“One of the issues we’re seeing in education is retention rates for teachers,” said George-Puskar. “Enrollment numbers for schools of education are down because of the already challenging demands of being a teacher, coupling that with concerns about safety.”

“I find future teachers to be extremely brave,” she added. “The world we live in today can be really scary, and there are fears about safety in schools. Instead of shying away from that, they are running straight to it, so many of them. It’s because of wanting to make a change within our schools and within our world.”

James Smythe, a student teacher in the Fordham five-year accelerated program, said, “Being a teacher is hard enough. I’ve got a lot on my plate, and I’m only a student teacher. There’s real, actual teachers out there that I work with, and I see them put in everything they have every single day, and there’s still more they have to do. And now they’ve got to learn how to fight a gunman?”

“I would hope that teachers and schools would get the attention they deserve,” Smythe added. “They need support. They are not going to walk away from this, because they love it. … We’re going to have to do well on behalf of these teachers. And I would hope that lawmakers would see that, and there would be an American cultural shift that would see that, to a point where we would see that [being]an educator is one of the most noble things you can do, and to be honored as such.”

Mary Olivette Bookman, another Fordham student teacher, said, “We learned that the best way to prevent a potential school shooting is to create that positive classroom environment where students feel supported and loved. If they know that there are other ways to express themselves … so the alternative never comes to their mind, all they think of is, ‘I have support. I have love. I am important, and my classmates are important.'”

“If anything, it strengthens my resolve on the importance of teachers and the role we can have in students’ lives to be a source of positive guidance and support,” she added. “Regardless of what happens, I at least know that I did what I could to try to make a difference in a student’s life. … That makes me feel that … what I do as a teacher matters.”

But for Annie George-Puskar, Ph.D., an assistant professor of curriculum and teaching at the Graduate School of Education (GSE), there was a silver lining to the way education was conducted during the pandemic. It brought into sharp relief the ways that teachers can work with caregivers to help students transition into new learning environments.

Listening to Early-Childhood Educators

Those teacher-caregiver relationships are the focus George-Puskar’s study, “Early Childhood Educators’ Perspectives on Child & Family Transitions into Preschool in NYC,” which was published on May 17 by the NYC Early Childhood Research Network.

It was almost a very different study. With a grant from the GSE dean’s office and the Early Childhood Research Network, George-Puskar had been set to study the ways special education students made the transition into preschool. But the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 and the shift to online learning forced her to change her research.

“The pandemic really shifted my focus to teacher-parent relationships rather than teacher-child relationships,” said George-Puskar.

“We talk so much about child readiness in terms of academic and social skills, and self-help skills, but how are you really gauging if parents are ready to send their kids to school? And how can you work with parents to communicate more effectively as you support them and caregivers in this transition?”

George-Puskar had already specialized in the transitions that students make as they enter pre-school when she joined GSE in 2019. It was a particularly timely area of study, as New York City had launched its “3-K for all” pre-k program five years earlier.

For this study, she worked with the New York City Department of Education’s division of early childhood education and early childhood professionals from private schools to embark on a survey that was not just limited to special education. The questions focused on what technologies teachers used during the pandemic to communicate with parents, and how they affected the transition into preschool.

Examples of the questions in the survey included: “Thinking about the transition into your classroom, how do you know a transition is successful for a child and family?” as well as “What are the biggest challenges to successful transitions into your classroom/program?” and “Thinking about the experience from last year to what you did this year around the transition, what is the biggest difference?”

In all, she and her study co-author Jill Gandhi, Ph.D., received 327 responses from schools from all five boroughs. Researchers also spoke with 20 respondents in follow-up interviews.

Effective Communication with Caregivers

“One of the things that we asked quite a bit about is the amount and type of communication that happened prior to a child starting on the first day,” George-Puskar said.

The biggest barrier to reaching families is ineffective communication, she said, so one of the best practices recommended is using communication technology they learned to use during the pandemic.

“The teachers who had had professional development [about 45%]were really creative in how they used technology in the classroom to really make the child and the family feel welcome and prepared for the start of the school year.”

Whereas these teachers did things like send newsletters and emails and invited children and families to in-person or virtual classroom tours, those who hadn’t received training tended to only reach out to parents when there was a problem.

“Only making calls when something’s wrong is not a great way to collaborate with parents, or make them feel good about what’s going on in the classroom,” she said.

“So, using those communicative and collaborative practices to establish a rapport with families is what we need to focus on for those teachers.”

George-Puskar became interested in working with children with disabilities when she was an undergraduate and even wrote her master’s thesis on how kids on the autism spectrum learn through different levels of play. Working with the family of a boy who was diagnosed with autism at three years old, she saw the stressors that are placed on parents as they navigate education and service systems.

“I also realized that I study transitions because I don’t like them,” she said laughing.

“I have a hard time with transitions, so it’s a helpful outlet for me to say, ‘How can we make this easier on parents and caregivers, including myself?”

Developing Leaders at All Levels

In addition to transitions and play-based learning, George-Puskar studies leadership development in early childhood special education. Last September, she co-hosted a panel workshop at the Division for Early Childhood & International Society of Early Intervention joint conference in Chicago.

Her goal is to take lessons about leadership from the business world and organizational psychology and apply them to education.

“When we talk about educational leaders, it kind of equates to administrative leaders and school building leaders,” she said.

“But I really want to emphasize how you can develop leaders at all levels, as teachers and assistant teachers in the classroom, and as students preparing to become teachers. You don’t have to have a title to be a good leader.”

“As a doctoral student who came into the program online during the pandemic, I thought it would be wonderful to bring our doctoral programs together,” said Tricia Clarke, a member of GSE’s doctoral planning committee who proposed the event. “Having an outlet where we could share our research and talk about our work out loud has moved us from the classroom to a wider space where we could see the impact of our work and learn from each other.” 

The all-day event featured presentations and panels co-designed by students and faculty. In one panel, GSE alumni spoke with students about how they can use their degrees outside of academia. In another panel, faculty outlined best practices for students who want to publish their scholarly research. The event, which was sponsored by the GSE Dean’s Office, also featured presentations from Amy Sarika Persaud, Ph.D., a psychologist in Fordham’s Counseling and Psychological Services who spoke about how students can prioritize their mental health during school, and keynote speaker Alfredo Artiles, Ph.D., a professor at the Stanford University Graduate School of Education who reflected on his own journey and offered advice for the next generation of educators. 

In years past, GSE has hosted research celebrations, but this spring marked the first time that it also hosted a retreat for students within the school’s five doctoral programs, said Annie George-Puskar, Ph.D., assistant professor and chair of GSE’s doctoral planning committee.

“Academia can be isolating, so it was great to see our students get excited about research, celebrate their work, and feel inspired by one another,” said George-Puskar. “Our committee hopes that this event continues to grow so that we can celebrate the important research that our students contribute to the field of education.” 

Perceptions of Miscommunication in Multilingual Families

At the end of the day, students at different stages presented their scholarly work, including first-year doctoral students at the early stages of their research and students scheduled to defend their dissertations by the end of the year. 

Tricia Clarke, a student in the innovation in curriculum and instruction program, is examining the perception of miscommunication between staff in early child education programs and multilingual students and their families in collaboration with her classmates and faculty mentor Diane Rodríguez, Ph.D.

Clarke and fellow doctoral students Lovell Quiroz and Robert Niewiadomski are currently surveying teachers, administrators, and parents in a study called “Channels of Communication in Multilingual Communities: Insights From an Early Childhood Education Program.”

“Our main question is, how do parents, teachers, and administrators perceive the communication process among multiple stakeholders of an early childhood program in a rural multilingual community?” said Clarke, who is also an adjunct faculty member at Fordham and Lehman College. 

What Do Educators Think About Bilingual Learning? 

Natalie Madison Dronne, a student in the contemporary learning and interdisciplinary research program, presented her dissertation, “From Monolingual to Bilingual: Teacher Languages and A New Dual Language Program.” Madison Dronne’s project focuses on the Brooklyn school where she works as a full-time teacher, which serves many non-native English learners who have never participated in a bilingual program. In 2017, her school was mandated to establish a bilingual program. For her dissertation, Madison Dronne decided to interview teachers and administrators at her school about their beliefs on language learning for children.

“My study captures this moment in time where for the first time, instruction is switching from monolingual to bilingual in some classrooms. I’m examining how educators understand this new program, whether or not they support it, and how that’s connected to program sustainability,” Madison Dronne said. 

One of her top research takeaways was that educators’ stated beliefs can be different from their actions—not because they are being disingenuous, but because of the rules, regulations, and money issues that prevent them from accomplishing their original goals. 

“All these bilingual programs were mandated in New York State because English language learners were not making progress. And so at a time when all these bilingual programs were mandated to be opened and are now being hopefully sustained, it’s important to understand the ideological landscapes at these schools for the success of these programs,” Madison Dronne said.

Building Crisis Ready School Leaders

Daren Khairule, a student in the educational leadership, administration, and policy program, is researching how schools can be better prepared for large-scale crises like Hurricane Katrina, the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“While working with school districts, we realized that we didn’t have a succinct crisis management plan and team that could have guided us through challenges during the pandemic,” said Khairule, who also serves as a coordinator of instructional technology at BOCES of New York State, a program that provides educational programs, services, and professional development to school districts within the state. “I felt that our organization needed to develop a more succinct and robust methodology for building a crisis management team going forward.”

In his project, “Building Crisis Ready Leaders through Learning Circles, Simulated Based Training, and After Action Reviews,” Khairule researched crisis management plans from not only educational institutions, but also the business, sports, and military sectors. There isn’t a silver bullet for crisis management in any industry, he said, but there are best practices that can be lifted from those industries and incorporated into schools. Among them are learning circles (group discussions led by an expert where educators share their knowledge and discuss best practices), simulated based trainings (role-playing workshops where educators study a specific crisis and figure out how they could’ve handled it better), and after action reviews (workshops where teams unpack what worked and what didn’t to help refine an organization’s response to future crises).

“Looking at those different industries helped me realize that, as an educational institution, we’re not leveraging proven strategies that are helping other industries manage crises,” Khairule said. “If we can use some of the strengths that these other industries offer, then we can be better change agents and crisis management leaders during difficult times.”

“It’s total chaos here, trying to support [Fordham College at Rose Hill] operations and third grade in my dining room,” Rachel Annunziato, Ph.D., associate dean for strategic initiatives at FCRH, a psychology professor, and a mother, said in an email.  

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government closed all New York City public schools last week. Last Monday, the school system’s 1.1 million students — the largest school system in the country — transitioned to remote learning, which will last until at least April 20.

But many parents and educators have been struggling with their new normal. How do you work remotely from home while caring for your kids? How do you connect with your students on an online platform? How do you help students who don’t have access to computers or the internet? 

Seven members of the Fordham community, from professors to current students, shared tips on how parents and educators can navigate remote learning throughout this pandemic. 

“This is a new experience for a lot of teachers,” said Alesia Moldavan, Ph.D., an assistant professor of mathematics education in the Graduate School of Education who has taught remotely through Fordham’s partnership with the 2U program. “But I think it’s also going to push the way we look at education. We can broaden our resources and really make use of what is out there.” 

Advice for Parents 

Create a schedule with your kids. It can provide structure, routine, and momentum for children — especially those with disabilities and developmental delays, said Annie George-Puskar, Ph.D., an assistant professor in curriculum and teaching in the Graduate School of Education who supports children with autism spectrum disorders and their families. A schedule should include getting up at the same time each day and having a set bedtime. “Turn it into a family activity and write it down — similar to how children have rules and expectations at school,” said George-Puskar. “If something doesn’t work, give yourself grace to readjust and figure it out as you go.” 

John Craven, Ph.D., an associate professor of education in the Graduate School of Education, and his family are following schedules, too. When the pandemic began, he and his wife asked their five boys, ages 11 to 19, to create a schedule for themselves. 

“It’s not a two-month-long snow day. Get up. Have breakfast. Check your Google Classroom. Prioritize the work that you have to do. Insert the breaks — get out and stretch, walk around the block. That’s all with the caveat that you’re not congregating with friends,” Craven said. “This is not a break — this is the new normal for now.” 

Develop a designated workspace for your child. This can help children separate their school time from recreational time. Listen to your child’s input, too. A productive place to complete homework could be a closet, as it was for David Rufo’s nephew. “Children are predisposed to think more divergently than adults,” said Rufo, Ph.D., an artist and clinical assistant professor in the Graduate School of Education. “Adults tend to rely on formulas, whereas children approach tasks in ways that are creative and imaginative. Therefore, children should be considered integral to the problem-solving and decision-making processes.” 

Create check-in times with your household. Set up a convenient time when family members can congregate and share what they’re up to. At the end of the week, take turns sharing something you learned; perform a skit, read a personal essay, or conduct a science experiment. “These types of dynamic and performance-based group share activities provide ways to celebrate learning and also have that communal family time so valued by children,” Rufo said. 

Don’t be afraid to relearn tough topics like calculus. When your child asks you for help with homework, you might not know where to start. “The National Council of Teachers in Mathematics provides a lot of resources,” said Moldavan. “You can type in the search word for what you’re interested in looking at, like finding the limits or a derivative. It will walk you through all the steps.” 

You don’t always need technology to learn. “Math can be part of cooking or baking. Reading can be done using newspapers and magazines and school textbooks. Think a little bit creatively about how we can still do some academic learning through the resources we may have more readily available in the home,” said George-Puskar.  

Annunziato and her sons are finding ways to stay creative at home, too. 

“We have built a sand pit in the backyard, cleaned the basement today so they could scooter there in the rain, and there are crafts galore going on. We also have been doing a ton of baking and cooking for picnics and meals. My boys are enjoying too finding ways we can help my parents and our elderly neighbors,” she said in an email. “As a mom-psychologist, I am trying to cultivate a sense of security and structure with whimsy that maybe is missing during the usual hustle and bustle.”

Convey a sense of safety and care. Be sensitive to your child’s losses, from plays to concerts to sports events to graduations. “School is very, very important. But I think the impact of this pandemic on students emotionally may run in deep, quiet waters. We want to watch for that,” said Craven. 

Try to maintain a sense of normalcy. Ask your child what they did in school today, said Craven. What did they learn? Did they have any issues or troubles? 

Have access to your child’s email. Make sure your child is staying on top of all the messages they are receiving from their teachers and school. “It’s really important for the parents to monitor that email with the student,” said Craven. 

Tips for Educators 

Keep things simple in the beginning. Get students comfortable with navigating the new system. “Have a routine in your instruction as you set up your Google Classroom,” said Craven. That might mean starting every class with stating the purpose of the day’s lesson, the outcomes, and how they’ll be assessed. 

Think about the best way to support your students and their families. “The way we’re doing that is through sending positive messages, allowing them the time to interact with us, whether that’s on the phone or text messages or a Google Classroom,” said Emma Salandra, a fifth-grade teacher in Manhattan and a student studying general and special education in the Graduate School of Education. “If they’re struggling with a worksheet we’ve sent home, I’ve FaceTimed or talked on the phone with them.”

Visual check-ins are important. By seeing a student’s face through video chat, you pick up on nonverbal cues that demonstrate whether or not a child understands the material. “A shrug may indicate, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about’; raised eyebrows may show someone is puzzled. A smile can indicate ‘Yes, I do understand what’s being received,’” said Fran Blumberg, Ph.D., a developmental psychologist and a professor in counseling psychology in the Graduate School of Education. 

Online programs can allow students to advance at their own pace. “This allows students who might need that extra time to review material multiple times, but also allows other students to go on to the next lesson or think about how they can expand on that topic and make it more challenging for them,” Moldavan said. 

Reach out to your colleagues for help. That includes math specialists, speech language pathologists, occupational therapists, and physical therapists. “No educator is an island. I know you’re at home by yourself, but reach out to your colleagues and other teachers or providers so that you are working together,” George-Puskar said. 

Online Resources for Families 

When looking for online resources, students and their families should first refer to their local district, said George-Puskar. This will keep children aligned with the district curriculum. Local districts may also provide physical resources to students, including laptops and tablets. In the meantime, providers like Spectrum are offering free Wi-Fi access for a limited time to households. 

GSE educators suggested more resources that could be helpful for parents, caretakers, and teachers to keep students engaged at home. Among them are the New York State Education Department, the New York City Department of Education, BrainPOP, PBS KIDS, Khan Academy, and Common Sense Education’s resources for families and educators during the coronavirus pandemic. 

“Keep an open mind that the curriculum is a guide. And while we need to follow that, we can embed other resources into it to make it stronger,” Moldavan said.

Perhaps above all, many educators agreed that it’s important for parents and teachers to have patience with the whole process. 

“Under the current COVID-19 situation, teachers now face pressure to develop plans in a matter of days at most,” said George-Puskar. “So it is important to have some patience with the process as we figure it out together.”