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[quote=Anonymous]It is true that COVID and distance learning will (like most crises and disruptions) hurt poor kids more severely than kids of means, although it won't be great for any kid.  But I actually think "pods" (to the extent that they mean supplemental instruction) will benefit those classrooms as a whole.  If some kids have outside support (from a parent or a paid instructor), then teachers are able to spend more time virtually assisting the students whose parents can't provide similar support.  And, education research shows that students tend to regress to the mean in their classes (this is why, say, pulling out gifted students for *all* subjects--not just a GT hour--can hurt other kids, even if it benefits GT kids).  So, when "meeting" in online groups, pods will, again, benefit the class as a whole because it's helpful to have students who are absorbing the material.  I actually think having supplemental support for some kids will benefit the class generally more than the PTA sending angry emails (or whatever) would.

Of course, on a macro level, there will be more privileged schools with many kids receiving supplemental instruction.  And there will be poorer schools where few do (and where kids face more basic challenges, like wi-fi connectivity, or assisting their younger siblings).  That will contribute to achievement gaps, and it's not good.

But it's wrong to suggest that individual parents will fix the systemic problems by not forming pods and instead "advocating" more fiercely on the school-by-school level.  That won't fix anything.

(Also, of course, this pandemic is an aberration.  So, while existing structural inequalities are exacerbated, the new issues caused by this wild circumstance are symptoms, not the cause of inequality.  It is good and necessary for people to want more equitable education systems.  But individual parents--during a new distanced learning situation during a literal pandemic, no less--are not going to close the gaps.  Right now, they are just going to try and get their kids through it.)[/quote]

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