Colorado’s schools have got to get students re-engaged
Get up early. Get ready for school. Go to school. That is such an ingrained routine in most of the world that it’s hard to imagine learning happening any other way.
Yet here we are, nearly two months into the uncharted world of remote learning for all.
Those routines and schedules did not have to be thrown out the window, although in many cases they were. In fact, administrators and educators say anecdotally that the students who are sticking to a schedule, even if it is altered by circumstances, are having the greatest success with remote learning.
Not a coincidence that the same is true for adults who suddenly found themselves working from home.
I’ve heard stories of parents using backpacks of school supplies that are repacked nightly. Some pack lunches in the morning and create a “lunchroom” space where the kids and parents go to eat between online lessons and work. Others have converted the kitchen table into a classroom, where computers and books remain ready for each day’s lessons.
Tamara Acevedo, deputy superintendent of academics for Denver Public Schools, said the district and schools encourage students and parents to stick to and meet the expectation of doing classwork daily, particularly for secondary students.
“How structures, schedules and coursework is laid out is really important,” she said. “An example might be like — go through the school day in the order that you would in typical classes. On days that you don’t have a live Google sign-in, work in that class at the same time you normally would.”
But she and other educators know that’s not happening everywhere, and they’re worried about the achievement gaps that are resulting.
It was an abrupt change and not everyone adapted quickly or easily.
Colorado’s more than 900,000 public school students learned March 12 that schools would close for at least an extended spring break.
Some 1,900 schools were emptied in the following days, and about 65,000 teachers and administrators were sent home with the unprecedented task of figuring out how to keep those youngsters engaged in learning as the state shut down in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a steep learning curve that grew even steeper when the closchedules sures were extended to the end of the school year.
The Colorado Department of Education conducted a needs survey that showed some of the immediate barriers to learning: at least 53,000 students needed a Wifi enabled device, such as a Chromebook, to do their work; more than 65,000 needed internet access at home; teachers needed help with online lessons, and family engagement was disrupted by the lack of childcare, unemployment and other stresses.
It was nothing short of a miracle that districts and schools and teachers rose to face one challenge after another. Chromebooks and hotspots were delivered to some, paper lesson packets to others, often by support staff. Food service workers packed and distributed meals. Maintenance personnel scrubbed buildings.
The pace has not diminished, but now educators are assessing the learning gaps created by the tumult and how to bridge those over the summer and in the fall. Amid the ongoing uncertainty of what school days will look like in the coming months, that presents another huge challenge.
The state is not tracking student engagement, as it does not track individual student attendance.
Administrators told me that schools are the best source for that information, which conceivably means there are 1,900 different ways to count whether students have been sticking to any kind of routine. It could be anything from simply logging into an online learning platform to completing assignments and attending “live” online classes.
“We’re learning too in this area,” Acevedo said. “How do you effectively track attendance and engagement — how do we get better at that?”
It’s a moving target and can change week by week. For the week of April 20-24, DPS had gathered information from 71% of schools and reported an 84% engagement rate. That was 6% lower than the in-person attendance for the same period a year earlier.
Jefferson County Schools report an overall engagement rate of 95.4% for April 6-24, and noted that “seniors are highly engaged, working to prepare for final and AP exams, final project submissions, and are engaged in planning ‘Graduation Acknowledgement’ events for each school.”
Colorado Springs School District 11 estimates a 60% engagement rate, as measured from teachers who assure at least one contact per student per week.
Most districts, based on state guidance, essentially froze grades at the shutdown point. That meant students couldn’t get a lower grade at the end of the year, although they could improve it.
I would hazard an educated guess that at least a small percentage of students, primarily at the secondary level, took that to mean they had a free ride, or a spring break that extended to summer. Others might simply believe they don’t need to work as hard. Either way, it has created new achievement gaps.
So have the legitimate reasons that students might struggle with remote learning, as noted above. That should not be downplayed, and I don’t doubt the administrators and teachers who tell me they’re working hard to meet the needs of every student.
But absent extenuating circumstances, students should not get a free 10-week pass to graduation or the next grade level.
On an informal survey of school and district websites, some have made expectations exquisitely clear: you can keep that grade “as long as students continue to engage in learning in accordance with their school’s remote learning plan,” reads a DPS answer to frequently asked questions.
Clear expectations and using proven daily routines and schedules are the things that keep students engaged and learning. Parents know this, and they knew it before the COVID19 disruptions.
It might be hard after weeks of sleeping in and lolling the day away with video games and other distractions, but it’s not too late for those who faltered to get back on track. Get up tomorrow and go to school. Your future depends on it.