Educators talk student performance during pandemic

Young people are facing an unprecedented number of challenges amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and nothing is more important to their education than what is being done for them, Mark Sperling told area educators Wednesday.

Sperling, interim dean of the School of Education at Indiana University Northwest, was one of four panelists who spoke at a virtual meeting, with about 60 people in attendance.

“From pre-K, all the way through grade 16, every student is experiencing challenges that we’ve never experienced before, both as educators and as students,” Sperling said.

A group of educators met virtually as part of IU Northwest’s Chancellor’s Commission for Community Engagement, which occurs twice a year, to discuss the current state of K-12 learning, COVID-19 and student success.

Joining IUN Chancellor Ken Iwana and moderator and professor Ellen Szarleta, other panelists also s poke, i ncl udi ng Crown Point High School Principal Russ Marcinek.

Marcinek noted Crown Point High School is learning online until January, as, like many other districts in the area have reported, contact tracing took its toll on students and staff.

“What we’ve seen is that some students (learn from home) really well, this works for them,” he said. “Other students, this is a very difficult thing for them, and it could be for a number of different reasons.”

He said the move to online has allowed him to reevaluate what students are judged on and rethink many different aspects of school as it was previously known, such as senior year student schedules and the way courses are built.

“We need to reevaluate how we’re assessing the learning and true student understanding,” he said. “Even if a student misses some assignments because they’re home and have a lack of engagement, if they’re proving to you on a summative assessment that they grasp the content, that should be reflective in their final grade.”

Also at the meeting, School City of Hobart Superintendent Peggy Buffington spoke of the future of K-12 learning and talent pipelines to allow students to achieve the things they want to do.

She said though K-12 education has very likely been changed forever, the goal is the same.

“We have monumental work to do with our kids,” Buffington said. “We make their dreams come true. Leadership is all about the impact that we have.”

Buffington spoke of the current safety protocols surrounding educators at

Hobart.

“We have to mitigate and not spread this virus, and protect our teachers,” Buffington said. “We are doing live learning and e-learning at the s a me t i me, livestream, and if you would have asked our teachers in August and September, what they would have told you is it has been the hardest time in their careers ever, but I would tell you they’re champions, and they’re doing well.”

She also spoke of the importance of K-12 education, and detailed the fact that students are the “why” for educators.

“We can never take our eye off our why,” Buffington said. “These little kids are our why. From the very beginning of birth, they are our why. I never want to take my eye off the fact that we offer 96 courses of early college classes and career classes, and I’ve saved our students over a million dollars.”

Mike Beam, senior assistant vice provost for undergraduate education at Indiana University, closed out the presentations by discussing the university’s commitment to the many school districts it partners with.

He said it’s important to make sure the districts have a meaningful relationship with IU and discussed the importance of increasing the “teacher pipeline.”

IUN Chancellor Ken Iwana said it was good to have area educators talk about the importance and current state of education.

“It is gratifying to see so many people here today, so many people participating in discussion, but especially the leaders both from IU, IUN and surrounding educational communities,” he said. “It is really a breath of fresh air, and really inspirational.”