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Education Dive
Survey: Most principals against holding students back a year
Linda Jacobson
Dive Brief:
More than three-fourths of principals say they expect student
achievement in their schools to be somewhat or much lower than it was
in the fall of 2019, and almost 70% of teachers say addressing
achievement gaps will become a higher priority next school year,
according to the latest results of the RAND Corp’s educator surveys.
Most principals are leaning against having students repeat a grade —
84% said no. But providing tutoring, summer school or supplemental
courses to help students catch up next year are all options they are
considering for either some or all students.
At least two-thirds of teachers also responded that through distance
learning, they are teaching half or less of the material they would
have covered if they were still in class. The majority of both teachers
and principals also expect to be focusing more on students' social and
emotional needs next school year.
Dive Insight:
Drawing responses from 1,000 teachers and more than 950 school leaders
between April 27 and May 11, the surveys provide a view into how
schools are still trying to connect with students and families, and the
worries on educators’ minds as they head into the summer. Building on
existing surveys and databases working to capture how the relationship
between schools and students has changed during closures, the
researchers aimed to draw more responses from schools serving large
percentages of nonwhite students and those in low-income families.
“The over samples enable us to examine disparities in supports that
could increase because of school closures and other effects of
COVID-19,” the authors write. The researchers also include responses
from “target” schools — those in which at least half of the student
enrollment is black or Hispanic and at least half qualify for free or
reduced-price meals.
Comparing target and nontarget schools, a few differences emerge.
Schools serving poor and nonwhite students are more likely to be
focusing on review material during distance learning instead of new
lessons. Thirty percent of teachers in nontarget schools, for example,
said they are teaching mostly new content with some review, compared to
17% of teachers in target schools. In addition, 13% of nontarget
schools said they were teaching all new material, compared to 5% of
teachers in target schools.
There were also differences between the two groups’ responses regarding
how much schoolwork students are completing. While about a quarter of
teachers in nontarget schools said students are completing all or
nearly all of the distance learning activities they are assigned, 9% of
teachers in target schools said this was the case.
Teachers in target schools were also more likely than those in
nontarget schools to say they are providing hard copies of materials to
students — 63% compared to 47%. Those results are in line with the
finding that principals in target schools are more likely than those in
nontarget schools to say students’ lack of internet access and devices
is a “major limitation” in providing distance learning materials.
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