Remote Learning Challenges Found Throughout Thurston County

At a North Thurston Public Schools board meeting last month, North Thurston High School Principal Nick Greenwell spelled out the positives and negatives of the remote learning experience so far this fall.

Among the positives were higher student attendance than online learning in spring and teachers working collaboratively on online instruction. And then he delivered the downside: Nearly half the student body had at least one failing grade.

Students and staff were feeling overworked, he said, and only a small percentage of students were turning on their computer cameras and engaging with class.

"They are doing the best they can," Greenwell said during the meeting, "but students just do better in a classroom setting in front of a teacher."

Greenwell's comments struck a nerve with area families, resulting in more than 150 comments on The Olympian's Facebook page.

Some of those comments:

— "School should be shut down. No one is learning anything. The kids are stressed, the teachers are stressed, the parents are stressed. When school can be open safely again, that's when it will begin. If they have to go through a couple summers (of school), so be it."

— "I have an eighth-grader who is dealing with depression, and is getting further and further behind."

— "It seems like the school district thinks kids should have to be doing school work with all of their time. Perhaps toning down the lesson plan a bit would help. I didn't even have this much work in graduate school."

— "My daughter is in her senior year and it should be a memorable year for her but instead she spends her day stressed and having anxiety attacks because the online learning is a struggle. Some kids just need that in-person learning."

The comments reflect what is happening at schools throughout the county. Other area principals and district officials here confirmed that failing grades and incompletes are higher so far this fall and that student engagement is an ongoing challenge. Yet district officials also said they are working on ways to help students who are struggling to learn remotely.

Tumwater High School Principal Jeff Broome said the Tumwater district is seeing a rate of failures that is three times higher than normal, he said.

Over the summer, teachers boned up on their online learning and technology options in preparation for fall, but Broome thinks it "got really complex for kids."

They are now trying to streamline or simplify some of the technology at work, he said.

Students and families also are dealing with the trauma created by COVID-19, including unemployment and its impact on mental health.

"My message to families: Continue to reach out to teachers and administrators and share the reality of your experience," he said. "We are receptive to that and continue to refine what we're doing."

The Olympia School District is using "incomplete" instead of a failing grade, and Capital High School has seen roughly double the number of incompletes since last year, Principal Curtis Cleveringa said.

"It's working for a majority of kids," he said about remote learning, "but it's evident that some kids are struggling."

He said the school has staff that meets twice weekly to identify, connect and re-engage with those students that aren't doing well, and if it results in an incomplete, they "provide a plan for the kid to make up the credit somehow, some way."

The school also recently released progress reports to all students, and once parents learn of those reports, it can result in better engagement, he said.

Although remote learning is challenging, it is so much better than last spring when the pandemic first began, Cleveringa said. Then, it was an instant reset to online learning, filled with unknowns, he said. Over the summer, teachers had more time to reset and undergo professional development.

Matt Grant, the longtime principal at Olympia High School, acknowledged there are students who wouldn't normally get an incomplete, but who are during remote instruction.

"Relationship-driven students are having a hard time operating independently," he said.

A recent survey of 800 students at the high school showed that more than half were struggling with self-management and motivation in the online world. Grant also acknowledged that for some students, high school just isn't as fun right now because of the pandemic's affect on club activities and athletics.

"Some students are really stinging from that," he said.

North Thurston spokeswoman Courtney Schrieve said the struggles of online learning are real and that the district is working to get grades higher.

The district continues to do small-group learning for those who need it most, and the district encourages students to take advantage of online office hours, a time when teachers make themselves available to help students, she said.

"We are working to maximize intervention opportunities for students who need it most — whether they are failing a class, need more hands-on experience, have internet problems, or speak a second language," Schrieve said.

And there is room for student improvement, Schrieve said, citing a district grading policy that was established before COVID-19.

Among the details of that policy: Grades should clearly communicate students success toward learning the standards; students should have multiple opportunities to show what they know and can do; students need time to practice and learn from mistakes.

"We don't want anybody to fail," she said.

___

(c)2020 The Olympian (Olympia, Wash.)

Visit The Olympian (Olympia, Wash.) at www.theolympian.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.