Mixed reaction to online learning
POTTSTOWN » Nine weeks into an all-virtual education program, the majority of families who responded to a school district survey give the effort passing marks.
On Friday afternoon, Pottstown School Superintendent Stephen Rodriguez released the results of a survey to which 585 families responded.
The district began the school year with all online education after the school board voted in July to keep students out of class in order to protect them, the staff and the community from the spread of the COVID-19 virus that has caused a worldwide pandemic.
And earlier this month, the school board reaffirmed its decision to keep the students home while other neighboring districts, such as Owen J. Roberts, Phoenixville and Perkiomen Valley have allowed, or voted to allow, students to return to school buildings, albeit part-time.
If Pottstown students return to class, it won’t be before January, and since the board adopted that timeline, the anticipated fall surge in coronavirus cases has come to pass.
So how the district’s online education is being received by families takes on an increased significance.
The results, he said Friday, “tell us we are doing something right.”
On a scale of one to five, with one being the worst and five being the best, more than half (55 percent) of those responding gave the program either a four, which Rodriguez described as “a solid B” or a five.
Another 29 percent ranked it at a three, meaning more than 84 percent of those responding give the program a passing grade.
The majority also indicated they were satisfied with the technology the district is using and are able to communicate with their child’s teachers when needed.
A large majority ranked the district’s teachers as being helpful with online learning.
“When I shared this information with them, I’ve told our teachers they’re rock stars,” Rodriguez said.
Pottstown students overwhelmingly choose to take their classes live, interacting with teachers on the screen in realtime, with 62 percent saying “face-to-face communication” is important for virtual learning.
Despite the muted satisfaction with the program, more than half, 55 percent, rated the level of stress they feel learning virtually during a pandemic at either a four or five.
Rodriguez said the district expected those figures to be higher.
“We’re not seeing the large mental health stresses some of us might have expected,” he said.
Nevertheless, parents remained concerned with respondents split evening among the five rankings when asked about their confidence in their child’s social/emotional learning status.
And, when asked about the academic progress their children are making using virtual education, an equally more mixed response presented itself. More than 32 percent of the parents rated their child’s academic progress online at a one or a two.
And the largest percentage, 26 percent, ranked their child’s academic progress at only a three.
Perhaps that’s why the survey indicates Pottstown families are interested in returning to school.
Just over 70 percent of those responding to the survey indicated their level of comfort with returning to class, “assuming appropriate safety measures are in place,” at a three, four or five.
Parents also provided a decidedly mixed response to questions about which of the hybrid models they preferred when, or if, their children return to class.
Further muddying the picture was how those answered differed depending on the age of the students.
The school board has set Nov. 19 as the date when a decision about returning to in-person learning will be made, and what form it will take.