School in the time of COVID has four groupings of school families to address and satisfy in preparing for the 2020-21 school year. Three groups readily define themselves and a third is in flux. The challenge is how to satisfy all four at the same time. Or, not.
One group of families wants at-home schooling for their children. They are not satisfied or do not believe that in-school attendance is safe from the spread of COVID. Some parents in this group are able to maintain a parent at home to supervise and assist children with at-home instruction. Their homes typically have adequate Internet connectivity. They also want at-home instruction to equal in-school instruction in scope, quality and attention to individual child needs. Their wants are very reasonable.
A second group of families wants in-school instruction for their children. They are satisfied or believe that monitoring and safety protocols can create an in-school attendance that is safe on a daily basis from the spread of COVID. Parents in this group want school in the time of COVID to resemble normal school as much as possible. Their experiences with remote education this spring cause them to believe that at-home instruction in an inadequate education for their children. In-school families recognize or accept that if health conditions warrant their children may become at-home students. Their wants are very reasonable.
A third group of families do not have options for anything but in-school instruction for their children. These parents must work away from home on a daily basis and there is no supervision for at-home children. Or, they do not have adequate Internet connectivity required for synchronous teaching and learning. Or, their experiences with emergency remote education this spring convince them that at-home education completely disrupts their family – no one in their home was happy. Their wants are very reasonable.
A fourth group of families very understandably cannot clearly support at-home or in-school programming. They want in-school instruction with guarantees that everyone will be safe. They are caught in the middle with valid reasons for both and cannot declare for either.
Responses to any school-based survey of its community clearly identify these four groups to be present in the discussion of how to school children in September.
Our local school understands, recognizes and empathizes with parents in each group, because each group reflects truths about school in the time of COVID. The issue public education faces is that children in each group require educating in the 2020-21 school year.
Consider these statements.
- Schooling can be adjusted for lost time and opportunity but a lost life or lost health cannot be adjusted. Safety in the time of COVID is paramount.
- Educating children is essential. Whether a child is in-school or at-home, the requirement for successful education does not change. Students in K-3 learn to read. We know that children who are not proficient readers by the end of grade 3 will require significant assistance if they are to succeed with complex and complicated reading material after elementary school. An abundance of education studies point to a child’s reading proficiency after third grade and subsequent success or lack of school success in grades 4 – 12. Every child in these grades needs a strong reading instruction this year. Students in grade 4 tackle fractions. Fractions have been a challenge for children forever. Children who master fractions have a sound foundation for Algebra-based math beginning in middle school. Children who do not have significant difficulty with higher math. Every child in 4th grade needs a strong instruction in fractions. (The specific grade may vary by school.)
The point of these two statements, and many more like them, is that the decision about how to provide every school-age child with a safe 2020-21 education is more than complex and complicated. Happiness for all parents is waned but it may not be achieved.
Consider a Venn diagram graphically displaying similarities and differences of four circles representing each of the four groups described above. We start with the intersection or overlays of the common interests wanted by parents in each circle with designs to successfully provide schooling that each group holds in common. Then, we work outward toward the differences. In the end, there will be differences that cannot be satisfied. Will these differences make or break the agreements we can reach around what we hold in common?
In a nation that now demonstrates for its disparate points of view, a completely different outcome is possible. There will be no school in September.