NCC’S DISTANCE LEARNING GUIDELINES
Our Future: Now, a National Children’s Campaign Podcast has a second episode called How COVID-19 is harming students and families and what should be done now. Co-host Natalie Mebane and Jonah Gottlieb interviewed Howard University student Elsa Mengistu about her distance learning experience and the challenges facing all students during the coronavirus pandemic.
We are in unchartered waters. There was no existing handbook for how to transition students from learning in school or campus buildings to distance learning during a worldwide pandemic. The rules of the road are being written and re-written each day. Teachers, administrators and school board members are to be commended for their tireless efforts.
However, as discussed during the podcast, the National Children’s Campaign, after consulting with students, teachers, administrators and school board members, has created guidelines called “What Can Schools Do To Support Students During Distance Learning?”.
We hope the guidelines will be shared far and wide. They can certainly help as the 2019-2020 school year draws to a close. Most importantly, these recommendations can be incorporated into planning for when the 2020-2021 school year starts, because there could easily be need for round two of distance learning. The overarching theme of the guidelines are summarized in one of the opening paragraphs, which says:
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.
The guidelines are easily digestible bullet points. Because of their importance I am posting them again:
- 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.
(Note: asterisks are for colleges, private schools and/or boarding schools)
Everyone is praying for a return to normalcy where students learn in a traditional manner, but until a vaccine arrives or infected patients can safely recover thanks to effective medical remedies we have no choice but to plan for more distance learning.