DISAPPOINTING GRADES, TECH ERRORS AND FUN
An update from families across California on how they are doing with distance and hybrid classes
Editor’s note: This is the third in a continuing series on how California families are confronting the learning challenges created by the COVID-19 crisis.
Seven months after school campuses closed, Mayra Guzman, a parent in Fresno County, summed it up for just about everyone: “I feel miserable.”
While some students have acclimated to distance learning and even thrived, most in EdSource’s project following California families on how they are coping with Covid-19, are still struggling with spotty internet access, technical glitches and the frustration of not seeing friends and teachers in person. Concerns with distance learning track a recent EdSource poll in which 75% of registered California voters, including parents, say that distance learning is worse than in class instruction.
And as progress reports trickle in, the evidence is clear: many students are struggling academically. Some students who usually get As and Bs are now facing Ds and Fs, and fear they’ll never catch up.
Parents are doing what they can, but most are juggling multiple roles — helping children, troubleshooting computer problems, working their own jobs and trying to keep the household running. For those with limited English skills, the challenges are even more daunting.
“I feel spread thin,” said Carolyn Bims-Payne, a parent in Oakland. “Not overwhelmed. But I feel like I’m stretched.”
One parent, Molly Myers, who lives on the Yurok reservation near the Oregon border, cut back her work hours, so she could devote more time to helping her five children with distance learning.
“It was a super hard decision to make. I have a good job that I like a lot … but I didn’t feel like I was working at 100% on anything,” she said.
Mental health was a concern for most families. The Myer family pays close attention to their children’s emotional states, giving them regular opportunities to talk about how they’re feeling. Other students meet with therapists online, or FaceTime with friends. Karyn Tran, a seventh- grader in San Jose, spends her free time practicing the ukulele.
Despite the mountain of frustrations, most families were determined to persevere. One family, the DunnNasrs of Sacramento, said their children’s health is the priority, and they won’t send their children back to school until there’s a coronavirus vaccine.
“I hate having to make that choice as a parent,” Rashida Dunn-Nasr said, “but I’d rather sacrifice their
education than their health and have it affect them long-term.”
Charlie Allbritton, a high school junior in San Diego who has a learning disability, is struggling mightily in math. Most days, he feels hopelessly lost. But he refuses to give up.
“The other day I was so upset I wanted to just throw in the towel,” his mother Moira said. “Charlie brought me a little note. It said, ‘ I want to stay in (school). I want my diploma.’ So we’re going to figure this out.” DUNN-NASR FAMILY, SACRAMENTO >> Distance learning has improved slightly for the Dunn-Nasr family of Sacramento since the beginning of the school year, but the family’s four children are still struggling with internet connectivity problems and inconsistent schedules from their schools.
Audrey, Noah and William, who are in fourth through sixth grade, respectively, at Martin Luther King Jr. School in Sacramento spend three to five hours a day taking classes on Zoom. This is a big improvement from the one-hour- a- day of instruction two of the children were receiving when school first reopened on Sept. 3.
Jayden, a ninth- grader at Kennedy High School, attends class for 3.5 hours a day. He’s struggling with biology and math, but enjoys the online physical education class that allows him to track his activity on an app.
Rashida Dunn-Nasr says her children’s schedules vary greatly from teacher to teacher, even in the same school. She suspects it’s because the Sacramento City Unified and the Sacramento City Teachers Association have still not come to an agreement on a distance learning plan for the school year.
It has taken some getting used to, but the children say distance learning has gotten easier as they have become better acquainted with Zoom and the other educational platforms used by their teachers.
“Distance learning is going better because I have a better idea of what to do,” William said.
There have been some curve balls for the kids, however. Jayden was confused and disheartened after teachers began making assignments that were due on weekends.
Recent progress reports show that the kids’ grades are slightly lower than when they attended classes on campus, according to Dunn-Nasr.
“It ’ s d isappoint in g ,” Dunn-Nasr said. “I know that they are capable, and I feel like they are losing more and more interest in education as a whole. They aren’t excited about it. I’m not excited about it. I dread Monday. It’s a challenge.”
Despite that evaluation of distance learning, DunnNasr says she won’t return her children to in-person instruction at school campuses until there is a vaccine.
“I hate having to make that choice as a parent, but I’d rather sacrifice their education than their health and have it affect them long term,” she said.
Dunn-Nasr worries that Audrey and Noah, her two youngest children, are missing out on developmental milestones by studying at home isolated from their classmates. Both miss their friends.
Audrey would really like to meet her teacher in person. “I’m really excited because my teacher, so far, is really nice and a lot of the kids say she’s nice too,” Aubrey said.
KATHY LIEU, ANDREW TRAN AND CHILDREN, SAN JOSE >> The San Jose family of Kathy Lieu and Andrew Tran has experienced the full range of distance learning emotions — from great satisfactions to deep frustrations.
A low point came when second- g rader Camdy n had a meltdown when his teacher didn’t call on him after he had raised his hand for a very long time. The teacher hadn’t seen him. Camdyn hadn’t heard — or remembered — that he’s supposed to raise a virtual hand by pressing a button at the bottom of the screen.
But Camdyn’s extra effort to become a decent typist has been paying off —a skill that Alpha Cornerstone Academy Preparatory, a charter school in San Jose, expects secondgraders and their families to learn on their own. He’s up to 12-15 words a minute, and that accomplishment makes him less reliant on his mom, which pleases both of them.
Overall, the four kids, attending dif ferent schools, have settled into their daily routines, with few complaints from their two girls, seventh- grader K ar y n and 15- year- old high school sophomore Carly, studiously working in their rooms.
And there’s more free time for everyone due to a shorter distance learning day and no driving back and forth to multiple schools — demanding a drillmaster’s timing. Camdyn and Karyn have gotten good at playing Minecraft and Karyn has been practicing ukulele, an instrument that College Connections Academy, part of the Franklin-McKinley School District, provided to every student in her class.
Carly, a sophomore at Silver Creek High, seized the opportunity to add AP Physics through UC Scout. Developed by the University of California, its online courses satisfy entrance requirements to UC and California State University. Tuition for the two- semester, go- at-your- own- pace course is $800, and Carly’s progressing quickly.
With a stable home life, generally reliable internet and a quiet place for each child to study, the Tran children are making the most of distance learning. But like other kids, they too suffer from social- emotional deficits, the education term for face-to-face connections that distance learning can’t provide. All but Camdyn are attending new schools. During English class, Carly has broken the ice in breakout rooms to chat with new friends, but it’s been harder so far for the others. Mainly there has been silence and awkwardness, Lieu reports.
In an EdSource poll, 79% of parents said that keeping children motivated and sustaining their interest as their biggest challenges of distance learning. Count the Tran parents among them — at least for Camdyn and his older brother A idan, who is K ar y n’s twin. Creating engaging content requires teachers to change methods of instruction, but distance learning also requires students’ self- control, said Andrew Tran.
“If you sit in a classroom, even if the subject is boring, you still have to kind of pay attention,” he said. “You can’t wander around and chat with other people or play games on your phone.”
That is what they suspect Aidan has been doing. He didn’t do well on his first report card, and the counselor at his charter school, University Preparatory Academy, set up a conversation. The message: There’s time before the end of the semester; not to worry, so let’s come up with a plan to deal with Aidan’s distractions and missed assignments.
For starters, no turning off the camera when he’s on Zoom. That makes it easier for teachers to spot flagging attention and eyes wandering away to YouTube.
“The other day I was so upset I wanted to just throw in the towel. Charlie brought me a little note. It said, ‘I want to stay in (school). I want my diploma.’ So we’re going to figure this out.”
— Moira, mother to Charlie Allbritton, a high school junior