‘Covid slide’: Data shows virtual learning has hurt poor students in Chester, statewide.
The Chester County School District saw school performance declines during the 2019-2020 school year, recently-released state statistics show. And that could reflect a lasting trend across South Carolina.
On Jan. 11, the South Carolina Education Oversight Committee released its “Review of Remote Learning’s Impact on South Carolina.”
The report, based on a study of 15 anonymous public school districts across South Carolina, showed that remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic correlated with a decline in student proficiency across the state.
This decline, the report said, most effected “poor, rural” schools. And the study said the problem will grow worse.
“There were several South Carolina examples shared during district interviews where students/families reported having trouble accessing internet access points, missing assignments because devices or technical skills were lacking, and struggling to navigate communications and instructional materials provided during emergency remote learning,” the report reads.
“Compounding this issue is the report that the families of pupils in poverty are also opting for virtual options during the fall restart while more resourced students are opting for brick-and-mortar schooling. This has the potential to exacerbate already significant achievement gaps.”
In Chester, five schools are classified as Title 1, meaning it receives government funds based on significant student financial needs. And 78.8% of students are impoverished, based on food stamp data.
Fewer first- and second-grade students in Chester were prepared in English and math to move to the next grade, the report shows.
The number of second-graders prepared to advance in English fell to 28% of second-graders, compared to 58.5% the previous school year; 51.3% were prepared in math, down from 58.5% the previous year, state data shows.
The number of first-graders ready to succeed in the second grade fell to 24.5% in English, from 58.5% in 2018. In math, 52.8% of students were ready to move on to second grade; the previous school year, it was 75%.
Proficiency in Chester already was low going into the 2019-2020 school year. The previous year, 31% of CCSD students met state standards in English. About 27% percent met state standards in math, state data shows. (This data has not been collected for the 2019-2020 school year due to COVID-19.)
Chester has increased in-person learning for students up to fifth grade, but that doesn’t negate the problems of the past year, or the progress lost when students were sent home last spring for “emergency remote learning.”
“Even though we got them back, they’ve been out this extended period of time,” Chester County School District Superintendent Antwon Sutton, who is in his first year in the position, said. “It’s going to take a while. We usually normally have the ‘summer slide.’ There’s a regression when school’s out in the summer. But now we have the ‘Covid slide.’”
Barriers to Success
The Oversight Committee report, combined with math and reading scores, show that districts like Chester have suffered more due to the challenges of the pandemic.
One of the biggest barriers, the report said, was “unequal distribution of internet access.”
A map in the Oversight Committee’s report shows Chester in the lowest internet speed tier and having several areas with 200 or more households that do not have access to high-speed internet.
Census statistics from 2014-2018 show that 54.8% of Chester County residents had a broadband subscription.
Sutton said in July that internet affordability is a barrier in his school district.
“When you have to maintain your power bill, providing food for your family, internet is kind of low on the list,” he said.
“I know that the fed and the state are trying to upgrade the coverage in rural areas,” said school board member Anne Collins, referring to grants that have helped Chester’s students receive broadband and hot spot coverage. “That doesn’t help students that are already struggling.”
Hot spots don’t work without a strong cellular signal, which doesn’t exist in many parts of Chester. The students need broadband access, Collins said.
The district is focused on bringing as many students back to school as is safe.
“Virtual learning will not take the place of person-to-person learning,” Sutton said.
Why the report is important
Studies show that students who fall behind in first grade math are unlikely to catch up in later years.
For example, a study by mathematics researchers David C. Geary, Mary K. Hoard, Lara Nugent and Drew H. Bailey showed that students with low understanding of math in the early years of their education remained behind when tested in the seventh grade.
The same applies to reading — research shows that students who are behind in reading in the first grade remained behind when tested in the seventh grade.
This research doesn’t mean students are a lost cause.
“I personally believe that it may not happen in a year, but given time, and the the talents of the teachers we have and the support that we’re trying to give them, we will catch those children up and give them a chance to achieve,” Collins said.
Sutton said the district has looked at the data and have several programs planned. The programs include reading and writing workshops, as well as after-school programs.
The district is currently working on securing transportation for after-school programs, Sutton said.
“It’s not discouraging, it’s a starting point,” Sutton said. “My thing is looking forward, not moving back. It’s going to be a lot of work, but that’s what I signed up for.”
This story was originally published February 1, 2021 at 10:33 AM with the headline "‘Covid slide’: Data shows virtual learning has hurt poor students in Chester, statewide.."
