Are You Worried About the COVID Slide?
This pandemic has given parents many reasons to worry any day. There is an obvious concern that our children (or ourselves, or their grandparents) will indeed become infected with the virus. Their mental health can affect their isolation. Lack of personal connection with your friends. Losing a hobby and missing out on important milestones. And then there is the worry about academic lag, like a good old-fashioned summer slide multiplied by a lot. This is the last concern that I would like to address today.
Perhaps if all children were to glide at the same speed, such a regression would not be too alarming. But it is far more likely that the already problematic student achievement gap will widen even further. As Maya King and Nicole Gaudiano write for Politico :
In affluent neighborhoods across the country, some students continue their education safely through small “learning modules,” where some wealthy parents shell out hundreds or even thousands of dollars for private tuition. It is worrying that wealthier children, many of whom live in predominantly white neighborhoods, are receiving an unfair advantage.
The split is a symbol of a basic truth in the American public education system: the gap in access to school resources is falling along racial and socioeconomic grounds, and this gap is widening during virtual learning. According to a 2019 study by EdBuild, a school funding research group that closed in June, most non-white school districts earn an average of $ 23 billion less than predominantly white school districts, despite serving roughly the same number of students.
There are several things that parents can do or try to do. Follow the curriculum more closely than usual and talk with your teacher about which assignments or skills should be prioritized. If the kids are overwhelmed or short on time, it might make sense to skip the science experiment video and focus on your math homework instead.
Parents may also ask for a few extra materials to work with during vacations to keep their academic skills fresh and not risk even more. Their teacher is likely to know where the student is having difficulty, even if you don’t know it, and they may advise you to focus on something simple but rewarding, such as extra reading time.
However, even these decisions benefit privileged parents – parents who have the time and resources to deal with the situation altogether. But the bottom line is that a person cannot call Wi-Fi where it does not exist, or buy a Chromebook with money that they do not have. A single parent who already has two jobs will not be able to magically find hours in their daily schedule to help their struggling children with their studies.
I am concerned that my own son is lagging behind where he needs to be and that he can afford the luxury of having all the equipment he needs, as well as two parents who work from home and can help him if needed. The same cannot be said for many other children.
Tell us in the comments: Are you worried about the COVID slide for your own children or other children in your community? If so, how do you deal with it?