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Education Dive
Educators in many states report low e-learning attendance
More than 40 percent of Ohio teachers among those saying online attendance is low.
Shawna De La Rosa
April 14, 2020
Dive Brief:
A survey of 5,659 educators by Fishbowl, a community app for
professionals, found 35% of respondents reporting online class
attendance was as low as 0 to 25% in the wake of school closures due to
the coronavirus pandemic, and 55% saying less than half of their
students were attending.
The survey indicates Michigan has the highest rate of online absences
among states with at least 100 respondents, with 62% saying less than a
quarter of their students attend remote classes. More than 40% of
teachers surveyed in North Carolina, Ohio and California also say
remote class attendance is low.
New Jersey and Texas, on the other hand, had the highest rates of
attendance, with a majority of teachers in those states reporting over
50% of their students logged on for classes.
Dive Insight:
When school buildings closed as a result of COVID-19's spread, many
districts prioritized ensuring meal distribution for students on free
and reduced-priced lunches. Many also had to figure out how to shift
students lacking home access to devices or the internet to a virtual
learning model with their peers in an attempt to address inequities
exacerbated by closures.
Even in families that do have that access, educators are also toeing
the line of not adding additional pressure to families, as many parents
are now working from home or contending with layoffs and tight finances
on top of now having to play a direct role in the management of their
child's education. Now that more schools are shifting to virtual or
remote learning, in many cases, online classes for the remainder of the
year in some states don’t count toward a grade, and students are
instead being given pass/fail results.
In Michigan, where the above survey indicates attendance is low, some
districts have gone to pass/fail, while others won’t lower grades for
students as long as they were already passing the class as of the
beginning of the school closure on March 16. Schools in the state must
continue to provide online education through the official end of the
school year in June.
Illinois is taking a similar path. Its guidelines discourage districts
from issuing Fs or lowering students' grades as a result of online
learning, with the Illinois State Board of Education instead
recommending teachers give pass or incomplete grades (different from
pass/fail) and not punish students for lack of participation.
Incomplete grades can be made up when remote learning ends in the
state, and students may have the opportunity to make up lost learning
during the summer or fall.
Districts that already had blended learning options in place may have
been more prepared for the transition, according to Bruce Friend, chief
operating officer of the Aurora Institute, formerly the International
Association for K-12 Online Learning. But for those thrust into an
online learning environment for the first time, tracking attendance
also remains complicated. Even if teachers were to attempt to keep
track of attendance, it’s difficult to know how long students are
logged on.
Some online learning apps do track that data, but other online learning
models focus on work completion and quality. Taking a cue from higher
education, the results of the assignments can often indicate who was in
class — and paying attention — and who wasn’t.
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