Parents & Schools

December 12, 2020

Parents & Schools

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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.