A Generation at Risk

The virtual learning experience has been an unbearable struggle for many students and families.

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Like many urban public schools along the East Coast and throughout the country, my district began the school year 100 percent virtually. In Baltimore City, our district partnered with community organizations and worked for months over the summer to provide laptops and Wi-Fi for students so that they would be able to login to access their daily classwork. After the first two weeks of school, it is clear that these worthy efforts to launch a virtual school will not meet the needs of our students and families, especially the most vulnerable. 

In an interview this week, our district CEO mentioned that in the first week, only 65 percent of our students were logging into class on a daily basis. At my alternative high school for students diagnosed with emotional and/or behavior disorders, this number has been roughly 40 percent. Despite the improvements that my school and district have made since last spring in increasing virtual attendance, we still have a disturbing number of students who are missing. These types of alarming statistics and concerning consequences—which may result in 24 million students around the world potentially dropping out of school—are generally not found on the signs of the teachers unions standing in the way of school doors while protesting school opening plans.

Currently, high school students in my district are attending virtual school four days a week and can receive additional instructional support on the fifth day. Each day, students are engaged in synchronous or live instruction on Zoom with a teacher for five different class periods lasting 45 minutes each. A variety of online tools such as Google Classroom and Clever are used as platforms for students to turn in their homework and access classroom materials.

For those who have been showing up, the virtual learning experience has been an unbearable struggle for students and families alike. A student in my U.S. History class is often unable to hear what is going on in Zoom because he is holding his infant brother on his lap while his single mother is at work. Countless students are dealing with internet connection problems and unable to find one of their numerous links or passwords to make it in time for class. Family members overwhelmed beyond belief attempting to support all of their children’s various schoolwork while balancing their own work schedules. 

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  1. Avatar photo
    Mabus

    I have two kids in school (and a third who is two). We have no reliable internet and cannot afford to get it. Our younger girl is thin and physically frail and kept coming home with her mask on her chin no matter how we lectured her.

    At the last minute we pulled them from the public schools and are trying to homeschool them, but it's not shaping up too well so far. Yet what alternative is there with the pandemic still raging?

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    Patti Scriffiny

    I've been teaching for about three weeks with hybrid instruction - about half my students are in school one week, the other half come in the next. The at home group connects remotely. Each group has had one of each type of week. My attendance so far has been incredibly good. I've had a few exceptions, though. I have a few kids who are quarantined with COVID symptoms and are waiting for test results. I expect that will be the case as we go forward. I also have some who start to disappear in their remote week. I text them when that happens, and reaching out personally does make a difference. They tend to reconnect after that contact. I'd say the work I am getting from them is happening at a level typical to most years. The in-person attendance is the best I've ever seen (duh).

    In class time, I do require them to do some form of personal check in, but I don't lean heavily on Zoom for instruction. They just hate it, and I don't like it either. But they need to see me and hear me and get to know what is on the agenda that day. I have kids like the ones mentioned in the article, who are babysitting and trying to connect. I am just working with them, one day at a time. Mostly they need help to problem solve and prioritize and the assurance that I will be flexible. The kids are mostly telling me to lean in to asynchronous video for content (I teach math) so I will do that. But I am realizing how much I read them for feedback WHILE TEACHING, and that is gone on video.

    I can't imagine having everyone at school, without a complete abandonment of social distancing. They do wear their masks without much pushback at this point. Between classes I wipe down the desks. Since there aren't that many of them, halls and rooms are not crowded. I have to say, though, that I've worked in HS for almost three decades. If we brought everyone back, we would essentially be saying that we are just going to live in a petri dish. That is what it is like every year.

    I have to say though - I hope it starts to get a little easier when the kids are more in the groove and remember how to be in school (six months out!). This is because I am absolutely exhausted, as is the staff in general. Oh, and we just found out that my husband, who teaches social studies and is as wiped out as I, is now resuming his varsity football coaching duties on Monday. The state initially pushed all contact sports to a modified season in spring, and we planned around that. But apparently people can't live without football, so they reversed course after saying they wouldn't change two weeks ago, and then days of back and forth. You might think he and the other coaches are chomping at the bit to get going. Nope. Players? Mostly the same. We are crossing our fingers that they can finish the season.

    Silver linings? Everyone is paying attention to the mental health of kids and staff, not just lip service. Actual grace is flowing all over the place. Kids are supporting each other, even other kids they don't know well. We have abundant opportunities to help model for kids how to deal with adversity and discomfort. Because I only have 10-12 kids in my space at once, I see everything. When they are in person, I have a conversation every day with every kid. I have many personal checkins with the at home group on Slack every day. Do I want to go back to February normal? Hell no. Do I want to see us create something better that endures? Yep.

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    Jesse Blankenship

    I hear you. I just retired as an urban high school US History/Government teacher. The inequities in education are perpetuated by the very organizational constructs that purport to cure them. If you care about the kids, as you obviously do and I did also, the sleepless nights and frustrated days are maddening. Best of everything fellow soldier. Keep the faith. Maybe it will turn for our kids sooner rather than too later.

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    Evan Donovan

    I find it so interesting that the mainstream media are demonizing DeVos for saying that students should be in school when possible. She is the one who is showing concern for lower-income and special education students, but the media are acting as if she just wants children and teachers to die.

    I think it's a classic example of what Sowell calls the "tragic vision." Many liberals think that we can have a world where we can save everyone's lives during COVID, and not lose other things that are more difficult to quantify. Deaths are easy to extrapolate, and certainly no one would want to minimize them. But the increase in the educational opportunity gap - that is something that we won't have a good read on for years, if ever.

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      Evan Donovan

      To clarify by saying "no one would want to minimize [deaths]", I mean no one would want to minimize their importance. And there are of course areas that are hot spots where online learning is a better option at this point. There are no one-size-fits-all solutions in a nation as large as the US. That is what the American Academic of Pediatrics said - and contrary to much reporting, they never actually walked that statement back.

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    David Chen

    Not that I want to become a parent anytime soon, but I'm sure as hell gonna make sure I can afford private school or take the time off to home-school if I do cross that bridge. I'd hate to be at the whim of union politics.

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  6. Rational

    I just want to say that this is not just a public school problem, as this article suggests. I send my child to the most expensive private school in Chicago, and the Upper School is "fully remote." By the way, I understand that this is a different kind of problem than having at risk kids in public schools in that position, I just wanted the record to be right.

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    Nick H

    My wife is a second grade teacher and is not a fan of the virtual learning curriculum that her district has developed. (To be fair, she's not thrilled with what they have when they're in person either). But they're making it work... for most kids. The ones that are losing out are the students who struggle the most in class. ESL students with parents who barely speak English. Kids with learning disabilities. Families who don't have experience using technology. School is hard enough for those kids when it's in person. Now they're falling even further behind.

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    Rebecca

    Reading this article made me physically ill. Far too many Baltimore kids are already facing almost insurmountable challenges in their daily lives. Schools like the one where Ryan teaches exist to give them a modicum of support, to build skills that just might help them avoid becoming a statistic: shot, addicted, sick, jobless, exploited, homeless-- take your pick because Baltimore has it all. As a Maryland taxpayer, I've always seen our public schools as "the least we can do" for at risk students in Baltimore, Annapolis, and other areas with islands of extreme poverty. Literally, the very least we can do. Now we're not even doing that. We deserve what we're going to get. But, no child deserves to be treated the way counties, cities and towns are treating kids right now-- like dirty, disease-ridden people who must be physically isolated for the protection of their betters. I saw a "back to school" video from my hometown in Texas this week and the principal was hugging kids on their way into the building (masked). The teachers who run carpool at my child's elementary school wear masks and gloves, and hand sanitize the gloves between each car. (Not complaining-- whatever they need to do to stay open!) It's interesting to consider the spectrum of approaches being used right now: Masked hugs (suburban TX public school) --> Extremely hygienic non-contact but in-person instruction (urban MD private school) --> You're too dangerous for me to be in the same building with you (urban MD public school). What will the long-term consequences be for each group? For their communities?

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    Mudskipper

    I am not a teacher and have no children at school, so I am far removed from this issue.

    But couldn't we have teachers be the ones to stay at home and teach virtually from a large screen in the classroom? And then have young teacher aides or volunteer parents in the school room with the kids to provide an adult presence and keep kids on track.

    I realize this wouldn't help with the community spread issue, but speaking for myself as an at-risk person due to age, I'd be willing to risk some additional community spread to help keep the younger generation on track with their education.

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      Nick H

      That *might* work for high school, but I doubt it would be feasible for elementary schools. I could see making it an option for teachers who are higher risk for COVID in the upper grades and in classes where students are motivated.

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    Tracie

    "A student in my U.S. History class is often unable to hear what is going on in Zoom because he is holding his infant brother on his lap while his single mother is at work. "
    _____________________________________

    I work with many nursing assistants (CNAs) who are single mothers. They make $13-$14 / hour in my area, and many of them are working double shifts b/c others have chosen to stay home with their children.

    Why are we asking CNAs to come to work and not their teachers? I realize older teachers or teachers w/ comorbidities don't think they can come in, but why not let younger teachers come in to serve the most vulnerable students?

    I have plenty of 50+ co-workers who risk exposure every day, but teachers are prone to see themselves as a special class of workers who no one understands.

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