevant science and policy.
- 18:24Relevant science at the speed of now,
- 18:27so thank you.
- 18:29Thank you very much, Walter.
- 18:30What I think will do,
- 18:32unless there's questions that someone
- 18:34wants to ask right at the moment
- 18:36is will actually move to Doctor
- 18:38Brackett and then will facilitate
- 18:39a discussion at the end to burn.
- 18:41Bring all these presentations together.
- 18:44After my bracket, may I turn to you?
- 19:06Mark, you might be on mute.
- 19:08We're not hearing you.
- 19:10That's Sam. I was born talking
- 19:12to myself and I guess I'll do
- 19:14that during my presentation.
- 19:17So let me just say welcome
- 19:20again and everyone and.
- 19:22And I'll give the third welcome.
- 19:24My name is Mark Brackett and a
- 19:25professor in the Child Study Center
- 19:27and also the director of the Yale
- 19:29Center for Emotional Intelligence.
- 19:31Our team is about 55 people who are
- 19:33scientists and practitioners who run
- 19:35around the world trying to get people
- 19:38to talk more about their feelings and
- 19:39and we do research on why that matters,
- 19:42and I thought I would just share
- 19:44some of our most recent research.
- 19:47Doing about two longitudinal
- 19:49studies with each with around 3000
- 19:52teachers across the United States.
- 19:54That representative sample in one an
- 19:57A very deliberate sample in another.
- 20:00Meaning that we wanted to make sure that
- 20:03we got equal numbers of white teachers,
- 20:07black teachers,
- 20:07and Latin ex teachers so that we really
- 20:10could understand the emotional lives
- 20:13of of our teacher population and our
- 20:16preliminary data show that wherever you go,
- 20:18there is an anxious teacher.
- 20:21The number one word that a teacher
- 20:24in the United States uses to
- 20:26describe how they feel is anxiety.
- 20:29When we ask teachers about their students.
- 20:32Um?
- 20:33It's a wider range of emotion from
- 20:36frustration to boredom, to anxiety.
- 20:40But overall, you can see that there are.
- 20:43A lot of unpleasant feelings are not
- 20:45very many pleasant feelings right now.
- 20:48When you look at the impact of Covid.
- 20:52Whether it be on teachers or parents,
- 20:55and I think other colleagues
- 20:57have spoken about this radio
- 20:59and spend too much time on it,
- 21:02we see an increase everywhere we go
- 21:04in terms of whether it be anxiety or
- 21:07depression or externalizing behaviors
- 21:09or reports of serious mental distress.
- 21:12And we do know quite clearly that
- 21:14our black Indigenous people of color
- 21:17communities are experiencing even
- 21:19stronger experiences related to covid,
- 21:21including the most.
- 21:22Sad in terms of mortality rate
- 21:25among children,
- 21:2675% of the children who have died
- 21:30from coronavirus are kids of color.
- 21:33And so I think for our centers work,
- 21:35this really gets into.
- 21:37Are we talking about an individual's
- 21:39emotions or are we talking about
- 21:41a societal challenge that we have
- 21:43to think about in terms of how
- 21:45the nation fields and?
- 21:48Roller is the center's approach
- 21:50to social emotional learning.
- 21:52This has been a project that has
- 21:54been near and dear to my heart for
- 21:57about 30 years now or to believe,
- 21:59and we're now in 33,000 schools
- 22:02across the United States of America
- 22:04and other countries and our whole
- 22:06goal is to help schools move away
- 22:09from piece meal models from rules
- 22:11and assemblies and classroom kits,
- 22:12and simple lessons to thinking systemically
- 22:15about how do you infuse the principles.
- 22:18Of emotional intelligence into the immune
- 22:19system of the entire school district,
- 22:21and I won't go into a lot of details today.
- 22:24This is our general theory of change.
- 22:27Thing that has evolved over 30 years.
- 22:30Obviously we have a ton of
- 22:32people right now at the center,
- 22:34scientists and practitioners all
- 22:35contributed to this theory of change and
- 22:38what we've learned essentially, is that.
- 22:41Starting with the child is not
- 22:43necessarily the best place in this work.
- 22:45That was my former.
- 22:47My primary interest early on in my career.
- 22:49I wanted to help kids,
- 22:50but I realized that the adults who are
- 22:53raising and teaching kids just weren't
- 22:54prepared to do the instruction in
- 22:56emotional intelligence 'cause they hadn't
- 22:58had an emotion education themselves.
- 23:00And so we started working with teachers and
- 23:02then in schools we realized that leaders
- 23:04make so many decisions for teachers,
- 23:06and then we realized that superintendents
- 23:08make decisions for principles and
- 23:10then in the end when we started
- 23:12working in New York City schools,
- 23:13what we realized was that you
- 23:15really needed a systemic model.
- 23:17And what that means is that we try to
- 23:20get all stakeholders on board and there
- 23:22are four primary aims are shifting
- 23:25peoples mindsets around emotions.
- 23:27Understanding the science of emotion that
- 23:29emotions are the drivers of attention
- 23:32and learning and decision making,
- 23:33making sure that people are
- 23:35deepening their skills.
- 23:36I think it's important to mention that these
- 23:40are oftentimes referred to as soft skills.
- 23:42We don't love that term because it
- 23:45makes them secondary and when you.
- 23:47Think about mental health
- 23:49among college students.
- 23:50For example at Yale where 50%
- 23:52or more are seeking treatment
- 23:53for mental health challenges,
- 23:55you realize this is not a soft skill.
- 23:57This is a pretty darn hard
- 23:59skill in terms of helping people
- 24:01manage their emotional lives.
- 24:04We also realize that you can't just
- 24:05think about the individual that you
- 24:07want to focus on the climate and
- 24:09culture of schools and homes and.
- 24:11And workplaces even,
- 24:12and that align with some of Walter's work.
- 24:16If you don't infuses into policies,
- 24:18for example around suspension or bullying,
- 24:21then you're not going to get
- 24:24the greatest impact.
- 24:26So just very briefly,
- 24:27our model has turned into one
- 24:29that's comprehensive from a lot
- 24:31of adult personal professional
- 24:33development to pre K to high school
- 24:35student learning to resources for
- 24:37outside the school time and recess,
- 24:39and also for parents.
- 24:42And curriculum wise from early
- 24:43childhood all the way up to high school.
- 24:46I think we have something along
- 24:48the lines of 475 lessons now.
- 24:51That it's hard to keep track of all this,
- 24:54and obviously it differs by grade level.
- 24:56So for example,
- 24:57middle school project based learning
- 24:59is at the core of the work,
- 25:01but at high school it is mostly student
- 25:04LED discussions that guys work.
- 25:07And so I want to wrap up my time with
- 25:10you just sharing a little bit about how
- 25:14we responded to kovit back in March.
- 25:17We've had very good relationships
- 25:19with the Governor of Connecticut,
- 25:20the Commissioner, the teachers unions,
- 25:22superintendents, associations.
- 25:24And we started having conversations
- 25:26about what can we do right here right
- 25:28now for Connecticut's teachers,
- 25:30given with the research showed
- 25:32about their anxiety and stress and
- 25:34uncertainty and so with generous
- 25:36support from the Daleo family,
- 25:37we were able to build a course and
- 25:40make it available for free for every
- 25:42educator in the state of Connecticut,
- 25:45an educator means teacher power,
- 25:46professional school counselor, custodian.
- 25:48Literally anybody who works in a school.
- 25:51And we are very blessed that we have just
- 25:53every educational organization you know,
- 25:56really in the state supporting this work
- 25:59and helping us spread the word about it.
- 26:01And I don't think I need to
- 26:04say why this course, you know,
- 26:06why now,
- 26:07but we really wanted to make sure that
- 26:09our educators learn strategies to
- 26:11support them in managing their feelings.
- 26:14And also we're responding and culture
- 26:16responsive ways to the emotions that
- 26:18their students were experiencing.
- 26:20So in brief.
- 26:21We have an introduction to why
- 26:24this work matters and why.
- 26:26Now there's a modules on helping teachers
- 26:29accurately identify their own feelings,
- 26:31helping them manage their emotions
- 26:34using behavioral or action kind of
- 26:37strategies versus cognitive strategies.
- 26:40Teaching them the science of
- 26:42trauma and or biology of trauma.
- 26:44Understanding that a child's behavior
- 26:47does not necessarily mean the same
- 26:49thing as what they're feeling and
- 26:51helping them identify more accurately
- 26:54their students feelings and helping
- 26:56their students manage theirs.
- 26:58And we're just blessed that we've had
- 27:01twenty 3700 people across the State
- 27:03Register 7367 enrolled as of this week,
- 27:06we've had 2600 people complete.
- 27:09It's a 10 week course.
- 27:11Some people are doing it in a weekend.
- 27:13Some people are taking the time they need,
- 27:16and we're very pleased with the results.
- 27:18We've got four 4.8 out of five
- 27:21stars ratings on Coursera.
- 27:23And so 94% of our course completers
- 27:26are satisfied or very satisfied.
- 27:29And the testimonials have been tremendous.
- 27:31We're also tracking every teacher they
- 27:34have the option to volunteer to be
- 27:37part of a research study about 70% of
- 27:39the educators have enrolled in this study,
- 27:42and I think probably for us,
- 27:44the most exciting thing,
- 27:46and I'll just end my slides there,
- 27:48is that.
- 27:50The.
- 27:53We've gotten our approval from
- 27:54the University working with core
- 27:56Sarah Ann on December 8th.
- 27:57We will launch this course to the
- 27:59entire United States for free,
- 28:01so every educator across United States
- 28:03will have access to this course for
- 28:05free and we're going to be partnering
- 28:07with the national teachers unions,
- 28:08the American Federation of Teachers
- 28:10and National Education Association,
- 28:11and anybody who wants to support us
- 28:13to get the word out so that we can
- 28:16really support our nation's educators
- 28:18during these very difficult times.
- 28:20On that note, I'll just say thank you and.
- 28:23And turn it over to our
- 28:24next set of colleagues.
- 28:26Mark, thank you very much.
- 28:28I think you're already.
- 28:29Everyone is already beginning
- 28:30to hear how so many of our
- 28:33colleagues have truly stepped
- 28:34up in these challenging times.
- 28:36May I turn to Faye Brown on the
- 28:38school development program and Faye,
- 28:40I know that you're going to
- 28:42introduce Doctor Cooper.
- 28:46Thank you Linda.
- 28:47Appreciate that good afternoon everybody.
- 28:49It is a pleasure to be here with you all.
- 28:53Oh, I was thinking about back in 2018.
- 28:56I had the pleasure of
- 28:59presenting for the associate.
- 29:00Yes, and on back then I shared that we
- 29:03at the school development program were
- 29:07commemorating our 50th anniversary.
- 29:10In that presentation I shared some
- 29:12of our milestone accomplishments,
- 29:14and I also listed just a couple of the
- 29:18projects we were working on at the time,
- 29:21and that we also plan to pursue
- 29:23for future one of the projects
- 29:26that I quickly mentioned back then,
- 29:29but didn't get into was or parent program.
- 29:32It's called parents,
- 29:34Partners and peers program.
- 29:36My colleague,
- 29:37Doctor Camille Cooper coordinates
- 29:39that initiative and she's here to
- 29:42share some of the highlights of their
- 29:46program and also to share how when Covid hit,
- 29:50how they parent participants were able
- 29:53to pivot from their usual activities
- 29:57and turned to offer services to two.
- 30:00Communities that were and still are
- 30:02associated with schools in which we work.
- 30:05And so it's my pleasure to turn to
- 30:07my colleague Doctor Camille Cooper.
- 30:10Good afternoon and thank
- 30:12you for this opportunity.
- 30:14I'm going to share my screen with you. Um?
- 30:20So that we can take a look at. Slide show
- 30:29the parents, partners, and Peers program is.
- 30:37A peer LED conversational approach to
- 30:41the increasing parent knowledge of
- 30:44child development and the practical
- 30:47application within a cultural context
- 30:50is a blend of the Comer School
- 30:53development program principles and
- 30:55the Sachar Smart and Secure Program.
- 30:59The program utilizes a community based
- 31:03approach and it involves parents at.
- 31:063 levels as a parent.
- 31:10Mentors, parent leaders and parent learners.
- 31:17Currently we have a parent mentors
- 31:20at the Fairhaven area at the
- 31:24Family Academy formerly known as
- 31:26the Columbus Family Academy,
- 31:29and we also have a group of parent
- 31:34mentors that are at the Brennan Rogers
- 31:38School and the Westville Manor area.
- 31:42The worst the Manor area.
- 31:47Group really is of African American
- 31:51women that live within the housing
- 31:54development there and are Fairview
- 31:57area parents of our group of
- 32:01bilingual parents of Latino.
- 32:03Bilingual parents so the.
- 32:09Program starts with the mentor who
- 32:12is an experienced parent that is of
- 32:16the same socio cultural background
- 32:18of the parents that they're going
- 32:22to work with and that mentor.
- 32:25Councils and guides and observes
- 32:28being a parent leaders in their work,
- 32:32the parent leaders.
- 32:34They facilitate regularly scheduled
- 32:37conversations with parents in their
- 32:40community and they can coach and help
- 32:43the parent learners as they discuss
- 32:46the content of the curriculum of the program,
- 32:51which deals with various developmental.
- 32:55Content of children between ages of zero
- 32:58and five that also the parent leader
- 33:02leads these small groups of appear learners.
- 33:08The program model is a.
- 33:13Let me go back.
- 33:16But the parent learners are
- 33:20consist of grandparents.
- 33:23Family care providers,
- 33:24parents maybe Pierce Anthony.
- 33:26Anyone that isn't coming in contact
- 33:29with working with us young children,
- 33:33but the model is set up so that
- 33:36the parent mentor is serving
- 33:39as a guide to parent leaders.
- 33:42And each of these parent leaders
- 33:45have a small group of parents
- 33:48that they work with over.
- 33:51Maybe a 10 week.
- 33:52Period of time that they have
- 33:55conversations about of the various
- 33:58curriculum content areas that
- 34:00we have outlined so the parent
- 34:03mentor meets with these parent
- 34:06leaders on a weekly or periodic
- 34:08basis to help to discuss any
- 34:11concerns that they may have as
- 34:14they are working with their small
- 34:17groups as well as walking them
- 34:20through the parent curriculum.
- 34:22And as well as serving as a coach
- 34:26and a support person for them.
- 34:33Some of the intended content
- 34:37intended outcomes that we have for
- 34:41the program is we are looking at.
- 34:45Effective parenting skills improve
- 34:49mental health outcomes for the parents.
- 34:54Prove efficacy of their parents
- 34:57and then improved family physical
- 35:01and health and nutrition outcomes.
- 35:04Also reducing an intern externalizing
- 35:08behaviors in children and
- 35:10then just better outcomes,
- 35:13better developmental outcomes
- 35:16for those children.
- 35:19The program is set up with
- 35:22sexually it's 12 sessions,
- 35:24but there are two sessions orientation and
- 35:28a celebration and assessment at the end,
- 35:31but the content area includes
- 35:33a brain development.
- 35:35What makes a child's brain work?
- 35:38Looking at the milestones
- 35:40that children go through?
- 35:43So that they become familiar with
- 35:47these developmental milestones in
- 35:49their able to support the healthy
- 35:52development of the children
- 35:55that they are working with.
- 35:57Now.
- 35:59When Covid hit,
- 36:00we had to make some adjustments
- 36:03because we are unable to have
- 36:06the small group meetings and the
- 36:09parents of made a decision that
- 36:12they wanted to as a result of the
- 36:16donation that actually the Child
- 36:18study Center provided that the
- 36:21parents decided to utilize that
- 36:24donation to be able to obtain healthy
- 36:27food that they could distribute.
- 36:30Within their neighborhoods
- 36:31the Fair Haven neighborhood,
- 36:33as well as the Westfield Manor neighborhood.
- 36:37Are these are just a couple of photos
- 36:41of the parents in the two areas that
- 36:45as they are preparing for those
- 36:48distributions that as a result of
- 36:52the collaboration with nonprofits,
- 36:54havens harvest donations from the
- 36:58Child study center individuals as well
- 37:01as local service groups that the two
- 37:05parents groups have been able to provide.
- 37:08Up to 150 donations of food each
- 37:13Friday beginning in May 2020.
- 37:16Up until this past Friday and
- 37:19we do have a Thanksgiving,
- 37:23a distribution that is a coming
- 37:27up for this upcoming Friday.
- 37:30So the distribution sub include a USDA
- 37:35donations hot meals from local vendors.
- 37:39And fresh produce from a local distributor.
- 37:46So these parents, in working
- 37:49through the distribution process,
- 37:51they have developed some skills and have.
- 37:57Develop some agency of working and
- 38:00being able to provide a service
- 38:03within their communities that we
- 38:05found that the parents have developed
- 38:09leadership skills they have organized.
- 38:12Reaching out in the community as well
- 38:16as working with their elected officials
- 38:19and nonprofit organizations to maintain
- 38:23the program over this culvert period.
- 38:27Some of the future plans that
- 38:30we have for adaptation,
- 38:32but now that the school district
- 38:35has a paint more of hot spots and
- 38:40technology for zoom presentations,
- 38:42we will be transferring our program
- 38:46into a zoom format so that the
- 38:50parents would be able to meet with us.
- 38:54Utilizing zoom in the future.
- 38:57So this has been a journey that the food
- 39:02distribution was not a goal of ours at all.
- 39:06Our goal is basically to help
- 39:09parents understand their children,
- 39:11an improve their parenting skills.
- 39:14But because of that change,
- 39:16we've been able to make a transition into
- 39:20actually a Community program which has
- 39:23been benefited those two neighborhoods.
- 39:26Thank you.
- 39:29And if I could just add that on one of the
- 39:32things that we found with this program
- 39:35being able to pivot to helping to
- 39:38serve the communities because of
- 39:40covid is the same thing that we
- 39:42find all the time in our program,
- 39:45that when there are structures
- 39:47that are already in place,
- 39:48it really does make it easier
- 39:51for the work to get done.
- 39:53And also when the relationships
- 39:54have been built in the community,
- 39:57those relationships really serve as.
- 39:59The channels through.
- 40:00Which we can get a whole lot
- 40:02of good work done.
- 40:04So that was that was important
- 40:05for us as we pivoted during covid.
- 40:09Thank you, say thank you very much,
- 40:11Camille. And then I I turned to
- 40:14Doctor Nancy close, Nancy. Thank
- 40:17you so much, Linda and welcome everyone.
- 40:19It's really nice to be here.
- 40:22I'm in complete all of my colleagues and
- 40:25feel privileged to be here with them today.
- 40:28I am the clinical director of our
- 40:30parent clinic which is part of our
- 40:33parent and family development program.
- 40:35I also work clinically with young
- 40:37children and their parents.
- 40:39I supervise our trainees and consult
- 40:41to some of our early childhood
- 40:43education programs during Covid.
- 40:45I've also been leading our
- 40:47Co leading a group.
- 40:49Her parents,
- 40:49who are employed by the hospital
- 40:51and who have young children and
- 40:54have been working from home,
- 40:56working very hard to balance work and
- 40:58manageing home or hybrid learning.
- 41:00What I would like to share with
- 41:03you is what I've seen both in
- 41:05clinical and educational settings.
- 41:07We're well into our 8th month
- 41:10of working from home,
- 41:11Parents with young children or.
- 41:14Finding time to attend more
- 41:16exclusively to work.
- 41:18Currently,
- 41:18if their children are in daycare or school,
- 41:22full time like a really fragile an
- 41:25unpredictable time with anxiety growing
- 41:28as the kobid rates are increasing so
- 41:31children are presenting in various ways,
- 41:34what we're seeing,
- 41:35we see regression more than what
- 41:37is developmentally appropriate.
- 41:40We see children using baby talk,
- 41:42needing help with routines.
- 41:44Having trouble with sleeping and eating
- 41:47and toileting coping with strong
- 41:49feelings that come up is very challenging.
- 41:52We see temper tantrums even even
- 41:55in older school age children,
- 41:57and many of these occur over small
- 42:00disappointments an are lasting
- 42:02longer than usual,
- 42:03which thinking of the stress that
- 42:05that adds to parents and teachers.
- 42:08Behavioral challenges have also
- 42:10increased when children were exclusively
- 42:13engaging in virtual or home school.
- 42:15We notice their sadness over not being
- 42:17with their friends and their teachers,
- 42:19and some children actually avoided zoom
- 42:22sessions with their teacher and their
- 42:24friends because seeing them regularly
- 42:26really cause them to feel too sad.
- 42:30It with thinking about parents.
- 42:32We know that during a crisis children do
- 42:35as well as the important adults in their
- 42:38lives to parents are feeling stressed,
- 42:40really overwhelmed and pulled
- 42:42in multiple directions.
- 42:43Summer out of work and facing
- 42:46financial challenges for those who
- 42:48are lucky enough to be working there,
- 42:50juggling work with having children at home,
- 42:53they've been responsible for
- 42:55homeschooling so often they admit
- 42:57they resort to putting videos on an
- 43:00worry so much about their children
- 43:02having too much screen time.
- 43:04And being socially deprived,
- 43:06parental guilt is guilt.
- 43:07With a capital, G has an worry,
- 43:10have increased significantly.
- 43:11Finding and affording childcare
- 43:13has been a challenge.
- 43:15Some families have lost loved ones
- 43:17to covid all families worry about
- 43:20exposure and staying healthy.
- 43:22It's really difficult to hold
- 43:24on to hope as we entered.
- 43:28Our clinicians are clinics transition
- 43:30to Tele Health was very quick.
- 43:32It went smoothly for some parents and
- 43:34enabled them to keep more appointments.
- 43:36Other parents do not have Internet or
- 43:39enough cell service to have video visits.
- 43:41Others don't want to show
- 43:43themselves on video and still
- 43:45others don't want their home.
- 43:47Seeing by the clinicians.
- 43:48Some parents seen in the parent
- 43:50clinic or challenge to find a
- 43:52private space for their session
- 43:54because their children are at home,
- 43:56some end up in a car.
- 43:59On the back porch or even one
- 44:01parent was in the garage and then
- 44:03another parent even connected when
- 44:05she was on her break while she
- 44:07was working at Dunkin' Donuts.
- 44:09We are finding that many parents
- 44:11are more consistent in keeping
- 44:12their appointments than when
- 44:14they were coming in person.
- 44:15So thinking about children in their sessions,
- 44:18if their parents help them set up a
- 44:20play space for their therapy session,
- 44:22we've really been able to
- 44:24continue the work on Tele Health.
- 44:26We were really skeptical about being able
- 44:28to do work with very young children.
- 44:30On on the screen,
- 44:32but it is.
- 44:33It is going and we are doing the
- 44:35work and certainly this works best
- 44:38if there's been an established
- 44:39relationship with the clinician
- 44:41and some there are some children
- 44:43have not been able to tolerate
- 44:45Tele health and and kind of a
- 44:47telltale sign as if you're sitting
- 44:49there trying to see the child.
- 44:51And though and the world seems to be
- 44:53turning upside down every time you connect,
- 44:56it's it's kind of an indication that
- 44:59maybe Tele health is not for that.
- 45:01Killer Child we've been fortunate
- 45:03in that we have been able to bring
- 45:06some children back to the clinic,
- 45:08and when those children returned
- 45:11there extremely excited and
- 45:12happy and the work can continue.
- 45:14Most most children know about and
- 45:17have some understanding of kovid,
- 45:19and they've begun to play about Covid
- 45:21in their sessions by giving baby dolls,
- 45:24covid tests and then they can be
- 45:27pretty feel sorry for those baby
- 45:29dolls because they get that little
- 45:32Q-tip stuffed up their nose.
- 45:34And also flu shots.
- 45:35Many of the children are also
- 45:37getting their flu shots.
- 45:38I would say that Tele health sessions
- 45:40are really always interesting.
- 45:41I never quite know what to expect.
- 45:44One day a little boy was going
- 45:46upstairs to show me his room.
- 45:48Children are really excited about
- 45:49showing showing me their rooms.
- 45:51He wanted to get a book and
- 45:53bring it back downstairs.
- 45:54So he was struggling to manage his tablet
- 45:57and his book at the same time and he said,
- 46:00oh don't worry, I got you.
- 46:02Whoops,
- 46:02it's too heavy.
- 46:03I can only lay you down.
- 46:05And he put the screen on top of
- 46:07the books and then I could only
- 46:09see the top of the stairway and
- 46:11then he said steady as it goes.
- 46:14Another little girl told her mother
- 46:16who was putting the phone with
- 46:18the video session on his shelf.
- 46:20Said don't put Doctor Nancy there.
- 46:21She might fall and then another
- 46:23little girl who's been in multiple
- 46:25foster homes is she was it was she
- 46:28was under two recently began working
- 46:30with me after ending with a beloved
- 46:32clinician that she had for two years.
- 46:34But who left the clinic after she completed.
- 46:37Our training for
- 46:38several weeks, this little
- 46:39girl called me by that clinicians
- 46:41name or no name at all.
- 46:43She finally began to play with
- 46:46her baby dolls, nurturing.
- 46:47Let them gently and lovingly an invited
- 46:50me to play with mine in the same way,
- 46:53this was a game that she regularly played
- 46:55with her previous connection clinician,
- 46:57and this was. This was several weeks
- 46:59into twice a week sessions with her.
- 47:02I felt relieved that she was beginning
- 47:05to trust me and maybe connect to me.
- 47:08She avoids exploring feelings
- 47:09connected to her losses,
- 47:11but she can express her ambivalence.
- 47:13Her anxiety about the fragility
- 47:15of relationships and be explicit,
- 47:17especially with me about her anger.
- 47:19One day, she had a really positive session,
- 47:22during which she played with the baby dolls,
- 47:25called Me by my name and I was
- 47:27like cheering and talked about
- 47:29friends being friends forever.
- 47:31However, when it was time to end the session,
- 47:35which is often hard for her,
- 47:37because endings do bring up her.
- 47:39Her complicated feelings about
- 47:42saying goodbye and losing people.
- 47:46So when it was time to end this session,
- 47:49she came,
- 47:49became upset and this was tough for me.
- 47:52She said you are doctor oldies,
- 47:54mushy and sloppy.
- 47:55I really don't like you and I don't
- 47:57ever want to see you again and then
- 47:59because they have control of hanging up,
- 48:02she was able to press the little
- 48:05red telephone anhang an hang up.
- 48:08We are continuing to kind of
- 48:10build our relationship,
- 48:11so the children I work with who
- 48:13pre covid were struggling with
- 48:15emotional regulation are having more
- 48:17difficulty managing their feelings.
- 48:19One was asked to leave the camp over the
- 48:23summer and was referred to the Ed and
- 48:27has been hospitalised two times since March.
- 48:30I saw him last night and he is doing
- 48:33well the child welfare system has
- 48:35not been able to have in person
- 48:38visits for children and parents
- 48:40who are separated an our child.
- 48:43Welfare colleagues are concerned
- 48:44because reporting of abuse and neglect
- 48:46has been down 50% and they do have
- 48:49worries about the safety of children
- 48:51in terms of return to school and most
- 48:54familiar with child care programs.
- 48:56Some that have been serving frontline workers
- 48:58have been open throughout the pandemic.
- 49:01Others reopen this fall after a tremendous
- 49:04amount of planning over the summer,
- 49:06which included renovating classroom
- 49:07space to accommodate small groups,
- 49:09erecting tents outdoors at an
- 49:11increasing amount outside time plan,
- 49:13there was great excitement around
- 49:14welcoming children back in the fall.
- 49:17Parents felt relief about being
- 49:18able to go to work without worrying
- 49:21about having no child care,
- 49:23but they have new worries which include
- 49:25what if my child is exposed to the virus.
- 49:29What if my child has a cold
- 49:31and cannot go to school?
- 49:33How will I manage childcare again?
- 49:35Will my child feel comfortable
- 49:36being back at school even though
- 49:38her best friend is not returning?
- 49:40Are we doing the right thing?
- 49:42Setting our child back to school?
- 49:44The worries continue and to
- 49:46impact the well being of
- 49:47parents and children and currently the big
- 49:49worry is will we have another shutdown?
- 49:52Children are happy to be back at
- 49:54their schools. However Covid is on
- 49:56their minds when little boy said
- 49:58to me he was worried he would say.
- 50:00Did Covid at school.
- 50:02I reassured him that got sick and that
- 50:04he was so good at wearing his mask.
- 50:07A director of one of the local
- 50:09centers told me that the day begins
- 50:11outside and this is true for
- 50:13most most child care centers.
- 50:15Begins at outside in that more
- 50:16parts of the day are being spent
- 50:19outside door due to Covid.
- 50:20She's noticing that children are much
- 50:22more comfortable with the outside drop
- 50:24off and goodbye then they were with the
- 50:26goodbye inside the center building.
- 50:28The current outdoor play of a group
- 50:30of four year old children also
- 50:32reflects what's on their minds.
- 50:34At this center the teachers greet
- 50:36the children every morning and
- 50:38parents outside ask the questions,
- 50:40take the children's temperature
- 50:42before they are allowed to enter,
- 50:44enter into the group.
- 50:45So recently,
- 50:46during outdoor play the children
- 50:48used milk crates to build their
- 50:50own check-in tables.
- 50:51They've developed their own questions
- 50:54for the teachers and children who engage
- 50:56in the play and want to come to those tables.
- 51:00They'll ask,
- 51:00have you been traveling?
- 51:02Where did you go?
- 51:03Have you been diagnosed?
- 51:05Have you been taking your vitamins?
- 51:07They pretend to write the answers
- 51:08with a stick,
- 51:09and then pretended to take some pictures.
- 51:11They decide who will be able to
- 51:13enter the school and that they
- 51:15have also built with milk crates.
- 51:17The director also shared with me
- 51:19that they're working so hard to be
- 51:21sure that children are sanitizing
- 51:22their hands on arrival.
- 51:23She said they had a chuckle the other
- 51:25day when a little boy took off his
- 51:28gloves to use the hand sanitizer
- 51:29only struggled to put his gloves
- 51:31back on and expose his hands to
- 51:33whatever germs were inside his gloves and.
- 51:36You know, the director said to me,
- 51:38well,
- 51:38we,
- 51:39you know we need to really keep
- 51:41problemsolving about as friendly.
- 51:43I just want to share with you
- 51:45about a presentation.
- 51:47Karen Baker from Scholastic Books
- 51:48and I did on secondary traumatic
- 51:50stress at a virtual conference called
- 51:53Building Trauma Sensitive schools
- 51:54that was sponsored by the Association
- 51:56for Supervision and Curriculum.
- 51:58The zoom Chat room was very
- 52:00busy during the presentation and
- 52:02reflected the impact that Covid is
- 52:04having on teachers and students.
- 52:06And then some of the comments included.
- 52:09It's hard when symptoms of secondary
- 52:11traumatic stress overlap with
- 52:12covid traumas experienced by my
- 52:14students have definitely increased.
- 52:16Now that school is happening in the home,
- 52:19it's hard for teachers to leave it behind.
- 52:22Temper tantrums are definitely
- 52:24occurring at the college level as well.
- 52:26And so in closing,
- 52:27I'd like to just say I think it's
- 52:30clear that children, parents,
- 52:32teachers,
- 52:33and clinicians are all working
- 52:35extremely hard to cope and manage.
- 52:37And I'm hoping with our support
- 52:39we'll be able to
- 52:40continue to do so, so thank you.
- 52:42Thank you very much.
- 52:45Thank you very much, Nancy.
- 52:48And thanks to everyone who presented,
- 52:50but I think you can see the range
- 52:52of our involvement in schools in the
- 52:55tremendous impact take over his head.
- 52:57But how we're trying to to
- 52:59help him work with children and
- 53:01families were open to questions.
- 53:04Discussion points. As I said earlier,
- 53:07please use the chat or just.
- 53:10Unmute yourself and ask a question,
- 53:12but we would really be
- 53:14delighted to to discuss.
- 53:21I think I would pose a question
- 53:26to all of you as your as we're
- 53:30waiting to hear.
- 53:32I know that none of us wanted to
- 53:36be in this next surge of covid
- 53:41and if you had to think about
- 53:44what you've learned from the first
- 53:46surge that you would bring to this,
- 53:48are there some lessons learned that
- 53:50you think would be helpful?
- 53:52I don't know. We're continuing
- 53:53the work into this second surge,
- 53:55but are there lessons learned
- 53:57that you'd like to point out?
- 54:06If I could just say I'm not
- 54:09sure about the lessons per say,
- 54:12but on one of the concerns that we are
- 54:16hearing about from some principles.
- 54:18Here right here in New Haven,
- 54:21Interestingly, is the number of
- 54:23students that are not logging on to
- 54:26participate in the daily lessons.
- 54:28We were quite surprised when a principle
- 54:31we had a zoom meeting last week and
- 54:34then again yesterday with them.
- 54:37Several persons from the community and
- 54:39from one of the schools we're working
- 54:42with and the principle mentioned that above.
- 54:46But the students are not logging on
- 54:48daily and so this is a big concern
- 54:51that they are facing right now,
- 54:53and so they're thinking of.
- 54:56Ways of trying to problem solve
- 54:59that situation.
- 55:00One of the strategies that they were
- 55:03discussing is the whole concept
- 55:05of learning hubs where there could
- 55:07be a place in the community that
- 55:11is identified where students can
- 55:13actually go and and receive help
- 55:16from certain community members who
- 55:19could serve as coaches or tutors to
- 55:22help the students log in or just
- 55:25do it to do the work there.
- 55:27So that for us is a great concern
- 55:30that we are trying to help the
- 55:32schools problem solved.
- 55:34Right now a number of students as
- 55:36Nancy was talking about not seeing
- 55:38their friends and and the socialization
- 55:41aspect of this for them but not logging on,
- 55:43that's that's a big number.
- 55:45So we are quite concerned about that.
- 55:47And if Kobe continues for several
- 55:49more months,
- 55:50I'm not sure what's going to happen
- 55:53to a whole lot of our kids who will
- 55:56be far behind in terms of their.
- 55:58Capabilities to do the work that's
- 56:00expected of them.
- 56:04And I think the reality is
- 56:06that at least that we are now
- 56:09anticipating as covid will continue.
- 56:11Through the spring.
- 56:13Even even with the vaccine
- 56:15or several vaccines.
- 56:17We're certainly planning on
- 56:18going through April at least.
- 56:21I think Linda. I think we're feeling
- 56:24more comfortable doing the Tele
- 56:26health work with young children.
- 56:28You know, I felt like we were
- 56:31resistant to it at first,
- 56:33but we're seeing we're beginning
- 56:36to see the possibilities and and
- 56:39in kind of enlisting the parents
- 56:41to really think together with us
- 56:43about how to create a session that
- 56:46is comfortable and productive.
- 56:48For for the child.
- 56:51Thank you Nancy. I
- 56:53just added, you know,
- 56:54we've been really getting granular
- 56:56about teachers mental health and,
- 56:58you know, we did a study in the spring.
- 57:02Which showed you know,
- 57:04pretty strong burnout and you know
- 57:06fears or around the future an now that
- 57:09they were living in again in the fall.
- 57:12Worried about just a teacher
- 57:14profession you know?
- 57:15Are we going to have enough
- 57:17teachers to support you?
- 57:18Know kids in schools because?
- 57:21It's not a very glorious
- 57:22profession right now,
- 57:23and the burnout is just tremendous
- 57:25from not only worrying about
- 57:27their own physical health.
- 57:28Um but struggling with their own
- 57:30mental health and also dealing with
- 57:32the things that they mentioned.
- 57:34You know,
- 57:35it's very very stressful for a teacher
- 57:37to not be able to connect with their
- 57:40students or communicate with them,
- 57:41and it leaves them just in a
- 57:45very uncomfortable place so.
- 57:46And answer those are burning out too.
- 57:48We did a study with thousand principles.
- 57:51There managing this other metal level.
- 57:55Right, Camille, you're going to
- 57:57say I'd like to add that I've been
- 58:01amazed at the resilience of the
- 58:05parents in this situation that
- 58:08because of the parent sessions,
- 58:11they built relationships with each other,
- 58:14and once the covert pandemic hit
- 58:17that they were able to utilize the
- 58:21strength of their relationships too.
- 58:24Work together and solve some
- 58:27problems within their community,
- 58:29so it's the resilience that
- 58:31these the parents in these two
- 58:35groups is really amazing.
- 58:37Thank you and we do have a question so Molly.
- 58:41The question is with younger children,
- 58:43how do you balance the desire to provide
- 58:46educational opportunities with the
- 58:47stress and frustration that virtual
- 58:49school could be causing these children?
- 58:51Where school is so much about
- 58:54personal interactions with
- 58:55teachers and fellow students.
- 58:57And you're asking both as a
- 59:00parent and also as a funder.
- 59:04May I throw my I give that to
- 59:05the group and whoever would like
- 59:07to go first for that question?
- 59:12I just need one quick thing.
- 59:14You know, one of our principle
- 59:15was in New York City.
- 59:17I always listen to her words
- 59:19'cause she teaches in a very high
- 59:21poverty school and has, you know,
- 59:22very serious challenges, she says.
- 59:25The people make the school,
- 59:27not the building, and so you know,
- 59:29when the educators are, you know,
- 59:31knowing how to build those positive
- 59:33relationships with students,
- 59:34they really can find ways
- 59:36to connect with them,
- 59:37even through virtual and remote
- 59:39learning and and so her school has
- 59:41been successful at this process.
- 59:43But it took many, many years of.
- 59:46Of building those connections and
- 59:48using the tools that we and others
- 59:51provide to manage those relationships
- 59:53and so of course the younger
- 59:55than the more difficult I mean.
- 59:584 year olds.
- 59:585 year old sitting in front of a computer.
- 01:00:00That's just ridiculous.
- 01:00:04And along those lines,
- 01:00:05I mean if there's anything that we've
- 01:00:07learned from the Covid study that we did,
- 01:00:10it's that, especially with really
- 01:00:11young children in childcare programs
- 01:00:13to your programs are are uniquely
- 01:00:15equipped with how to handle something
- 01:00:17like a pandemic because they're
- 01:00:18largely licensed on the basis of
- 01:00:20health and safety issues, you know.
- 01:00:22And and early elementary school two is very
- 01:00:25different than middle school and high school,
- 01:00:27and that children tend to be very
- 01:00:29self contained within smaller groups,
- 01:00:31and they don't mix so much. So 1.
- 01:00:34One way to think about this too is
- 01:00:36understanding that the vaccine is on its way.
- 01:00:39We do have an endpoint that were that
- 01:00:41were aiming towards and in part of
- 01:00:43that solution might be to think about
- 01:00:45how do we provide more in person
- 01:00:47opportunities for young children,
- 01:00:48especially given the fact that most
- 01:00:50of the science suggests that the
- 01:00:52transmission rate from young children
- 01:00:54to adults and from young children to
- 01:00:56other children is probably not great,
- 01:00:57and his board containable and then
- 01:00:59become better at thinking about virtual
- 01:01:01learning for the older children.
- 01:01:04Thank you, Walter.
- 01:01:06I think that's a really tough question
- 01:01:09to answer, and I and I think you're
- 01:01:12not alone and struggling with that.
- 01:01:15I mean, I think that's the big issue
- 01:01:18that parents of young children and
- 01:01:21early elementary school children have
- 01:01:23been having is is trying to help them
- 01:01:26to connect virtually when it doesn't
- 01:01:29feel like a connection to them,
- 01:01:31and so some parents have been
- 01:01:34creating learning pods that.
- 01:01:36Um, you know, if you.
- 01:01:38Here the responsibilities of doing the
- 01:01:41home schooling with a couple of other
- 01:01:45parents and children that you've.
- 01:01:47Been kind of,
- 01:01:48you know where they've been and
- 01:01:51the they've been saved.
- 01:01:53That sometimes takes the pressure off
- 01:01:55and gives it children an opportunity
- 01:01:58to be together in some way.
- 01:02:00Although even indoors, socially,
- 01:02:03socially distanced an wearing
- 01:02:05and wearing masks.
- 01:02:07I also think that teachers are, you know,
- 01:02:11I think when this first happened,
- 01:02:13being able to provide virtual learning
- 01:02:16was a new experience for so many
- 01:02:19teachers and I think as time has passed,
- 01:02:23I do think that they've become
- 01:02:25more adept at it and perhaps can
- 01:02:28provide more kind of interesting and
- 01:02:31maybe shorter times on on video.
- 01:02:36Thank you, I would
- 01:02:38just add my own personal experience
- 01:02:42with my two granddaughters.
- 01:02:44Which is virtual.
- 01:02:45We live in Minneapolis,
- 01:02:47one of my four year 4 1/2 year old
- 01:02:49granddaughter lives in Paris. My
- 01:02:5118 month old granddaughter
- 01:02:52lives in San
- 01:02:53Francisco and I spend a lot of
- 01:02:55time on on FaceTime with them.
- 01:02:59Playing with them but teaching them,
- 01:03:01I do a lot of research on home,
- 01:03:04school, resources, things.
- 01:03:05There are a lot of coloring pages
- 01:03:07and ideas that I can download
- 01:03:09for free from other people who
- 01:03:11do home schooling and teachers.
- 01:03:15I tried to teach them language music.
- 01:03:18I do a little.
- 01:03:19I did a whole science unit with my 4
- 01:03:23year old granddaughter and it's play,
- 01:03:25but it's it's also school and
- 01:03:27I think she's learning and it.
- 01:03:30It's very satisfying for me
- 01:03:32to spend the time with them,
- 01:03:34but I think the grandparents
- 01:03:35and I have a lot of friends.
- 01:03:37I've recommended books to them
- 01:03:39and things that I found useful.
- 01:03:40I think there's also grandparents
- 01:03:42to draw upon.
- 01:03:44Thank you Andy. So I know that we
- 01:03:46are past the hour and I want to
- 01:03:49be respectful of everyone's time.
- 01:03:51If I see that one other person
- 01:03:53wants to ask a question so.
- 01:03:56First, before we turn to are all
- 01:03:58about a question, let me just say
- 01:04:00that I hope you that everyone will
- 01:04:02join us tomorrow for our next panel,
- 01:04:04which is on diversity,
- 01:04:05equity and inclusion.
- 01:04:06I'm in a chance again to
- 01:04:08carry these themes forward.
- 01:04:10I also hope you'll join us in the
- 01:04:12virtual poster session that's
- 01:04:14ongoing right now that you can
- 01:04:16go online and see the posters.
- 01:04:18So if you need to leave very much,
- 01:04:20thank you for coming.
- 01:04:22If you can stay,
- 01:04:23I'll now turn to terald,
- 01:04:25our colleague from Norway to ask a question.
- 01:04:30Thank you so much Linda.
- 01:04:31I would just
- 01:04:32like to ask
- 01:04:34Nancy a question and I
- 01:04:36don't know if it's generalizable to the US,
- 01:04:39but some of the schools that I work closely
- 01:04:43with. It seems
- 01:04:44like the cover
- 01:04:45situation has actually
- 01:04:47been worse for the kids that initially
- 01:04:50were pretty happy to not go to school,
- 01:04:53so kids that had social emotional problems,
- 01:04:56they actually in the start they were pretty
- 01:04:59happy not not not having to go to school,
- 01:05:03but actually. Among ten students
- 01:05:06I follow up, we had one suicide
- 01:05:08during Comet and 14 year olds,
- 01:05:10so I don't know if it's
- 01:05:12something that you see
- 01:05:13in in the
- 01:05:14US also that. Children with school
- 01:05:17aversion and other disabilities have. Had
- 01:05:21larger or social
- 01:05:22disabilities have. Maybe initially
- 01:05:25we had been happy too to not go
- 01:05:28to school to meet elections, but ending up
- 01:05:31having bigger problems than than typically
- 01:05:33developing kids and kids without any.
- 01:05:36Mental illnesses. Thank you,
- 01:05:39thank you for that.
- 01:05:40I don't know that I have.
- 01:05:47That children who have some social
- 01:05:51awkwardness were initially happy to be home.
- 01:05:55Ann kind of lost themselves in video games,
- 01:05:59which I think made parents really
- 01:06:03concerned about how to limit that
- 01:06:08and balance it with learning.
- 01:06:11But I haven't, you know,
- 01:06:13I don't have information about that,
- 01:06:14but maybe one of my other
- 01:06:17colleagues might have that.
- 01:06:18But it is worrisome.
- 01:06:21No, any idea so much so maybe we
- 01:06:24can also take it offline too.
- 01:06:28Any other comments?
- 01:06:32Well again thanks everyone for joining us.
- 01:06:35We are on the second day of our
- 01:06:37virtual world so see you all.
- 01:06:39Hopefully tomorrow.
- 01:06:40So thanks so much. Take care.