Registration Simulation Video
NYS-TEACHS
This video simulation, a collaborative project between NYS-TEACHS and the Urban Arts Partnership, demonstrates the ways in which conversation between school staff and a parent can affect the school registration process. In this Choose Your Own Adventure-style video, you will act as registration staff and respond to a parent who has come to register her daughter in school.
About
This video simulation was created by NYS-TEACHS to highlight something often encountered but rarely examined – the way discussions about homelessness impact whether students in temporary housing are properly identified and enrolled in school. The simulation demonstrates the powerful effect of speaking with sensitivity, and conversely how the lack of sensitivity can derail a conversation with a parent. Conversation choices can make an enormous difference between whether the school district gets the information it needs to make a decision about eligibility under McKinney-Vento and ultimately whether the district is able to carry out its mandates properly under McKinney-Vento. Through this type of exercise, we hope to increase staff competence and confidence in working with families and students in temporary housing, while also ensuring that conversations are productive for all involved.
“Choose your own adventure” format
The Video Simulation places you in the role of someone working at the front desk where students come to enroll at New City School District. It is your job to complete the enrollment process for a student who has come into your office with her mother. You will see and hear one statement from the mother and/or child on the screen, and you will then have a series of responses to choose from. Depending on the response you select, the simulation will play out in a different way. The scenes differ based on YOUR choices, so it is possible that every user will experience a different simulation. While there are multiple ways to successfully complete this activity, there are also several ways to fail. Finally, while the scenario is fictitious, the range of statements and sentiments expressed are based on real conversations.