Seminole Producer
Jun
07 from Money Network Card-
2020 Did Parents Notice Lack Of Learning?
Page By Jonathan Small
A005 When schools in Okla-
Clip homa and nationwide transi-
resized
60%
tioned to distance learning in
April in response to COVID-
19, many schools simply
stopped teaching students.
Recent polling indicates
parents noticed—and aren’t
happy with that fact.
A recent RealClear Opinion
Research nationwide survey
found 40 percent of families
are now more likely to home-
school or use virtual school
after the COVID lockdowns.
The desire for alternatives is
understandable given how
many traditional schools han-
dled their duties during the
shutdown. In too many cases,
schools simply stopped
teaching new material or even
grading lessons that students
were asked to complete.
And that trend was not a
product of the “digital divide”
that makes online learning
more challenging for low-in-
come students. In fact, some
of the state’s wealthiest sub-
urbs were among those who
did the least for students.
Norman Public Schools
informed parents and stu-
dents that “no grades will be
taken on activities assigned
during distance learning.”
Longtime journalist and
Edmond parent Ted Streuli
Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.
Security number, and then
noted in a column that 90
percent of homes in Edmond
have internet access, yet
he wrote that students in
that suburban school were
asked to cover only “material
they’ve already mastered”
that “doesn’t count” because
it was not graded.
Insufficient techni-
cal expertise was not the
chief barrier. EPIC Charter
Schools, the state’s largest
online K-12 provider, offered
several free distance-learn-
ing tools to other Oklahoma
public schools, including two
hours of staff development.
Reportedly, only four districts
took EPIC up on that offer by
the April start of the state-
wide school re-opening via
distance learning.
In March, the director of the
Center on Reinventing Public
Education estimated that only
10 percent of schools nation-
wide would provide “any kind
of real curriculum and instruc-
tion program.”
It turns out student demo-
graphics mattered less in
this process than school offi-
cials’ grit and dedication. For
example, Crossover Prepa-
ratory Academy, a private
school in North Tulsa that
serves mostly working-class
minority male students in
grades six through nine, con-
ance of the card as the bank
tinued teaching and grading
new material. That school
serves many students with
significant economic chal-
lenges and a lack of home
internet access, yet school
officials found a way to serve
those children anyway.
As a result, those young
boys in North Tulsa received
a better education this year
than many of their affluent
peers who attend suburban
schools. The suburbs may
have lavish facilities, but
long-term benefit is gener-
ated by student learning, not
school architecture.
Many students at Cross-
over attend that school
thanks to the Oklahoma
Equal Opportunity Educa-
tion Scholarship Act, which
supports school-choice
options for low-income stu-
dents. Lawmakers had the
chance to build on success
and expand that program
this year, but House Repub-
lican leaders refused to hear
the bill even after the Senate
passed it.
Perhaps House Republi-
can leaders feel what hap-
pened to students in Edmond
and Norman should be the
standard statewide. But poll-
ing suggests that parents, in
Oklahoma and elsewhere,
disagree.