The science on remote schooling is now clear. Here’s who it hurt most.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I already knew who it hurt the most. Parents.

Yeah, it didn’t hurt me. I liked being home. You know who it hurt? My teenager with a learning disability. He took algebra and geometry virtually, and his PSAT scores stink - the kind of scores all of you hyper competitive DCUM parents can’t even imagine your kids getting. This phase was always going to be hard, but virtual learning set him way back.

I am also a public health professional who has spent the last (almost) three years on Covid. Opening schools in spring 2021 was clearly the right thing. Before that it wasn’t at all clear, and school closures were rational.

Same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yea. We get it. In retrospect the school closings were a bad thing. Some mistakes are bound to happen in a once in a century pandemic. Time to move on.

No. Moving on has to involve helping struggling kids by admitting how they were harmed and making a concerted effort to get them on track. For kids who are struggling in college, it's too late for them. We should not let that happen to any more kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yea. We get it. In retrospect the school closings were a bad thing. Some mistakes are bound to happen in a once in a century pandemic. Time to move on.

No. Moving on has to involve helping struggling kids by admitting how they were harmed and making a concerted effort to get them on track. For kids who are struggling in college, it's too late for them. We should not let that happen to any more kids.

This one made me laugh out loud. “ helping struggling kids and making a concerted effort to get them on track”, priceless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I already knew who it hurt the most. Parents.

This, parents like OP who cannot handle their kids all day every day.

My kids have been in virtual for three years. Doing great, as shown by their test scores.

NP.. I think you really missed the point of the article. The kids who were impacted the most were the kids who already had a huge achievement gap -- low income kids.

My kids did fine, too. Straight As. They were in 7th and 10 grade, tech savvy, so we didn't need to help them at all. It was actually easier on us because we didn't have to deal with early morning rising and packed lunch.

But, a lot of kids did badly, and not just academically. When our kids went to their annual checkup at the peds office, the dr asked how they were doing and how they did during VL. They said they did fine, which they did. The dr said that was great because he has come across so many children who were negatively impacted by VL for the entire year, and they are still trying to recover.

Having stated that, I think places like FL and TX had it easier because their weather is warmer/milder than the DC area, and they can spend more time outdoors which reduces the risk of catching the virus. So, it made sense, IMO for them to return to school. I grew up in CA, and we had outdoor lunch, no internal hallways to deal with. I would imagine it's the same for schools in TX and FL.

I don't know about FL but a lot of schools in TX are proper buildings, not those lean to shanties CA considers schools.

[Anonymous]

OP here...lol. I am perfectly fine shedding the "friends" I had who wanted to stand with the liberal media and unions. Their kids didn't do well...I know one who suffered severe mental illness due to lack of socialization. Sad sad situation. The schools should have opened in the fall. Mine kid's school did, no teachers died, and my kid is on track to take AP Calc in her junior year of HS. Damn I hate being right all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here...lol. I am perfectly fine shedding the "friends" I had who wanted to stand with the liberal media and unions. Their kids didn't do well...I know one who suffered severe mental illness due to lack of socialization. Sad sad situation. The schools should have opened in the fall. Mine kid's school did, no teachers died, and my kid is on track to take AP Calc in her junior year of HS. Damn I hate being right all the time.

Uhhh, my kid was remote pretty much all year in 2022-21. Her school had kids come in one day a week in late winter. She’s also a junior and in AP Calc right now. Doing great. Not sure why you think your kid being in AP Calc is such a flex. 👀

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here...lol. I am perfectly fine shedding the "friends" I had who wanted to stand with the liberal media and unions. Their kids didn't do well...I know one who suffered severe mental illness due to lack of socialization. Sad sad situation. The schools should have opened in the fall. Mine kid's school did, no teachers died, and my kid is on track to take AP Calc in her junior year of HS. Damn I hate being right all the time.

Uhhh, my kid was remote pretty much all year in 2022-21. Her school had kids come in one day a week in late winter. She’s also a junior and in AP Calc right now. Doing great. Not sure why you think your kid being in AP Calc is such a flex. 👀

Because she is a republican trolling the board for fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone intellectually knew this would be the result of extended school closures. But as evident in this thread, a lot of people didn’t care, and still don’t.

I know that teachers tried. But here's where teachers' unions, and by extension, teachers, take a hit. They assured parents that as "experts" they knew what was best for children and would be quickly able to get children back up to speed once schools reopened. That has not turned out to be true. Instead, the problems caused by the pandemic, and exacerbated by virtual school, have made teaching even more difficult and students and parents chronically stressed and unsupported. Decision makers underestimated the harms of isolation and personal interaction between teachers and students and students with their fellow classmates. We are not talking about "learning losses" or setbacks, we now dealing with scores of anxious and depressed kids who can't learn. They don't trust anyone or believe that anyone cares about them.

Oh, and by the way, what was the plan for graduating seniors to make up all of the material they missed? There wasn't one, and no one cares. It's better to blame kids and their parents for everything and allow these kids to get lost.

There’s a long line of academic research showing that it is very hard for students to catch up when they call behind. Anyone that said teachers would be able to bring students back up to speed after schools reopened wasn’t arguing in good faith.

What is the reasoning behind trying to catch up? Why not just move at a realistic pace given the circumstances?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here...lol. I am perfectly fine shedding the "friends" I had who wanted to stand with the liberal media and unions. Their kids didn't do well...I know one who suffered severe mental illness due to lack of socialization. Sad sad situation. The schools should have opened in the fall. Mine kid's school did, no teachers died, and my kid is on track to take AP Calc in her junior year of HS. Damn I hate being right all the time.

Uhhh, my kid was remote pretty much all year in 2022-21. Her school had kids come in one day a week in late winter. She’s also a junior and in AP Calc right now. Doing great. Not sure why you think your kid being in AP Calc is such a flex. 👀

Two people whose kids both did fine, one in person and one virtual. Maybe you could both stop flexing and shouting and listen to people whose kids did badly, and see what we can learn for next time? Or what we can do to help make things better? The article was clear on who that was - kids who were already struggling struggled more, and fell even farther behind. If your kid did well, and continues to do well, this is not about you. Thank your lucky stars and stop throwing mud at each other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone intellectually knew this would be the result of extended school closures. But as evident in this thread, a lot of people didn’t care, and still don’t.

I know that teachers tried. But here's where teachers' unions, and by extension, teachers, take a hit. They assured parents that as "experts" they knew what was best for children and would be quickly able to get children back up to speed once schools reopened. That has not turned out to be true. Instead, the problems caused by the pandemic, and exacerbated by virtual school, have made teaching even more difficult and students and parents chronically stressed and unsupported. Decision makers underestimated the harms of isolation and personal interaction between teachers and students and students with their fellow classmates. We are not talking about "learning losses" or setbacks, we now dealing with scores of anxious and depressed kids who can't learn. They don't trust anyone or believe that anyone cares about them.

Oh, and by the way, what was the plan for graduating seniors to make up all of the material they missed? There wasn't one, and no one cares. It's better to blame kids and their parents for everything and allow these kids to get lost.

There’s a long line of academic research showing that it is very hard for students to catch up when they call behind. Anyone that said teachers would be able to bring students back up to speed after schools reopened wasn’t arguing in good faith.

What is the reasoning behind trying to catch up? Why not just move at a realistic pace given the circumstances?

Um, well, that would require assessing each kid, placing them at the appropriate level, and also extending high school so that gaps can be made up. Do you support that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I already knew who it hurt the most. Parents.

This, parents like OP who cannot handle their kids all day every day.

My kids have been in virtual for three years. Doing great, as shown by their test scores.

NP.. I think you really missed the point of the article. The kids who were impacted the most were the kids who already had a huge achievement gap -- low income kids.

My kids did fine, too. Straight As. They were in 7th and 10 grade, tech savvy, so we didn't need to help them at all. It was actually easier on us because we didn't have to deal with early morning rising and packed lunch.

But, a lot of kids did badly, and not just academically. When our kids went to their annual checkup at the peds office, the dr asked how they were doing and how they did during VL. They said they did fine, which they did. The dr said that was great because he has come across so many children who were negatively impacted by VL for the entire year, and they are still trying to recover.

Having stated that, I think places like FL and TX had it easier because their weather is warmer/milder than the DC area, and they can spend more time outdoors which reduces the risk of catching the virus. So, it made sense, IMO for them to return to school. I grew up in CA, and we had outdoor lunch, no internal hallways to deal with. I would imagine it's the same for schools in TX and FL.

Having grown up in FL school lunch was inside because it is oppressively muggy and hot most of the year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone intellectually knew this would be the result of extended school closures. But as evident in this thread, a lot of people didn’t care, and still don’t.

I know that teachers tried. But here's where teachers' unions, and by extension, teachers, take a hit. They assured parents that as "experts" they knew what was best for children and would be quickly able to get children back up to speed once schools reopened. That has not turned out to be true. Instead, the problems caused by the pandemic, and exacerbated by virtual school, have made teaching even more difficult and students and parents chronically stressed and unsupported. Decision makers underestimated the harms of isolation and personal interaction between teachers and students and students with their fellow classmates. We are not talking about "learning losses" or setbacks, we now dealing with scores of anxious and depressed kids who can't learn. They don't trust anyone or believe that anyone cares about them.

Oh, and by the way, what was the plan for graduating seniors to make up all of the material they missed? There wasn't one, and no one cares. It's better to blame kids and their parents for everything and allow these kids to get lost.

There’s a long line of academic research showing that it is very hard for students to catch up when they call behind. Anyone that said teachers would be able to bring students back up to speed after schools reopened wasn’t arguing in good faith.

What is the reasoning behind trying to catch up? Why not just move at a realistic pace given the circumstances?

Um, well, that would require assessing each kid, placing them at the appropriate level, and also extending high school so that gaps can be made up. Do you support that?

They should assess each kid...at least in math. Instead they are pushing them through. I suspect the poster with the kid in AP Calc who was remote the entire year is a victim of severe grade inflation and is in for a big shock when it comes time for SAT/ACT testing and AP tests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone intellectually knew this would be the result of extended school closures. But as evident in this thread, a lot of people didn’t care, and still don’t.

I know that teachers tried. But here's where teachers' unions, and by extension, teachers, take a hit. They assured parents that as "experts" they knew what was best for children and would be quickly able to get children back up to speed once schools reopened. That has not turned out to be true. Instead, the problems caused by the pandemic, and exacerbated by virtual school, have made teaching even more difficult and students and parents chronically stressed and unsupported. Decision makers underestimated the harms of isolation and personal interaction between teachers and students and students with their fellow classmates. We are not talking about "learning losses" or setbacks, we now dealing with scores of anxious and depressed kids who can't learn. They don't trust anyone or believe that anyone cares about them.

Oh, and by the way, what was the plan for graduating seniors to make up all of the material they missed? There wasn't one, and no one cares. It's better to blame kids and their parents for everything and allow these kids to get lost.

There’s a long line of academic research showing that it is very hard for students to catch up when they call behind. Anyone that said teachers would be able to bring students back up to speed after schools reopened wasn’t arguing in good faith.

What is the reasoning behind trying to catch up? Why not just move at a realistic pace given the circumstances?

Because we want our kids to go to college? Your last chance to take the SAT is fall of senior year, and your high school grades count. My kid can’t undo his learning loss in time. A kid who was in K or 3rd during virtual learning can catch up, and the article talked about that. It is the high schoolers who had learning loss that are SOL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone intellectually knew this would be the result of extended school closures. But as evident in this thread, a lot of people didn’t care, and still don’t.

I know that teachers tried. But here's where teachers' unions, and by extension, teachers, take a hit. They assured parents that as "experts" they knew what was best for children and would be quickly able to get children back up to speed once schools reopened. That has not turned out to be true. Instead, the problems caused by the pandemic, and exacerbated by virtual school, have made teaching even more difficult and students and parents chronically stressed and unsupported. Decision makers underestimated the harms of isolation and personal interaction between teachers and students and students with their fellow classmates. We are not talking about "learning losses" or setbacks, we now dealing with scores of anxious and depressed kids who can't learn. They don't trust anyone or believe that anyone cares about them.

Oh, and by the way, what was the plan for graduating seniors to make up all of the material they missed? There wasn't one, and no one cares. It's better to blame kids and their parents for everything and allow these kids to get lost.

There’s a long line of academic research showing that it is very hard for students to catch up when they call behind. Anyone that said teachers would be able to bring students back up to speed after schools reopened wasn’t arguing in good faith.

What is the reasoning behind trying to catch up? Why not just move at a realistic pace given the circumstances?

Because we want our kids to go to college? Your last chance to take the SAT is fall of senior year, and your high school grades count. My kid can’t undo his learning loss in time. A kid who was in K or 3rd during virtual learning can catch up, and the article talked about that. It is the high schoolers who had learning loss that are SOL

There was just an article in the NYT about how college freshmen and sophomores are struggling. They missed at least three months during high school (due to the March 2020 closures) and didn't get anything extra. It is any wonder that many find themselves unprepared for college. This will cost students a lifetime of lost earnings, yet no one cares.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/01/us/covid-college-students.html


And there have been many other articles about how things are not all right with new college students. The problems extend beyond academics, and there are no easy answers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good for you for being so right! Nicely done! Doesn’t that feel so good to have been right especially when you can tell your old friends they were right.

I’m glad you didn’t decide for my family though. My kids live with their grandma and she had cancer during the 2020 pandemic. We were grateful for virtual school though I understand it wasn’t a great plan for everyone.

Yeah but you virtual schoolers did decide for my family. My special needs kid couldn’t get in-person services and ended up with even greater social delays. We couldn’t just let some kids choose virtual, we had to force everyone into it.