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Education Dive
Survey: Students relatively positive on distance learning, but obstacles remain
Roger Riddell
July 7, 2020
Dive Brief:
A new YouthTruth survey of 20,000 students in grades 5-12 across 166
schools in nine states finds that while students largely feel school
logistics ran fairly well during coronavirus-related closures, they
don't feel remote learning provided academic gains.
Black and Latinx students reported having more obstacles to learning
than their peers of other races or ethnicities, and female and
nonbinary students reported more mental health and well-being struggles
than their male peers.
Around half rated relationships with teachers and other adults
positively, but just 39% of students said they learn a lot every day
during remote learning and 70% reported facing at least one obstacle to
learning. Among those obstacles: 64% said they had distractions at home
and 50% reported feeling depressed, stressed or anxious.
Dive Insight:
“There is a critical opportunity now to listen to and learn from
students’ lived experiences during this unprecedented time,” YouthTruth
Executive Director Jen Wilka said in a press release. “As we navigate
the challenges ahead and adapt to new learning models, student voice
and equity must be central to the way school is reimagined.”
The survey is the latest from the national nonprofit, which is built
around the idea that by soliciting timely feedback from students,
administrators can listen to that information and put it into action to
get better more quickly.
Along with standard multiple choice options, the survey included
open-ended responses — more than 40,000 of which were examined using
hand-coding and machine learning. Among the themes the organization
found were academic pace and agency, family connection, sleep and
wellness, motivation and stress.
Only 22% of students rated their ability to connect with friends during
closures favorably, making it the lowest average rating in the survey,
according to the press release, and 57% said they were now able to
spend more time on things they like to do.
The results also further highlight the digital divide that
disproportionately impacts Black and Latinx students, and low-income
students overall. In rural areas, the issue can be particularly
challenging, as some families live in areas so remote that local
infrastructure for high-speed broadband — or even cell towers for
mobile hotspots — isn't in place.
Districts have worked with both private and nonprofit partners to close
this gap since the onset of the pandemic, with some service providers,
for example, offering free or discounted service to low-income
families. States are prioritizing efforts to close these access gaps
with emergency funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic
Security Act.
To further facilitate these efforts, the Federal Communications
Commission also waived E-rate gift rules during the pandemic's onset,
allowing districts to receive free products and services. Lawmakers
such as Sen. Chris Coons (D-Delaware) have also put forth legislation
to address the issue.
According to the FCC, 12 million students are impacted by the "homework
gap" created by the lack of access to home internet and devices.
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