LANSING, Mich. — Nearly every student in America spent their final months of the school year on remote learning, and now new information shows that system fell far short for their kids. Maya Rodriguez has the story.
With a total of six adopted and foster children Keri Penland’s family is an exercise in planning and patience.
Keri Penland shared that “trying to do school with them has been insane.”
All are school-aged kids, some with learning disabilities. When the coronavirus pandemic hit they, along with tens of millions of other students across the country became part of a nationwide experiment in remote learning.
Keri’s Verdict? “I don't know how anybody is doing this to be honest. It's not possible.”
Turns out, She’s not alone.
Justin Ruben of the nonprofit Parents Together shared that “we found that remote learning is really failing our most vulnerable learners.” The group recently conducted a survey of more than 1500 families across the country – to see how remote learning was going.
Among the findings – when compared to a family making $100,000 a year lower-income families – making $25,000 or less -- are ten times more likely to have children doing little to no remote learning, and they are five times more likely to attend a school not offering distance learning materials at all.
13% of those families didn’t even have a computer device or internet access.
But the numbers were even worse for families of children with special needs who usually get individualized support at school.
40% of those families said with remote learning they were receiving no support at all.
Ruben stated that “a huge chunk of students are being left behind by remote learning.”
Parents Together says the federal government needs to step in with more funding for education – since the coronavirus pandemic slashed tax revenues for local and state budgets and, in turn, education programs. “Schools are making budgets right now and kids are falling behind right now. and schools are making plans for the fall right now and so there's this surreal lack of urgency in washington d.c. and there’s literally like a whole generation of vulnerable kids is being allowed to languish.”
Back at Keri Penland’s house. “I'll tell you if school doesn't start again, the kids are gonna be way, way behind.”
It’s a school year that ended way too soon.
As Penland explained “it's a different time than we've ever experienced.”
Experts have some suggestions to keep kids engaged over the summer. First — keep a structure. A visual schedule everyone can see will help and make it easier for you and your kids to get back into the swing of things when summer ends. Also, read to your children or encourage them to read or write or draw — anything that engages their minds. A final tip — consider outdoor hikes, walks or scavenger hunts to keep them discovering new things.
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