Wake schools will ‘proudly compare’ remote learning success, but also seek improvements
Wake County school leaders are defending how the district has handled the move to remote learning during the coronavirus pandemic, while also acknowledging that more needs to be done to get students online.
The majority of Wake County’s 162,000 students resumed daily classes on Monday for the first time since North Carolina public schools were closed in mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic. Wake County Superintendent Cathy Moore said at a news conference Friday that they’re seeing 50 to 75% participation rates at schools — a number she said is higher than national averages but one they need to improve.
“Our goal is to find and reach those students that we see are not engaged and continue to work to get hem engaged because we know that is important.” Moore said.
Moore said they may need to get creative in how they reach out to families to increase the participation rate.
Moore said they’re working to improve access by getting computers into the hands of families and giving them technical support. She said they’re also working with groups such as the Education Justice Alliance to reach families.
Wake is translating documents and videos for families where English is not their primary language, Moore added.
Wake is the midst of distributing 28,000 computers and 10,500 mobile hotspots to students who need them to learn remotely. But some students may not get the devices until early May.
“Many schools did not have enough devices on their campuses to meet their needs,” Matt Dees, a Wake school spokesman, said in an email Friday. “We have advised schools not to host distributions until they had all the devices they needed in hand. We are working as fast as we can to get those schools sufficient devices. This is no small undertaking.“
Both pre-recorded and live lessons
The online school days are shorter for Wake students, with teachers pre-recording many of the lessons that their students are using. Teachers are using live lessons to review materials.
School officials say students will have about five hours per week of contact with teachers per course, which includes time students spend working on their own.
Wake, like many other school districts, isn’t grading the work being given by teachers due to not all students being able to go online. Instead, teachers are giving feedback and recording the work in case traditional grading resumes.
School board chairman Keith Sutton said he’ll “proudly compare” how Wake has handled the move to remote learning compared to other school districts in North Carolina and nationally. He said that few districts are teaching new material and that those that are have not been issuing grades.
“Our school system is far from perfect,” Sutton said at the news conference. “But I don’t know of any other district in the country that is working harder for its students and families than the Wake County Public School System.”
Moore said she realizes that some parents are struggling to support their children’s learning while also juggling their work responsibilities. She said parents should give themselves and their children grace and flexibility as they transition to this new way of learning.
“You’re doing great,” Moore said to parents. “Under these conditions, every effort you make to help your child learn at home is commendable. Under these conditions, an incomplete assignment here or there is understandable and should not cause you or your child anxiety.
“I am confident that real learning is happening and will continue to happen at home. The most important thing is to keep trying and remain engaged.”
This story was originally published April 17, 2020 at 11:38 AM.
