As we consider the high likelihood that at least some portion of the 2020-21 academic year in Newton will be taught via computers, it’s interesting to think about how to make that form of education engaging and effective for the students, and also feasible and enjoyable for the teachers. I’ve spent a lot of time in Australia and recently heard from my mates there as to how remote learning is being carried out in the state of Victoria (where Melbourne is the main large city and where there is currently a six-week lockdown following a reopening.)
Simply put, there is an intense on-line connection with every student all day long. There are a series of lectures and classes, but there are also required worksheets that must be submitted online every 45 minutes or hour. Teachers provide feedback to each student on these assignments and are also available for individual consultations. No child has a chance to wander off and escape the online sessions, and they all face intellectually challenging assignments. There has been no diminution in educational standards or accountablity.
(Interestingly, children of essential workers go to class so their parents can go to work. There might be only 2 or 3 in a classroom with the teacher or proctor, and those in the school are getting the same lessons as those who are online.)
My friends report that real education is occurring using this format.
I wonder what other people have heard from friends elsewhere in the world on this topic. There must be a ton of experience available by now, especially from the southern hemisphere where school has been in session for several months. It feels like we have a lot to learn from others if we seek to. Please post your stories and ideas here!
I’m just wondering how any of this will work for families with two working parents. I was furloughed for a few months so I was able to facilitate online learning at home, but I’m back at work now, primarily onsite. My family cannot afford a nanny. I also have a child with a learning disability. The anxiety of having to figure this out with probably only a month’s notice is unrelenting. In spite of Newton’s reputation, there is a portion of low and middle income families who will be devastated by this. Of course, I want everyone to be safe…but what’s a family like ours to do?
You’ve identified a hugely important question, especially for families whose children can’t (or shouldn’t) fend for themselves at home. Some employers will help out from their end by permitting remote working, but others won’t.
Is there a cadre of people who will start to offer “podsitting” at a reasonable cost for folks in your position? Will churches and synagogues and mosques invent ideas for their congregations; e.g., cadres of volunteers? Of course, those approaches raise other safety issues that would have to be handled.
The “new normal” will be anything but. I totally sympathize and wish I could be helpful, but I’m stymied, too. Other thoughts welcome.
Paul,
I am uncomfortable with the idea of podsitting for my own family. We have been isolated since this started. We are clear that we don’t want to spread it. If my kid doesn’t go back (and I am working from home, I need to WORK. Not watch my kids try to make Zoom work. And one of my kids is on an IEP, and barely got the support he needed to succeed. (While I did have an education background, I do not have a SPED high school background). I don’t think asking for pod sitting would work and while this is a new normal, I speak as someone who only goes to the grocery store. I haven’t been to the beach (which I miss).
My high schooler needs access to his support person who is the expert in his disability. Not a baby sitter from my church. I need the person who is most likely going to help him succeed.
Each kid has one year to master that grade.
While I like your out of the box thinking, I don’t want a stranger (church member) in my house, since entering my house puts my home environment at risk. I haven’t seen my family (in state or out of state) in months. I have seen friends on my lawn, six feet apart. I am not inviting people into my home.
This sounds way too rigid for many kids, even if there is a parent available at home. LDs have already been mentioned. For many kids with ADHD or autism, this would be terrible. And the description doesn’t sound like there are adjustments to make it developmentally appropriate for younger kids.
There are lots of adjustments in the Victorian model that I didn’t discuss, Meredith, and you are right that it takes a lot of work to make this work across the high degree of variation in development, learning styles, and the like.
And yet, if whatever scheme isn’t rigorous enough for other sets of students, they will be bored and lose attention and fall behind.
BTW, for one family I know with a kid on the autism spectrum, it’s actually working better than the regular classroom situation. Who would have predicted that such a thing could result?
NewtonMom, I totally understand. It feels like we will each need to make a tough choice as to how much exposure to others we’re willing to take. One size clearly does not fit all.
Complicating this discussion is the fact that the virus is accelerating in other parts of our country, while other comparable countries have been better at containment measures than the varied approaches that have made the pandemic worse here. Thus, it seems inevitable that with travel patterns and colder weather, there will be a second surge at some point here, even though we have been doing as well as can be under the circumstances. Even if children are less likely to become infected as is the case now, many adults they come into contact with are more susceptible even with solid preventive measures. I sympathize with the plight of parents who have faced (and will continue to face)very tough choices when it comes to schooling their children in these times. There probably are not one size fits all solution. Whatever happens, public health and safety must come first.
@Paul – “rigorous” and “highly structured” aren’t the same thing. One has to do with contents, the other with method of delivery. Some kids do best with highly structured learning environments, others are just the opposite.
I’m not at all surprised at the autistic kid who’s doing better with remote learning. As to who could have predicted that result? I could have, as could many of the autism experts I know and parents of autistic kids.
I once went to a talk by a mother who had homeschooled 5 kids. She talked about how there’s no one “best” way and that she’d needed to approach each of her gifted kids differently, ranging from the one who needed a strictly structured “school at home” approach to the one who needed completely “unschooling” (child-led, unstructured).
My son, who needed accelerated material in many areas, would have fallen apart with the highly structured model you described.
I certainly can’t disagree, Meredith, but where does that leave us? The points you’ve made about different approaches for different children in homeschooling is also the case in school. We try not to have one-size-fits-all approaches to pedagogy in both settings; but in classrooms there has to be a certain amount of structure and rigor that serves as a foundation for learning. Around those, the teachers and schools do their best to customize the experience. Shouldn’t we expect both aspects—base line expectations and the ability to recognize variation—on line?
Indeed, what I have seen in some E-learning applications is actually a better ability to recognize each student’s successes, problems, and need for encouragemt or help than can sometimes occur in the classroom. In other words, the online modules can work as useful tools in the hands of even very experienced teachers.
Above all, I hope that we don’t go into this school year having given up on the idea that educational standards should be maintained simply because online learning will be part of our lives. If we do, the children will be set back not just one year but for many years to come.
@Paul – of course the points I made apply to school. That’s why I made them – sorry if I didn’t explain that link well enough.
I’m not saying there shouldn’t be educational standards. I will say (and I know that makes me a contrarian here) that it won’t be the end of the world if kids lose a some time schooling. They won’t be falling behind other kids, because everyone’s in the same boat. Lots of kids lose a year of school for reasons such as medical issues and still end up happy productive adults, just getting there a little later. Life isn’t a race.
Meredith – I would have to respectfully disagree with the idea that kids losing some schooling won’t be the end of the world because everyone is in the same boat. That’s not true universally. For those who attend NPS, yes that is true. However, there will likely be many public school districts across the US, the world, and private schools that find a way to have the majority of time be in-person classes. At some point, hopefully, this pandemic will die down and at that point there will be winners and losers. Those students that were able to maintain learning at levels near “normal” will unfortunately be viewed differently than those who lost a year or more of the same learning. That’s why I hope NPS is putting some serious thought into action plans for how to deal with both the health risk posed by this virus and the risk to students falling behind peers in other districts and other countries.
I agree with Patrick, but let me take it one step further.
MassInc Polling survey 1,500 parents throughout the state and asked about their experience with distance learning in the spring.
71% of parents said their children participated in an online classroom more than once per week, whereas my NPS highschool kids participated exactly once per week.
38% of parents said their had a one-on-one check-in with their teachers a few times per week or more. 22% said one time per week. My kids never had a one-on-one check.
This survey affirms what parents already know, our distance learning plan was very weak. It is emblematic of NPS lack of focus on learning. It is no accident that we are at the bottom or near the bottom of MCAS performance in our 13 district peer group. In planning for the upcoming school year NPS needs to prioritize education.
Back on April 1, the NTA and School Committee agreed: “The Association and District understand and acknowledge that, because distance learning and remote educational support are not a substitute for in school instruction or curriculum, employees will not be held responsible for student achievement during the period of temporary school closure.”
https://village14.com/2020/06/11/what-should-be-the-expectations-for-the-fall/#ixzz6S5yojtkf
That was the standard for the remainder of the spring semester. Perhaps it was understandable for that period of short-term crisis. But I’m hoping that we don’t see language like that for the coming school year.
This table from an epidemiologist compiles data from countries where schools have opened.
It shows that those who only opened the youngest grades and took safety measures did ok, but those who opened to older grades had outbreaks. We should learn from what other countries have done.
I wonder if they are considering that for here or in any other MA districts.
I haven’t heard anyone suggest that here, but it would definitely be worth considering.
Meanwhile, LA and San Diego have announced they’ll be virtual this fall, as has Atlanta.
This is from a July 10 DESE letter. I hope NPS takes it seriously.
“At this time, given the current low transmission rates of COVID-19 in the state, and pursuant to emergency regulations recently passed by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, we are asking districts and schools to prioritize in-person instruction.”
And this article just popped up in my newsfeed – it’s important to read through, not just the beginning, since there’s useful info throughout.
Even more important is this article by epidemiologist Erin Bromage talking about what we need in order to be able to reopen schools safely.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/13/opinions/children-back-to-school-opinion-bromage/index.html
And here’s another by Frieden, Duncan, and Spellings:
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/07/eight-steps-reopen-schools/613939/
From the introduction:
“One of us served as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the others as secretaries of education in the administrations of Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Those experiences inform our approach to the current crisis.
We need to reopen schools this fall. But we have to do it carefully. If we move too fast, ignore science, or reopen without careful planning, this will backfire. We can reopen if we follow commonsense guidelines.”
Summary of the eight steps, with more details in the article:
First, shield the most vulnerable.
Second, reduce risk wherever possible.
Third, keep the virus out.
Fourth, wear a mask.
Fifth, reduce mixing among students and staff.
Sixth, reduce occupancy, especially indoors.
Seventh, implement new health and safety protocols.
Eighth, prepare for cases.
CORRECTION: Erin Bromage isn’t an epidemiologist; he’s an associate professor of biology at UMass, Darthmouth. His research focuses on the evolution of the immune system and how animals defend themselves from infection.
I wonder to what degree the comments, worries and imperatives offered about would differ were parents to embrace a (“more pessimisticc”, “more realistic”, .. you be the judge ..) slightly longer-term view (read “3-5 year”). …
For argument sake, what would choose differently today were we to expect that the Covid Crisis will not end in 1 year? How should citizens choose if the expectation were that NPS in September 2021 will be faced with the same in-classroom, in-person issues in view now?
Let’s have our plans expect a worse case scenario than the country’s president assures us will be in effect, then. We need to be building to a sustainable solution rather than merely seeking to make do and hunker down due to a short-term transient.
“Welcome to our future ..:
Until I see the Deciders meeting in person three feet apart in an indoor space for a sustained period of time, I’m likely to view their decision to send children and teachers (who are at higher risk of serious disease) into indoor spaces seated three feet apart for a sustained period of time with a special sense of irony.
^^^ THIS
Jane – in an effort to provide some flexibility in planning, what are your thoughts on a plan that would allow the children (the age group that data seems to indicate are low risk to transmission and being significantly impacted by the virus ) to be 3-6 feet apart while the higher risk teachers are >6 feet from the kids while teaching? >6 feet being in the classroom, behind a barrier or totally remote teaching for teachers in high risk groups.
My first thought was “What? Patrick must not be a teacher”. I do not remember being in front of a classroom for very long. I would go from group to group; or check a student’s written work; or tap the desk of an off-task student .
I suppose a student could come up to a teacher, show her work from afar (Zoomlike) and ask for feedback.
New teaching!
At this point, the three committees are working on that and individual teachers speculating on social media really doesn’t help these people come up with safe solutions that protect the health of the entire NPS community.
I’m here to provide a reality check that this will not be easy and that some people in leadership positions at the state and national level have not made the situation easier for individual communities.
I don’t see teachers in high risk categories returning to school buildings, but that’s speculation on my part.
Wondering if we could get back to the topic I started with? Assuming at least some portion of the school year is to taught remotely, what good ideas have you heard about from elsewhere that might be put in place here? Better to shamelessly borrow good ideas than to try to reinvent something here.
Sorry should read “to be taught remotely…”
Just out. DRY
Reopening K-12 Schools During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Prioritizing Health, Equity, and Communities.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Washington, DC:
The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25858.
Free PDF at https://www.nap.edu/catalog/25858/reopening-k-12-schools-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-prioritizing
Sorry, Paul for not playing ball. We should not accept remote learning again. We should not entertain it. DESE has put a lot of time and effort into their guidelines, which enable NPS to bring kids to school. End of story.
I truly wish and hope that would be so, Jeffrey, and I understand where you are coming from. But I doubt it. For one thing, the disease is unpredictable, and if another surge comes, especially if infections are found in the schools, there will be immense pressure to shut down some or all schools, either temporarily or permanently. For another, I think we are going to see that a large number of teachers and other staff will decide that they are at too much risk (based on age, medical conditions, or other factors) to go to work, either right from the start or later. Or they will not be able to teach because of their own childcare responsibilities in their home towns. I’m anticipating that the School Committee and the union will have a provision in their MOA that protects the seniority and status and wages of those who choose not teach teach on site. If enough of them do that, remote learning will be necessary even if the in-school environment is otherwise safe for instruction.
So I doubt it. Hence my focus on looking for ways to make remote learning as structured and rigorous as in-school learning. The language I often hear around town that seems to accept that it cannot be educationally rewarding is an admission of failure even before we start. Online learning, in many forms, has been around long enough that the pedagogical conditions for excellence can be met.
Paul, neither of us can predict a surge. That being said, the evidence around the world has told us that children are an unlikely source of transmission. Yes, some countries have opened and closed schools. These are the exceptions to the rule. Let’s not discount the fact that we will continue to learn a lot over the next few months.
You assume that teachers not in classroom translate to students being sent home. I spoke with a teacher with pre-existing condition. Contrary to your assumption, she told me that she anticipates that she will teach at home via zoom to students who are at school.
Yes, their could be situation where union and school committee make a deal that goes against the DESE guidelines and is not in the students’ best interest. Yep, this is real possibility. This will happen if parents give tacit approval for it to happen.
If there are any cases in a school, I don’t know how you justify allowing large numbers of people to be in that building for sustained periods of time. I don’t know what parent would send a child into a building with identified positive cases.
One of my grandsons’ daycare opened up two weeks ago. This week two teachers tested positive. He’s not going back. Just not happening. This is real, folks, and we need to deal with it.
“Contrary to your assumption, she told me that she anticipates that she will teach at home via zoom to students who are at school.”
And NPS will also pay for another teacher or proctor in the classroom? The students can’t be alone without supervision.
Paul, I do not know. The person in the class does not have to be a teacher. They are not teaching.
My understanding has been that NPS was going to fully prepare three options: 1. All remote, 2: all in-person, and 3: hybrid. I haven’t seen anything specifically from NPS except when the superintendent forwarded parents a 28-page DESE report. Is there a plan? I’m assuming staff are currently getting rigorous training in all 3 in some form or another.
I have been disappointed in NPS’s communications with parents thus far. Nothing specific at all, unless I missed it.
I hope and expect NPS to come up with strong and flexible plans, given the uncertainty. Can they do some out-of-the-box thinking, too?
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/17/nyregion/coronavirus-nyc-schools-reopening-outdoors.html
Please let me know if I missed something!
I liked the tiered approach from the MTA. I’d like to see that given more thought.