Credit: Allison Shelley for American Education

A fifth grade student watches a lesson on her computer during school.

Credit: Allison Shelley for American Instruction

A fifth grade student watches a lesson on her computer during school.

In the first comprehensive survey of California teachers' experiences during altitude learning, a bulk ostend the biggest worries of many policymakers and didactics leaders: They say they believe their students risk long-term bookish and mental health damage from the Covid pandemic.

And three-quarters of the 121 teachers surveyed say "less advantaged students" — low-income students, students with disabilities, foster, homeless and low-income children — will bear the brunt of the damage, worsening disparities in learning that existed before the Covid pandemic.

"When you have a school where xc% of the students live in poverty, it makes whatever learning hard," said an elementary-middle school teacher in a north declension region school. "Some kids are thriving right at present without the social pressures of being at school, but many are completely checked out. Many kids also don't have access to the internet, which is a huge barrier even if they have a school-issued reckoner."

The survey project, called the California Teacher Consultant Response Network, was created by the California nonprofit The Inverness Establish and education consultant Daniel Humphrey. EdSource is partnering to present the findings.

In tardily Jan, the teachers, who broadly represent the state'southward teachers' ethnic diversity, geographical distribution, subject expertise and grade level, responded to 25 questions asking about the country of students' learning and emotional and social health, their own ability to deliver remote instruction and barriers to learning against their students and families.

The teachers amplified their answers with hundreds of frank, detailed and often poignant comments that show, the researchers said, "the distress, anger, frustration and sorrow these teachers feel as they describe the struggles of their students and their families." To encourage candor, the researchers are non identifying the teachers' names and their schools.

Inverness Institute selected the respondents from a pool of veteran classroom teachers who have participated in school improvement and curriculum networks and didactics leadership programs. Most accept more than a decade of teaching experience. Two-thirds teach at the middle and loftier school levels.

The first brief covers questions measuring students' bookish learning, and the 2nd delves into their social and emotional needs. "Spotlights" in coming weeks volition cover the didactics experience during the pandemic, teachers' perspective on re-opening schools, teachers' messages to policymakers and the pandemic's effects on their career plans and those of other teachers.

Responding to the argument, "A substantial number of my students are in danger of suffering long-term academic damage," 64% said they agreed at least to some extent, including 18% agreeing to a very bully extent. Asked whether their "less-advantaged students will endure the most long-term damage" from the pandemic, 47% said they believe they would to a "great extent," while 90% said they would to at least "some extent."

Similarly, asked "how effective do you feel distance learning has been in terms of meeting your students' social-emotional needs," 82% of teachers said that distance learning has not been constructive or simply somewhat effective, while 1 in v reported information technology had been effective.

And a third of the teachers agreed to a bully or very great extent that "a substantial number of their students are in danger of suffering long-term mental health issues."

Out of a list of seven potential barriers to effective teaching and learning, teachers cited non-academic factors as the nigh significant: upheaval acquired by economic and social distress, emotional trauma of students and families, and social isolation.

"They miss groups, they miss classes, they miss the other half of the student body. They miss rallies and sports and clubs. They seem bad-mannered and traumatized, but I can't be sure if all of that is because of the noesis of, and fearfulness of, the global pandemic, or because their social circles have go and so much smaller," wrote a teacher in a northeast California schoolhouse with 58% low-income students.

Lack of cyberspace access and parental support were further down the listing of barriers. But a number of teachers commented that students whose parents were able to stay home and provide help had an unmistakable advantage.

"Some students' needs are very well met — the ones who nourish all Zoom meetings and consummate their work. These are students who take adults at home who are supporting them," said a teacher in an elementary school with 65% depression-income students in the San Jose-Monterey region.

"Again, I am not parent bashing", said a teacher at a northward coast elementary school with 96% low-income children. "They are working and are not trained to teach their children nor do I recall they should be asked to. That being said, the shift of burden from the classroom to the home required more parental supervision and lack of information technology is a problem."

About half of the teachers say they were somewhat satisfied with their students' academic progress, with about a tertiary reporting they are less than satisfied and a fifth saying they were more than or very satisfied.

"The avant-garde students are doing virtually of the work, but there's less enrichment. The struggling students consummate minimal piece of work and overall participation is way down," wrote a high school teacher at a school with 59% low-income students in the Cardinal Coast region.

"Students are non able to focus or engage as they did when in person. Work completion is too much lower," wrote a high school teacher at a schoolhouse in the San Francisco Bay Area with 79% depression-income students.

In California, the ratio of students to counselors is 622 to 1, the third highest in the nation. Two-thirds of teachers in the survey indicated there were significantly likewise few counselors, social workers and nurses to encounter the social/emotional and wellness needs of students.

"Many students seem to be going through tough times," wrote a teacher in a high school in the San Jose-Monterey region with 86% depression-income students. "I know my advisees are doing poorly from a mental health perspective. This is also backed up past the fact that our school mental health advisor has a completely full load this year and can't take on whatsoever new students."

As for their own teaching, 81% described information technology every bit at least somewhat effective, with 6% characterizing it as very effective and 17% every bit less than or not constructive.

"Teachers who are new to online platforms and educational applications are struggling to keep their content relevant and rigorous for students who are not engaged. At that place is a tyranny of the urgent — just transitioning to an online platform — that trumps the nuances and fine art of teaching," wrote a teacher in a high school in the Cardinal Valley with xc% depression-income students.

Nevertheless the pessimism of many comments, the researchers said they were impressed by the "resourcefulness and positivity" that they also found. Many teachers, they concluded, "are figuring out how to make distance learning work, and they are using the opportunity to help their students develop resiliency, independence and new skills."

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