Demands for school options to grow as pandemic lingers
With 2020 behind us, we are all looking with anticipation, hope and some trepidation at what 2021 may bring for students.
At Families Empowered, we have provided uninterrupted, bilingual service to families needing help as schools closed, reopened and became “hybrid,” and as people “podded” up or home-schooled for the first time. Based on what families have told us, here are predictions about education in 2021:
Parents with pre-k and kindergarten students will continue to be reluctant to enroll their children in physical school. Parents told us last July they were reluctant to send their child to school in person, and every parent poll we’ve seen and completed reinforces that reluctance until community spread is under control. Most experts — and parents — agree pre-k and the lower grades are nearly impossible to replicate with any quality via virtual learning.
There will continue to be significant disruptions in enrollment in some of the most underresourced neighborhoods. Anyone listening to families would say parents were unhappy with the remote instruction this past spring. Many lacked access to computers and internet, and most felt they needed to consider every option available to them.
Through a discussion with Texas Homeschool Coalition, more parents than ever said they were interested in learning more about home-schooling. Looking forward, many families already have found alternate learning methods so students will not have to return to their previous schools.
Additionally, housing and financial insecurity will continue, and since most school attendance is tied to school “zones,” many schools will see enrollment fluctuate. Implementing more open enrollment policies allowing families to choose schools outside their zones would allow students to stay in their preferred school even if they move.
The achievement gap will continue to widen as more affluent parents hire tutors or use technology to fill in the learning gaps that affected their children during the initial COVID-19 shutdowns and to supplement suboptimal instruction.
Our data from November suggest not only was the achievement gap persistent but it is widening. Some parents with resources were able to find online academic subscriptions, continue to pay club sports fees or private coaching fees, and hire private tutors. The suspension of end-ofyear standardized testing in 2020, and likelihood of testing changes in 2021, makes it hard to understand exactly how big these gaps have become.
We should gather and measure all aspects to ensure we have accurate achievement information for every child in a publicly funded school. That data should not be used to punish but to create a recovery plan based on filling the biggest gaps and supporting students and teachers in need.
Parents want and will continue to demand options. We are seeing, almost universally, that schools open for face-to-face learning had fewer enrollment challenges. Private schools shared that families are eager to enroll midyear despite the tuition.
Nationally, most modestly priced Catholic schools are full because they reopened as soon as possible and have remained open. Even if many parents are fearful of sending their children back, about 50 percent want their kids in school in person. Options remain critical moving forward. Funding the student, not a pre-existing system, makes even more sense now.
Schools that offer in-person school for the upper grades will be in higher demand than schools that stay remote. Dropout rates will rise, but high schools that offer sports, band, theater and other extracurriculars to all students (even partially virtual or hybrid) will see fewer dropouts than schools that don’t offer social outlets. Older students are motivated by peers and culture. For students with a passionate extracurricular interest, these activities make schools places they want to attend. Eliminating these social, cultural, and emotional opportunities for students deters educational engagement.
As we rebuild in 2021, we must listen to families, continue to innovate, offer options and ensure we allocate funding to best meet the needs of students. Families Empowered will offer accurate and actionable information so these educational options don’t fall out of reach.