VIDBE-Q Volume 66, Issue 2
68
March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Community Programs was faced
with the need to rapidly pivot to virtual instruction for all of its students. While not
without challenges, our work over the past year demonstrates that virtual
instruction, when done with committed program leadership and the creativity and
collaboration of teachers and parents, can be an effective model of education and
support for students with low incidence disabilities.
In June 2019, Perkins, through generous philanthropic support, began a pilot
project to look at the effectiveness of virtual visits. 5 teachers were trained in a
hybrid approach of in-person and virtual visits, and 10 Infant Toddler Program
families enrolled into the pilot. Data was collected on family engagement, teacher
experience, and cost-savings. We partnered with the University of Massachusetts
Donahue Institute, a neutral third party, to analyze data. Though the project was
planned before the pandemic, the lessons learned helped shape and target our
professional development to rapidly pivot and scale our program, implementing the
new virtual teaching model across Community Programs. We continued our
partnership with the Donahue Institute, allowing us to further collect and analyze
our data on the effectiveness of virtual teaching, now with a much larger cohort
(See figure 1).
The initial 2-week period in March 2020 when Massachusetts closed all
schools, Community Programs used that time to engage in intensive professional
