From EdSurge
By The Inverness Institute
July 7, 2021
Editor Note: To get the full value of the project results, go to article at EdSurge. Link is below.
The Inverness Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving education, established The California Teacher Consultant Response Network (TCRN) In December 2020. TCRN members are among the most accomplished teachers in California, having distinguished themselves by their membership in the Instructional Leadership Corps, being National Board Certified, or by their membership in various professional networks. The Inverness researchers include Mark St John, Laurie Lopez, Allison Murray, Pam Tambe, and independent consultant Daniel Humphrey. EdSource is partnering with Inverness in presenting the findings. The Stuart Foundation is providing the seed funding for the launch of this project.
The project is designed to include leading teachers’ perspectives on the statewide response to educating students during a pandemic. The intention is to create a mechanism for informing policymakers, educational leaders, foundations, and the public about the conditions of teaching and learning in California classrooms during this most challenging time.
From April 30 through May 20, 2021, Teacher Consultant Response Network members responded to a survey about their experiences with the reopening of their schools for in-person instruction amid the waning coronavirus pandemic.
One hundred thirty-six leading teachers responded to 27 survey questions and offered almost 1,900 thoughtful comments.
This spotlight focuses on students and teachers’ perspectives on how students are faring now that schools are reopening after distance learning for over a year. There are four sections in this spotlight:
The transition to returning to in-person school
How students are doing as schools start to reopen
Concerns teachers have about their students
Supports needed for students going forward
Survey questions about students returning to in-person school
For teachers in schools that have reopened, we ask about how their students are doing with the transition, if students are happy to be back, and if their feelings about returning to teaching in person have changed now that they see students on campus. As we reported in the spotlight about schools reopening, a large majority of teachers have been vaccinated and stated that this strongly influenced how they felt about teaching on-site.
91% of teachers in schools that have reopened report that students have had some degree of difficulty returning.
Only 9% of the teachers report that their students did not have any difficulty with the transition to in-person school.
Out of the 136 teachers in our network, 123 of them teach in schools that have reopened while 9% of educators in the network are in schools that were closed at the time the survey was administered.
85% of the teachers report that the students who have returned to school are happy to be back.
Nearly two-thirds of teachers (64%) agree that they were hesitant about returning to teaching in person, but felt differently once they saw students together on campus and having fun.
Over half of the teachers (58%) report that students’ excitement about being in school is greater than before the pandemic.
However, teachers have noticed real changes in students compared to pre-Covid. Many report a decline in students’ ability to interact and productively participate in class.
69% notice students’ ability to participate in classroom group activities is less now.
60% report a decrease in students’ attention span.
44% say students have less motivation to learn.
41% notice students’ ability to engage in independent learning has declined.
38% state that students’ ability to regulate emotional responses has diminished.
55% of teachers say the gap between the most engaged and the least engaged students is greater now.
Survey questions about teachers’ concerns for their students
Teachers responded to a number of questions about concerns they may have for their students. They included topics specifically related to school as well as more global issues such as health and safety and family economic and social disruptions. The data below includes responses from all teachers — those whose schools have reopened and those who are still only teaching distance learning.
Almost all teachers have some, a good deal, or a great deal of concern about their students’:
family’s social and economic disruptions (98%)
social and emotional disruption and loss (94%)
health and safety (82%)
academic learning loss (78%)
transition to in-person learning (72%)
INVERNESS INSTITUTE THOUGHTS ON KEY MESSAGES FROM OUR TEACHERS
Reviewing these data and immersing ourselves in the thoughtful comments of these 136 teachers, we offer the following reflections:
This school year has been incredibly challenging for everybody; the transition to in-person classes this spring has definitely not been a return to normal. While some students have been able to return to in-person learning this spring, the reality is that the “reopening” has included a limited amount of in-person teaching and many situations include some students in the classroom and some students joining via Zoom. Safety protocols have further constrained the ways the students are able to interact with their teachers and other students.
For students who have returned to some degree of in-person teaching, teachers noticed and were concerned about a significant decline in their classroom and social skills; students have lost their ability and willingness to participate in the normal ranges of classroom activities.
Classroom teachers reported declines in the following areas:
students’ interest in and ability to participate in classroom group activities
students’ ability to regulate emotional responses
students’ engagement in independent learning and attention spans
students’ motivation to learn
Teachers continue to worry about increases in inequity; they noticed a larger gap between the most and least engaged students.
Students that are home without support and attending school remotely are still the ones teachers worry about most. Teachers are dismayed about the noticeable lack of engagement and general feeling of malaise that many students are demonstrating. Many students have not been able to return to the classroom for reasons that are often out of their control. In some cases, it’s impossible for a working parent to get a child to school for just a few hours in the middle of the workday; the students might need to take care of younger siblings; or the family has ongoing health concerns and doesn’t feel safe sending their children to school.
While teachers, parents and students were largely dissatisfied with distance learning, a vast majority of our leading teachers report that current hybrid reopening arrangements are extremely difficult, demanding, ineffective and unsustainable.
Overall, our leading teachers are deeply concerned about students’ well-being both at school and at home. They cited students’ health and safety, academic learning loss, social and emotional disruption and loss, family social and economic disruptions, and the transition to in-person learning (schedules, routines, norms) as difficult problems, many that are beyond the purview of the education system.
Teachers are in consensus about the critical need for more support for their students’ social-emotional and physical health. They report that students need more access to counselors, more resources to address social-emotional learning (SEL), more opportunities to participate in sports, and increased support for families.
Photo: Parents
See detailed responses to questions, plus teacher comments, at EdSurge