Dec 22, 2020 4 min read

Across the country, and locally, school districts have reported the number of students failing classes has risen during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Joseph Orr is superintendent at Jefferson-Morgan School District in Greene County. In his district, he said, there was an increase in lower grades and lower attendance after the first nine weeks of school.

“But also it’s not surprising when we have basically reconstructed the educational experience that children and their families are participating in related to the pandemic and associated with guidelines from the state Department of Education and the state Department of Health, and that amount of change is difficult for anyone to deal with, so we do understand it,” said Orr in an email.

Educators say they’ve encountered challenges: online students who have not completed assignments or skipped online classes, and teaching students whose cameras are turned off during virtual classes.

There are other issues, including limited internet availability.

Orr said that he has begun to see attendance, participation and grades improve.

And, schools are working to adapt to remote learning.

“We believe that as the students and families become more comfortable and the routines have been established, we will continue to see improvement,” Orr said.

He acknowledged, though, online learning is not as effective as in-person learning.

“Therefore, some learning loss has to be expected. It is our job to do the best possible job we can to make up for that learning loss.”

The district has implemented several plans to help students, including daily in-person, small group tutoring; in-person tutoring in the four core subjects one day a week; and virtual tutoring one day a week with subject-specific teachers.

Additionally, teachers and administrators have adapted during COVID (Orr said he is proud of their efforts), and are reaching out to students and families to discuss problems they are encountering, including signing out hot spots to help improve connectivity.

The district is also providing transportation for students to attend tutoring or to stop in to work.

Orr said elementary students also have been issued STEM pack kits to keep them engaged in STEM learning and hands-on activities.

Said Orr, “We are working hard at doing the best job we can for our students and our responsibility to educate them to the best of our ability.”

Ken Alexander, a spokesman for the state Department of Education, said the DOE “is concerned about learning loss and is actively exploring ways to develop resources and strategies to best serve students, caregivers and educators moving forward.”

Trinity Area School District, like Jefferson-Morgan, has taken proactive steps toward helping students navigate both the academic and mental health challenges that remote learning can present.

The district, which encompasses 98 square miles – and hilly terrain – addressed connectivity by purchasing 300 Chromebooks with built-in hot spots.

It also purchased both Verizon and AT&T MiFis for students experiencing issues.

Academically, the district “spent a lot of time and money examining the (online) program,” said Dr. Donald Snoke, assistant superintendent.

Google Meet has enabled teachers to connect and collaborate with students in real time, and, like Jefferson-Morgan, teachers are available for one-on-one or group tutoring.

And the school district has focused on providing guidance counseling and remediation counseling, and has contracted with providers to offer support for students in need.

“We’re checking in to make sure nobody’s falling through the cracks,” Snoke said.

He said that early on, the district encountered more students than usual struggling with grades, but it hasn’t been an issue as the year has progressed.

Unexpectedly, remote learning has enabled districts to meet unusual responsibilities of some students.

For example, asynchronous learning – which is not live – provides an opportunity for students who are working because the parents were laid off during the pandemic, or older students helping their younger siblings with schoolwork while their parents are at work to complete assignments later in the day or evening.

“Honestly, things have been going pretty well for us. Of course, it’s much better if a kid is sitting in a classroom, but right now we can’t do that; it wouldn’t be the right thing to do,” said Snoke. “But I think they’re getting a quality education.”