Program helps students struggling with virtual

For many students, going from a traditional classroom to learning from home can be a real challenge. Arkansas’ Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has partnered with Graduation Alliance to provide an extra layer of support for students in grades K-12 and their families who might be struggling with these changes. The Blytheville School District has partnered with Engage Arkansas and the Graduation Alliance to provide more support for virtual students who are struggling.

Students who choose to participate in the program will get an academic coach to work with them to answer questions, connect them with resources, and develop a plan to get on track and finish the school year strong.

“This is a free service from DESE that will not put anything more on the plate of our teachers who are already working tirelessly to reach these students and their families; instead it is meant to remove some of the load that they have felt when they continue to contact families with no response and students continue to be disengaged with the work. Currently teachers use our Virtual Friday's where all students are home to contact families and offer specific support for students who are struggling or behind and they will continue to do so, but Engage AR will be a huge help,” said Sally Cooke, the Blytheville School District curriculum coordinator.

Each school sent a list of the names of at risk virtual students who had more than one F the first 9 weeks or were absent 20 percent of the time or more along with the information on how they and their parents have been contacted already. Blytheville had 472 students that fit one or more of these categories and an additional 13 students who have not shown up at all in our district or any other district in the state.

Engage Arkansas teams are beginning to make phone calls, texts, and emails to contact these families this week. They will provide a wide variety of support for them, not just academic help. “We want our virtual learning families to know that this is a real resource and not a scam,” Cooke said.

Engage Arkansas and the Graduation Alliance will find out why they are not engaging in learning and will share with the district. Many students are struggling because of lack of structure, stress, no adult checking on them, or they are providing care for siblings. They will work with caregivers, which in some cases is an older sibling to provide support for younger students.

Telehealth benefits will be free for students and families- This is not an insurance program or to provide ER, urgent care or prescriptions, but it WILL provide unlimited Virtual Visits with a general provider or pediatrician. They can connect with someone who will walk them through symptoms and will connect family to systems in the area that can help them.

Behavioral Health services for crisis intervention will be provided for those with feelings of being overwhelmed currently for those ages 18 and over, but in 2021 could be available for students ages 13-17 with parents permission.

"As you can see there are great resources for families in our community through this and we want to let them know about them,” Cooke said. “ This is focused on Virtual Learners at this point because that is where the state is seeing significant failure rates and disengaged students. We hope this will help us reach those kids and get them engaged in learning online since so many families have chosen that option this year due to COVID."

Parents who want more information can go to ParentsAR.GraduationAlliance.com, call 501-916-4975 or email EngageAR@GraduationAlliance.com to get started.