What Can Schools Do To Support Students During Distance Learning?
Guidelines for teachers, administrators, and parents from episode two of Our Future Now!
Our NCC team created these guidelines with input from students of all ages, teachers, administrators, and school board members. Please share these guidelines with any students, teachers, parents, and school employees in your life.
Today’s students are facing an extremely difficult situation. They are coming of age in the midst of a global pandemic, an economic disaster, and a world thrown into chaos. They are having to transition to a new style of learning, deal with separation from their friends and teachers, and go through whatever issues their families are experiencing during this crisis. For parents, realize that your child’s teachers and administrators have never been in a situation like this and are also learning as they go along.
This pandemic is in no way conducive to an optimal learning environment, and should not be treated as such. Student well-being should be prioritized over productivity. The most important thing a teacher, administrator, or parent can do is realize how stressful this situation is for students and be very flexible and sensitive to their needs.
Systemic inequities that already plagued our educational systems have only been exacerbated by this crisis. Students and school districts who cannot afford or access devices or internet connection are also severely disadvantaged by this new reality, as they are unable to fully participate in their classes.
With this reality in mind, here are some things all teachers, administrators, school employees, and parents/guardians should be considering during these tumultuous times:
* = specific to colleges, private schools, and/or boarding schools
- Have streamlined information about the crisis with accurate information.
- Be very flexible with the due dates, attendance, content, and effort required to pass the class.
- Put steps in place to assist and protect vulnerable students, including:
- unhoused students
- students with unstable home lives
- students who rely on schools for meals
- Make all classes Pass/Fail or have the option to do so with no penalty.
- No busywork. Don’t assume that your students are just bored at home all day and your class will be the thing that gives their life more meaning.
- Communicate with other teachers about the work they are assigning to ensure students are not being overworked.
- Make as many assignments as possible offline. Students are spending hours a day on screens for school assignments in addition to screen time necessary to communicate with family and friends.
- Make your Zoom calls as short as possible. Don’t have Zoom class every day. Zoom is a useful tool but it can get exhausting to be on it for long periods of time.
- Stagger classes for different grades so that students with siblings who have to share devices and wifi networks are able to participate.
- Make counseling services available and make sure every student is aware of this.
- A student should not have their graduation status, acceptance into a university, scholarship, GPA, or anything else impacted by their grades during this time. Though education is important, the first priority right now has to be their physical, mental, and emotional health, along with their financial stability.
- Do not evaluate teachers based on their performance during this pandemic. They have never been trained for this situation.
- Offer support to students trying to figure out what they are going to do next year.
- *Be open to reevaluating students’ tuitions during this time, as their financial circumstances may have changed since they applied for aid.
- *Scholarships should be guaranteed for the next year and not based on this semester’s academic standing.
- *Do not require standardized tests for college admissions, as many have been canceled.
- *Provide financial support for students who cannot afford the cost of last-minute transportation home.
- *Continue paying contracted staff and helping students who rely on university funding to survive.
The most important thing you can do is realize this is a new situation for all of us. Everyone is dealing with these issues together. Be patient, flexible, open to communication, and feedback. We’ll get through distance-learning by adapting and collaborating to make things as easy and stress-free as possible for young people.
Our NCC team created these guidelines with input from students of all ages, teachers, administrators, and school board members. Please share these guidelines with any students, teachers, parents, and school employees in your life.