Norms and Expectations in Virtual and Hybrid Learning

To ensure that students thrive in virtual/hybrid classrooms, educators must establish and communicate norms, expectations, and guidelines for student behavior, engagement, and learning across all grade levels. Equally important, schools and teachers need to relay these norms and expectations clearly and consistently to families and students throughout the year – not simply at the beginning of the school year. This case study describes the data analyzed from districts who participated in The Learning Accelerator’s (TLA’s) Strategy Lab program, revealing varying levels of development and efforts to communicate norms and expectations for learning in a virtual/hybrid environment. Three districts specifically addressed this challenge. All indicated that they communicated expectations and used common norms – and yet they also noted that challenges persisted due to variations in fidelity of implementation, clear articulation of expectations, and ongoing communication needs with families and students. As a result of their investigation into this challenge, each of the three districts designed a pilot to address setting and communicating norms and expectations. These pilot projects showcase the districts’ commitment to providing the necessary support to ensure student success in the virtual/hybrid classroom.

Between January 2022 and June 2023, 20 district teams participated in TLA’s Strategy Lab: Virtual & Hybrid program. For approximately 18 months, these districts worked as a cohort to address a problem of practice. Although these districts represented a variety of virtual/hybrid programs, regions, and demographics, they aligned around a common goal: designing more effective, engaging, and equitable virtual/hybrid learning experiences for their students. By participating in Strategy Lab, district teams were guided through a multi-step process to identify goals and gaps before determining and designing measurable solutions. This program was based on the Real-Time Redesign (RTR) toolkit, which takes participants through a three-part process (Come Together, Dream Big, and Start Small) to make iterative, equitable, and sustainable improvements.

As TLA learned from the analysis of the research, setting norms and expectations is a key driver of quality virtual and hybrid learning. It is essential for educators to establish and communicate clear norms, expectations, and guidelines for student behavior – such as turning on cameras in synchronous sessions, engagement (e.g., participation in chats), and learning across all grade levels. A student’s ability to engage in any virtual or remote instructional experience – whether knowing how to turn in assignments or complete asynchronous work – is directly related to the guidance, support, and parameters set forth by the district, school, and, ultimately, their teachers. As such, teachers must establish and model explicit expectations and provide clear structures to support self-directed learning. Particularly in virtual and hybrid settings, students must work in a way that is highly independent (even within synchronous learning experiences) as they are often presented with a variety of choices and tasks. A student’s cultural background, language, and traditions must also be considered as these may influence how they choose to engage and interact online with their peers and other adults. Establishing clear norms and expectations can help to ease students’ and families’ transitions into virtual and hybrid learning and set them up for success.

Data analyzed from TLA’s work across all of the districts participating in Strategy Lab revealed varying levels of development and communication around norms and expectations for teachers and students. Although most districts indicated that theydo have norms and expectations for learning and behavior, many also identified challenges, ranging from the clarity of communication efforts to the consistency of their application. Especially in virtual and hybrid learning environments, the challenge of constantly trying to adapt and understand varying norms and expectations across classes and teachers can pose a barrier to meaningful learning with technology.

High-quality virtual and remote learning not only builds upon the effective features of in-person instruction but also actively addresses, mitigates, and leverages the distinct advantages and challenges presented by technology and out-of-school learning. This approach allows for deep engagement and the fulfillment of students' unique learning needs. TLA’s review of the research, in conjunction with continued partnerships with schools, has produced what TLA calls drivers of quality that educators and leaders should consider as they design, implement, and improve virtual and hybrid learning approaches.

Figure 1. Key factors that help drive virtual and remote learning quality.

Virtual and hybrid formats can offer flexibility and personalization for individual student and family needs; however, these learning environments also pose unique (but not insurmountable) design challenges. Effective instruction, a quality driver for virtual and remote learning, requires that virtual and hybrid schools consider how each of the following is strategically embedded within their instructional model:

• Technology as a medium for communication, collaboration, and learning; and

• Pedagogy as the guideline to inform instructional decisions; and

• Relationships as the lever to build community and culture.

Because effective virtual and hybrid learning depends on a close interaction between schools, teachers, students, and families, a common set of norms and expectations needs to be established.

1. Leaders need to establish a school-wide set of expectations for student behavior, engagement, learning, and use of technology.

2. Leaders need to work with teachers to create grade-level classroom expectations to provide consistency across classes and to reduce confusion for students.

3. Teachers need to establish, communicate, and consistently adhere to clear routines, holding themselves and students accountable.

4. Leaders and teachers need to provide guidelines for technology tools and platforms – as well as how to seek out technical support – so that technology does not become a barrier to learning.

5. Most importantly, the best instructional design will not be effective if teachers and students do not know or follow norms and expectations for learning and behavior in the virtual/hybrid classroom.

The TLA Research & Measurement team identified norms and expectations as a distinct need after analyzing data collected throughout the Strategy Lab process. This involved repeated analysis of district documents, meeting/coaching notes, and digital artifacts such as data repository spreadsheets, self- and team-assessments, and collaborative documents, provided by each district to identify emerging topics and themes. The topic of norms and expectations first emerged as a potential challenge in TLA’s analysis of the teams’ self-assessment – a research-based measurement tool designed to facilitate meaningful conversations about quality and help teams identify potential problems of practice in context.

In examining items from the team assessments that either specifically mentioned norms, expectations, instruction, and communication, or alluded to routines and procedures, TLA identified two broad trends related to norms and expectations:

• Responses on select assessment items revealed that although approximately 27% of schools indicated they consistently articulated norms and expectations to students and families, the majority noted that they were only at the beginning stages of establishing and communicating consistent norms and expectations for learning, behavior, and engagement.

• At the same time, over 38% of the districts noted that they do not currently assist students in organizing their work and materials across courses. This has critical implications, especially as schools typically use multiple technology tools and platforms in their virtual and hybrid learning environments.

As research and field practice have shown, in order to provide effective, engaging, and equitable education that enables students to reach their full and unique potential, schools need to provide clear and consistent norms and expectations for behavior, learning, and engagement.

Figure 2. Team responses using the Stoplight Protocol from Data Wise to identify the degree to which policies and practices reflected the use of norms/expectations.

A deeper analysis of the available data (i.e., districts’ workbooks, coaching notes, interviews, team reflections, individual and team assessments, and collaborative activities) from all 20 district teams revealed three schools in which norms and expectations emerged as a recurring and predominant theme. Each school identified norms and expectations as a problem of practice in different ways and chose to address it through the design of different pilot programs. The table below provides an overview of how these schools identified and addressed norms and expectations. Detailed case studies then provide additional information and context.

West Chester Area School District’s Cyber Program is a virtual and hybrid school with an enrollment of 230 students in grades 6-12 in a suburban district in Exton, PA.

Norms/Expectations: Team members shared that they articulate clear expectations for virtual/hybrid learning to teachers and students. However, they also recognize there is room for improvement as the challenge of inconsistent expectations for curriculum, assessment, and rigor exist across classrooms and teachers.

Pilot Plan: Address aligning curriculum to standards as well as setting norms and expectations across physical education courses by creating common lessons, rubrics, and grading expectations.

Plymouth-Canton Community Schools' Virtual Academy has an enrollment of 299 K-12 students in a suburban district in Plymouth, MI.

Norms/Expectations: Team members noticed that although they articulate clear expectations for virtual/hybrid learning to teachers and students, each teacher independently establishes classroom norms for organizing content and materials. As a result, the team attributed observations of students struggling with learning tasks to this inconsistency.

Pilot Plan: Address setting norms and expectations for learning by providing professional development for teachers on how to establish clear routines as well as how to redesign their online courses to reflect common, student-friendly features.

Highline Virtual Academy, located within a suburban district in Burien, WA, has an enrollment of 502 students in grades 6-12.

Norms/Expectations: Team members shared that although they clearly communicate expectations for virtual/hybrid learning to teachers and students, as a school, they are in the beginning stages of establishing common norms across classes.

Pilot Plan: Address setting norms and expectations for student learning by providing professional development for teachers on how to intentionally build routines and structures to support student engagement.

The needs assessments conducted by these three district teams revealed similar root causes to their problems of practice: establishing norms and expectations. Although these schools shared a similar challenge, they each chose a different way to address the issue:

• WC Cyber Program created a set of expectations and a common rubric for their cyber health and physical education course.

• P-CCS Virtual Academy chose to train teachers on how to establish common norms in the design of their online courses as well as expectations for asynchronous learning tasks.

• Highline Virtual Academy trained teachers on strategies to set expectations for increasing student discussion and dialogue.

Importantly, each district chose a solution that was specific to their teachers, their learning context, and their students’ needs.

Because virtual/hybrid learning requires students to be self-directed learners, it is critical that teachers know how to design effective instruction as well as set routines and expectations for students. Schoolwide norms and expectations for engagement, learning, and behavior provide a roadmap for administrators, teachers, students, and families, keeping everyone on the same page. Equally important, these common norms and expectations need to be clearly and consistently communicated to all stakeholders.

When dealing with challenges inherent in virtual/hybrid learning spaces, TLA recommends that districts leverage three quality drivers (technology, pedagogy, and relationships) to inform their policies and practices – especially as they relate to setting norms and expectations:

• If school-wide norms are created and implemented with fidelity, then students will know what is expected of them, and will more quickly become familiar with common routines, allowing them to spend more time learning content instead of attempting to navigate their virtual/hybrid classroom.

• If norms and expectations are implemented on a regular basis, then students will be better able to develop and practice self-directed learning skills.

• If norms and expectations are consistent across classes, grade levels, and schools, families will know what is expected of their children.

• If students know and understand the expectations for participation and coursework, then they will be more invested in their learning.

From the organization’s Strategy Lab work, TLA knows that the problem of establishing norms and expectations can be mitigated through the implementation of quality drivers for effective instruction: technology, pedagogy, and relationships. As TLA learned with the three schools highlighted in this case study:

• Teachers need to know how to design effective instruction for synchronous and asynchronous learning; and

• Students need clear routines and expectations around virtual/hybrid learning.

TLA acknowledges that change is hard – but sustaining data-driven, personalized approaches to teaching and learning requires coherent, system-wide shifts in both strategy and practice. As the three schools featured in this case study demonstrated, there is no single, correct pathway to address a common problem of practice. The “right” solutions are contextual and highly dependent upon available resources.

As concrete action steps, TLA encourages leaders exploring this report to begin addressing the issue of setting and communicating norms and expectations by:

1. Building an inclusive team: Bring together a diversity of perspectives, ideas, and experiences.

2. Gathering data to understand the challenge: As a team, examine the quality of your virtual or hybrid learning environment.

3. Identifying and implementing the conditions necessary to support planning, adoption, and scaling of new initiatives: To address the issue of establishing norms and expectations for teachers and students, districts must have a concrete vision for remote/hybrid learning that describes how students will experience an engaging, effective, and equitable learning environment, and communicate this vision clearly to all stakeholders. In addition, districts need to foster a culture of change, cultivate relationships, and provide a sustainable professional learning program for educators.

4. Identifying and implementing promising practices: Teachers need to intentionally design their class structure to be user-friendly with clear guidance and support for students, many of whom are developing self-directed learning skills. Teachers also need to clearly communicate norms and expectations for learning, engagement, and behavior.

Also explore this Problem of Practice on the types of supports that enable successful student-driven learning in a virtual environment.

5. Measuring progress to inform improvement efforts: Designing measurable solutions lies at the heart of the Strategy Lab process. In addition to following Real-Time Redesign – a framework for quickly making improvements that are scalable, iterative, and relevant to district needs – begin by exploring the strategies below.