Survey: Distance learning ‘challenging’
GREENWICH — How did parents cope with distance learning for the final three months of the school year in the Greenwich Public Schools?
A survey completed this past week drew a wide variety of responses, with the most difficulty with distance learning reported from Greenwich households with younger children.
This latest survey had a total of 1,566 parent responses. A previous survey much earlier in the process in April attracted about 1,300 respondents, School Superintendent Toni Jones said.
The results were discussed this past week among school administrators during a Zoom meeting on Thursday, as part of a planning process to reopen school classrooms this fall. The Board of Education will also look at the survey results when it meets on Monday.
The questionnaire distributed by the school system asked some basic questions about distance learning. Participants were asked
to rate their experience into three categories: “very difficult;” “challenging, but made it work;” and “good to great.”
The most difficulty was encountered among the preschool population, according to the survey. In that age group, 32 percent of the parents said the process was very difficult; 37 percent called it challenging but workable; and 31 percent rated it good to great.
“The developmental level of children” appeared to be a factor in the survey’s results, Jones said, and the youngest learners had the most challenges with distance learning. “It’s much more difficult to have a strong remote learning program for preschool, just by the nature it is taught,” she said.
In the range from kindergarten through fifth grade, 45 percent of parents checked the box for challenging but workable, while 35 percent said it was good to great, and 20 percent found it very difficult.
In middle school, 46 percent of the respondents called it good to great; 25 percent called it very difficult, while 29 percent designated it challenging but workable.
In high school, the highest percent of satisfied households was registered, with 50 percent calling the experience good to great, and 27 percent marking challenging but workable. But 22 percent described it as very difficult.
“We know this was difficult for everyone,” Jones said of distance learning. “I think we all know, there’s nothing compared to live instruction with a teacher.”
The survey also asked what went well. “We got a lot of compliments as far as teachers,” said Jones. “That’s something that went well — our teachers.”
Poor sound quality via the computers during the distance learning in some instances was reported, but the school administration is now working to address the problem, Jones said. Some teachers did not have access to their more advanced work laptop computers, and upgraded software will be coming online in the near future.
The superintendent said it was valuable to gain “feedback from our families” The lessons learned over the past few months will help when schools reopen this fall, with a distance-learning component still an active possibility, she said.
The planning team is considering three options for the start of school: a full return to the classrooms, a continuation of remote learning or a hybrid combination of the two.
In other survey results, when it comes to comfort levels with opening schools this fall, there are real concerns among Greenwich’s teachers and staff but an eagerness among families to get the kids back in the classrooms.
Of the 900 teachers, there have been responses from 733, Jones said. The highest percentage, 42 percent, came from 307 teachers who say they are “not at all” comfortable with returning to the school buildings if conditions remain the same.
Also, only 12 percent, or 89 teachers, say they are “very comfortable” with a return to inperson teaching; 22 percent, or 162 teachers, say they are “somewhat comfortable” and 24 percent, or 174 responses, say they are “a little comfortable.”
For families, 31 percent, or 1,407 responses, say they are “very comfortable” with retuning. That is followed by 28 percent, or 1,276 responses, who say they are “somewhat comfortable” and 18 percent, or 834 responses, who say they are “a little comfortable.”
But 1,004 families, or 22 percent, say they are “not at all” comfortable with going back into the buildings.
The district must submit its reopening plan to the state by July 24.
The results of the surveys will be discussed by the Board of Education at its next meeting, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday.
A discussion of the plan for reopening schools in the all is also on the agenda. The school board will also vote on a proposal to change the school calendar and designate Sept. 1 and Sept. 2 as professional days for teachers, with Sept. 3 as the first day for sixth- and ninth-graders and Sept. 4 as the first day for all students.
For information on accessing the school board meeting via Zoom, visit www.greenwich schools.org/board-of-education.