Misleading Grades

I read an article the other day on how the number of low income students attending the Los Angeles Unified School District are receiving more D’s and F’s during this time of distance learning.

That does not surprise me at all because much of the currently accepted method of providing distance learning is via zoom or google meets.

Using Zoom or Google meet requires students to have access to enough bandwidth and monthly internet to be able to log in for hours at a time. Unfortunately, many cannot afford it. In addition, if they have the bandwidth, they also have to have enough devices available for multiple students to be on at the same time.

I don’t know about Los Angeles, but up here in Alaska many students have cell phones with limited data which means they cannot attend these types of classes. It is understandable when the school district says that many of these same students who are getting D’s and F’s also have more absences.

I’m assuming that they take roll when students attend online classes. So if a student cannot attend due to a lack of internet or a lack of devices, they will be marked absent.

I did a bit of checking and it seems that most school districts that have gone virtual are experiencing the same increase in D’s and F’s. So my question becomes, what can be done to help students who are falling through the gaps? I also would like to know why we seem to want to try to teach classes virtually as if the students are in the school building?

Due to many students having a lack of internet, one has to come up with other plans to meet the needs of students. One way is to create videos, examples, and all the support materials and store them on thumb drives. The thumb drives get sent home to students when they pick up their lunches and they return work when they stop by for another meal.

In addition, it is worth having “office hours” with specific times for students to call in and talk to the teacher. Most families have access to a cell phone or a land line and when they call, they can ask the teacher specific questions. If a student needs more information or examples, it might be possible to send the answers via e-mail or text.

Maybe it is time to get past the meeting as a class for 50 minutes online everyday and look at different ways we can provide more individualize attention to students. I’m not saying it is something that is easy to do. I’m not saying it would work for everyone but I am saying something needs to be done because we are not meeting the needs of all the students in our current situation. Perhaps we just need to think outside the box and look past the traditional model. Let me know what you think, I”d love to hear. Have a great day.