By Louis Freedberg – EdSource
As most public and private school students in California continue to study from home, distance learning gets a definite thumbs down from the state’s registered voters, including parents, according to a new EdSource poll.
A majority of voters as well as parents feel that the state’s schools in general are not prepared to offer high-quality distance learning, although they are more positive about their own local schools.
Parents worry that if children are at home for the rest of the year it will result in learning loss for all students, but especially for the most economically vulnerable who suffer from hunger or housing insecurity.
Low-income parents in particular worry that prolonged distance learning will mean they won’t be able to get back to work.
These are among the key findings of an EdSource survey of 834 registered voters. The representative poll was conducted online between Aug. 29 and Sept. 7 by the FM3 Research polling firm.
The poll was conducted just as distance learning was getting under way, so parents’ views may change as more of them have direct experience with remote instruction for a prolonged period during the coming months.
One major issue that has emerged since the pandemic upended education nationwide is how to motivate children and keep them coming back day after day when they aren’t in the classroom, and don’t have direct contact with teachers.
Those concerns are shared by parents, who say the biggest challenge of distance learning is sustaining their children’s interest and motivation to study. Parents also worry about insufficient instructional time with a teacher, and say it is hard for children to work on their own, as well as understand assignments.
Levels of dissatisfaction related to the pandemic run so deep that one in four say they are considering moving their children to a private, parochial or charter school.
Just over half of parents (54 percent) feel that California schools in general are somewhat or very unprepared to offer distance learning, while 41 percent said they were prepared. That mirrors exactly the proportion of voters in general who held similar views.
However, parents are slightly more positive than voters in general about the preparedness of their local schools.
About half of parents (50 percent) say they feel their schools are prepared to offer high-quality distance learning, compared with 40 percent who feel they are unprepared.
Fully 75 percent of registered voters, including parents, say that distance learning is worse than in-class instruction. Only 2 percent say it is better.
A major reason parents hold such a dim view of distance learning stems from their experience with distance learning in the spring, when distance learning was sprung on districts on short notice.
Just over half of parents (55 percent) rate their child’s experience with distance learning in the spring as not too effective, (27 percent) or not at all effective (27 percent). Only 7 percent rate it as very effective. In fact, one third of parents couldn’t cite anything positive about their experience with distance learning in the spring.
When asked to rate what went really well, 7 percent cite excellent teaching.
Another 7 percent cite having a safe and comfortable environment to access instruction. A similarly small percentage of parents (7 percent) say teachers and staff staying in close touch with parents was a positive aspect of distance learning.
As they brace for most children being at home this fall, the majority of parents say it will be difficult for them to manage distance learning for their child this year. Well over half (58 percent) say it will be difficult, while 39 percent say it will be easy.
Over 70 percent worry about learning loss for all or most children, as well as the lack of social interaction with other children. Their greatest concern (80 percent) is the impact of learning loss on vulnerable children, including those experiencing hunger, homelessness or upheaval at home.
When asked to identify what they view as the major challenge their child or their family face in adjusting to a distance learning regimen, parents list a series of concerns all related to engaging students and keeping them
motivated.
Seventy-nine percent of parents say keeping children motivated and a similar proportion point to sustaining their interest as their biggest challenges.
The next biggest challenge (74 percent) is not getting enough instructional time with their teachers, followed by the difficulty of working on their own.
Most have access to broadband and devices, but significant minority don’t.
A major concern in the state and nationally has been to ensure that students have both computers or other devices to access distance learning at home, along with adequate broadband access. There has been a massive push by the state as well as individual districts to provide parents and students with what they need to participate in distance learning.
Strong majorities on the EdSource poll say that unreliable internet access is not a challenge (57 percent), nor is an inadequate device (69 percent).
However, a substantial number of children still don’t have what they need to fully participate in distance learning.
Just over 1 in 10 (11 percent) say that unreliable internet access is a major challenge, while 31 percent percent say that it is a minor challenge.
Similarly, 11 percent say inadequate devices is a major challenge, compared to 19 percent who say it is a minor challenge.
Concerns about adequate devices and unreliable internet access are greatest among low- and middle-income parents. Over half (54 percent) of parents with incomes under $60,000 cite internet access as a problem, compared with 37 percent of families with earnings over 150,000.
When asked about strategies they might use to help manage distance learning, for the most part parents seem stumped as to what to do.
Nearly half of parents (43 percent) say they don’t know of strategies to help their children. However, the most popular affirmative response is to enlist the help of other family members to supervise distance learning.
Only a small proportion of parents (15 percent) say they would consider forming learning pods, also referred to as pandemic pods. These are typically small groups of students organized and paid for by
parents.
These pods can be organized in different ways, but generally children might meet in a socially distanced, safe location, and be supervised by a teacher, a tutor or parents themselves while they are working online. Fifteen percent of parents also say they might hire a tutor or teacher to supplement their child’s distance learning.
One criticism of pods is that they are likely available only to more affluent families, and that they will contribute to widening achievement gaps, which many educators already feared would be exacerbated as a result of distance learning.
Those concerns are shared by the majority of parents. About 51 percent say they are very concerned or extremely concerned, while 43 percent of all voters say they are somewhat concerned or not concerned that pods could widen
achievement gaps between higher-income and low-income families.
Levels of concern vary considerably depending on the income levels of families, however. Concern is greatest among low-income families (67 percent of families earning between 30,000 and 60,000 annually say they are very or extremely concerned) and is the lowest (45 percent) among families earning more than 150,000.
One in four parents (24 percent) say they are considering moving their child from public school to a private, parochial or charter school as a result of pandemic-related issues.
The backgrounds of parents indicating their desire to change schools varies considerably by political affiliation. Only 8 percent of Democrats say they are considering moving, compared with 24 percent of independents and 46 percent of Republicans.
A similar percentage (22 percent) said they would consider moving entirely to access different school options.
The sample in the poll included 634 registered voters statewide and an additional 200 voters who are parents or guardians of a child under age 19.
The margin of sampling error for the full sample is 3.5 percent at the 95 percent confidence level, and 5.7 percent for the parent sample.
Covid is not under control by any means.So are you willing to sacrifice you kids and families health just so they can sit in a classroom.I have two grandchildren that are doing very well at distance learning.It should be up to the parents on an individual choice weather on not to go to a classroom or learn from home.
You are right. It should be left up to the parents with the choice to go back full time for those of with a medical background who realize these numbers have been seriously inflated.
Old Timer … sacrificing kids? Sorry, people don’t do that in modern times. And you judgement reeks from that simple word ‘sacrificing’. SMH
Now, I am willing to send my kids to a physical classroom because the science shows that is is not dangerous for them. The science also shows that the isolation is having a huge negative impact on the children as they go through distance learning. Teachers are suffering because some of them cannot change their style of teaching to a ‘distance learning’ model.
Really @old timer??? Sacrificing kids? Someone spends too much time watching the fear-based news. Kids have like a literally 0 death rate from Covid. No one is sacrificing kids. And yes, it should be an option.
Congrats on the grandkids doing well at distance learning. I think my mom would probably say the same of my kids. Perhaps because she is not there when they are staging revolts against doing work.
After witnessing Brian Lawrence MDUSD presidents bookshelf featuring the book “White Fragility” prominently displayed, I would say it’s time to ban public schools permanently. Trump giving that money directly to parents for school choice is sounding like a pretty good option for parents looking to break away from the stranglehold of the teachers union and teamsters.
The school districts always say they need more money. But, they all have money for race and equity training. How many of the districts are signing on to this scam? It isn’t just a one and done. This will be an on going training. Districts spend alot of money on this and the people giving the trainings are making huge dollars while they continue the propaganda.
Covid is never going to be under control. The flu is never going to be under control. Cancer is never going to be under control. Stupidity is never going to be under control.
Stop being afraid of life.
To say Covid isn’t under control and thus returning to school would sacrifice their health is a direct choice to continue to sacrifice their mental health. Kids are suffering. The medical community is very clear about the active harm at hand for these kids. I agree you have the autonomy to choose. But in my book, actively choosing to harm a child is abuse.
Any school board members up for re-election who don’t support reopening schools need to be voted out!
Is there a way to find this out? This is my entire voting strategy.
Don’t like anything about Distance Learning, especially how my children are suffering from depression.
Most parents are just lazy and don’t want to deal with their kids education and push them off to public or private schools. That’s why I homeschool my four kids and they turned out just fine. Two are Physicians and the other two work in software development.
That’s a really funny lie.
Arn’t you special TraumaRx
Lazy? No, not lazy. As a parent I realize that I do not have the knowledge or skill to teach my child some of the skills they need in order to survive in today’s world. It has nothing to do with being lazy. It has to do with ensuring my kids have the best opportunities available to them. I do not think I am better than everyone else (like apparently you do) and that no one can do a better job than me.
Some parents are just judgy and condescending. We all have our shortcomings.
@TraumaRx Well aren’t you AMAZING!!! Please pat yourself on the back. Now I can sleep well tonight.
Please don’t feed the troll.
Distance learning is a sham. There is no teaching being conducted and very little learning happening. Distance learning is the equivalent to self-teaching.
Why not give the kids the books with a syllabus that shows what chapters to read, assignments, practice tests and due dates? Let the kids and parents learn the material at their leisure and text online. Grading the tests and assignments could be done by volunteers and/or existing staff.
Eliminate the expense of the educator by eliminating the educator.
The net result to the kids is the same as what’s happening now. But the money saved from slashed headcounts could be wasted on other pet projects.
Open the schools and teach the kids. That’s what you are paid to do. It’s fine if you (teachers)choose to not attend the classroom. But then you don’t get paid. That how the real world works.
Some cities are in much better shape than others in the county. No one under thirty in CCC has died from covid. Here is a problem that I see and doubt it would be acceptable but Walnut Creek has only one person die of the chinese virus that wasn’t in a long term care. No reason why kids in WC should not be in school. However in Concord the story is different. More people have died outside of long term care. My hats off to all of you coping with this problem. Maybe it is time for all of WC to have it’s own school district.
Distance learning is not for everyone, there’s definitely a learning curve to it (we have yet to master it) The long term effects of distance learning will eventually come out, sequestering kids to their home in front of a monitor or laptop is taking a toll on their mental health. I think the schools should reopen, at least to a hybrid model. If people want to continue with distance learning, that should be an option too.
Aside from young kids needing to socialize with their peer group, Zoom class is unreliable some of the time, communication between parent and teacher can be greatly reduced. The younger the kid the harder is is for the teacher to keep them all on the same page or give whatever extra help some need.
I do want to say that of all the people we call hero these days the teachers are the first in the line because the kids they teach are the ones who grow up to be the rest of the hero’s we need.
I mean, Zoom lets the parent know what is being taught (preached?) in the classroom. There were articles from some teachers saying they were worried their left-leaning policies would anger parents if the parents became aware such ideas were being presented as fact to their children (abortion, LGBT+ issues, gun rights, etc.).
What is everyone’s plan to hire lots of new people with teaching credentials to replace the teachers who will not wish to return to classrooms because it will put them and their families at an increased risk?
If the goal is to keep the standard of education high you are going to want a lot of experienced teachers but, supposing in-person is your biggest concern, what can be done to incentivize people to seek out teaching credentials?
The solution is School Choice.
Schools that perform better will attract more students and increase revenue. Schools that don’t perform will lose students and revenue. To meet the new demand the good schools expand, new schools are built, and in some cases the bad schools will change and get better. If the supply of teachers does not keep up with the demand for their services wages will automatically rise to attract more teachers.
You can already choose to pay more to send your kids to private school if you want.
It’s real simple
If folks had taken this seriously since the start we would be in much better shape
But since so many didn’t
Here we are
Geez Rob, that is really simple. You should work for the CDC.
In general, CA public schools don’t rank very well at all against the other states (typically at or near the bottom). Making a poor education virtual just adds to the poor performance of our school systems here. But as long as the teachers union is happy, nobody in state governmentwill give a hoot.
As my brother said, it’s like you took away all the good parts of school and left the kids the difficult stuff. The effects on kids in poverty or single working parent households can’t be good, and that’s something you can’t make up quickly.
Its not working for my high school student. She went from As and Bs last year to now getting D’s and F’s. She said it herself she would much rather be in class, and doing distance learning isnt working for her.
I agree with you LT. My high school went from As and Bs to Ds and Fs too. He has always been an honor roll student. If kids that usually get good grades are getting bad grades, how are the kids doing that got Cs and Ds before? Kids are depressed. Its like they have been put in solitary confinment (unless they have siblings) it is cruel and unusual punishment.
DISTANCE LEARNING is terrible. It does not work!!
I don’t understand why it is to much of a risk for teachers and school staff to work at a school but its okay to go shopping and to restaurants. And is dangerous for kids to be at school, but the young ones can go to daycare, and the older kids can work at retail and fast food restaurants. It does not make sense.
Like wear a mask into a restaurant then remove it to eat. This is totally stupid but this Gavin wants you to put the mask back on between bites is even more stupid.
I am SO glad that my offspring are all adults in their 30’s now. For one thing, I was a single working mom who was not receiving ANY support, monetarily or physically. I HAD to work, my kids HAD to go to school and afterschool care. I would hate to have to try to figure out how to manage this educational and economical crisis right now!! Our entire economy is collapsing (or already collapsed) and there’s literally NOTHING we can do about it. We’re all doomed.