Teachers say hybrid school reopenings were tiring, frustrating and stressful

Many parents weren’t alone in their displeasure with how school campuses reopened this spring across California. So were most teachers, according toanewsurvey.

Those who taught in variations of a hybrid schedule, in which students divided their time between in-person instruction at school and distance learning at home, were the most frustrated. They characterized their experiences as “exhausting,” “stressful” and “discombobulating.”

Said a middle school teacher in the Inland Empire: “The task of simultaneously teaching students in-person and online has been extremely difficult. I have never felt this stressed or worn out while teaching.”

The responses are in the latest installment of a survey by the California nonprofit Inverness Institute and education consultant Daniel Humphrey. EdSource is partnering to present the findings.

During the first three weeks of May, 136 teachers were asked to rate and discuss their experiences on returning to school this spring and the implications for the fall.

They were chosen from a pool of veteran classroom teachers. They broadly represent the diversity of the state’s teaching force by ethnicity, gender, grade level and geography. Most have more than 10 years of classroom experience.

Of the teachers, 96% said they had been vaccinated for COVID-19, with 80% saying that immunization had eased their worries about in-person instruction. “The moment the second vaccine went into my arm I felt a sudden excitement about returning to school that I had not felt before!” said a Central Coast middle school teacher.

The teachers’ names and their schools were not identified. In turn, the teachers were frank — about the challenges they and their students have faced.

“Simultaneous instruction is really difficult. Distance learning is really difficult,” said a teacher in a Central Valley high school. “The creative capital I have spent trying to create an engaging and academically rigorous experience has really depleted me as a professional educator.”

Although most public schools offered students the option to return to campuses for the remainder of the year, an EdSource analysis in early May found that 55% of students overall and twothirds of low-income students chose to remain in distance learning.

That split resulted in a complex mix of options. In some districts, teachers taught students in person and remotely simultaneously. In others, they taught in-person in the morning, distance learning in the afternoon, or on alternate days, or alternate weeks.

Worry about catching COVID-19 was not families’ only concern. Teachers pointed to a lack of transportation, with no busing, parent work schedules and a lack of child care.

In many middle and high schools, students were disappointed to find that in-person learning was no different from distance learning. Instead of interacting with other students, they were locked into the same desk, socially distanced.

Four out of five teachers agreed that hybrid arrangements were more difficult than solely distance learning had been — and were ineffective.

“I feel like I end up neglecting my students online to help the students in the class. I spent all year developing relationships through private chats and individual conferences on Zoom — all of that is gone now,” said a Bay Area elementary school teacher.

“I always feel like I am ignoring one group over another,” said a Central Coast middle school teacher.

Regardless of the mode of instruction, some teachers said they continued to worry about the mental health of their students and about the inequitable effects of the pandemic on families.

“The greatest challenge is trying to address the worsening mental state of my students. We have had at least two families become homeless, an attempted suicide, an ugly divorce and multiple kids sliding into depression,” said a Bay Area high school teacher.“For some, school has been a lifeline, but for others it is a burden.”

Despite the stress and the difficulties, some teachers, particularly in elementary schools, saw moments of joy and their students’ spirits lift in the return to school.

“The 13 students that are in-person are thrilled and excited to be back despite the fact that they have no recess or any sort of interaction with other students. … They were mesmerized with the fact that I was physically in front of them. It was truly touching!” said a Los Angeles area elementary school teacher.

Hybrid instruction, which many teachers called “unsustainable,” will cease in all probability by the end of summer.

What may linger, Inverness researchers said, is a “damaging level of distrust” that many teachers have toward their districts and their school boards. Asked how districts handled reopening timelines and arrangements, 69% said it was “not at all,” “a little” or “somewhat” done well; 40% said characterized the process as not at all or a little “visible and transparent.”

“The district over-promised and under-delivered to families. Teachers were often finding out about district decisions at the same time as parents,” said a Los Angeles elementary school teacher.

“The school system needed a major overhaul, and unfortunately, it took a pandemic to see the truth in this reality. I hope that there is no ‘back to normal’ and instead create a new way of what it is to be in school,” said a San Diego area elementary teacher.

Noting that pre-pandemic “normal was not working for many teachers,” the Inverness researchers concluded that “listening to California’s leading teachers about how to apply lessons from pandemic education seems like an obvious next step.”