Learning in the Age of Coronavirus: What We Found When We Surveyed 1,300 Parents
According to Education Week, more than 55 million K-12 students are currently weathering school closures in the U.S. The effects have been immediate, from fear and frustration while adapting to this “new normal,” to uncertainty about how to best help affected children learn. But what are parents particularly worried about, both now and in the future?
Last month, we surveyed 1,381 parents from across America to learn how families are navigating education in the age of coronavirus. With 95% of respondents participating in some form of remote learning, here’s what we found:
Parents are gravely concerned about the impact that the coronavirus crisis will have on their children’s educational future. Almost 50% feel that the ‘20-‘21 school year will start late, and 96% are worried about academic impacts a year or more in the future (63% concerned, 33% very or extremely concerned).
In the near term, parents fear academic slide. 68% of respondents are worried that their kids will fall behind while learning from home and fail to meet grade-level expectations.
This fear partially stems from parental concerns about their own ability to effectively educate their children. Many of the 1,381 surveyed parents wish they were “able to teach [their children] as [their] teachers do.” 103 parents wish they had more knowledge to impart to their students, while another 100 wish they had more patience.
These concerns have—understandably—increased stress levels among parents. 66% of respondents indicated that school closures have added stress to their lives, with one-third of respondents admit to exercising less, sleeping less, and choosing less healthy food options.
What if school closures continue for the remainder of the academic year, as they already are in most states? Alarmingly, 60% of parents don’t believe they can sustain their current level of involvement in their kids’ education.
With only 11% of parents receiving full instructional days from their children’s schools, the potential academic impact is tremendous. Varsity Tutors’ Chief Academic Officer, Brian Galvin, recommends “seeking help as soon as you realize you need it, especially from sources that help parents directly facilitate that learning. Most parents won’t have the time to become full-fledged educators.”
“Remember, too, that the biggest driver of learning loss is the notion of use-it-or-lose-it,” Galvin added. “What’s most important is that kids continue reading and find opportunities to exercise their math skills. Parents can ease their own stress and their students’ angst by letting learning be less structured, especially over the summer. If kids are doing math to calculate their success rate on a video game or voraciously reading books that they chose, that staves off learning loss—even if you’re not cranking out worksheets or checking books off a grade-level reading list.”
Survey data originally appeared in The Wall Street Journal.