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As the new school year begins, districts are facing demands from parents and elected officials while also hearing calls for “more rigor” through distance learning.
In making this important shift to higher standards and to meet expectations, teachers, schools and districts should understand that “more rigor” must mean higher quality distance learning, not just more complexity or quantity.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has insisted that distance learning be “rigorous” and include “daily, live interactions” between students and teachers, “challenging assignments” equivalent to those made in in-person classes and lessons adapted for English language learners and students with disability.
Parents and education leaders rightly are demanding improved connectivity and more digital devices, more minutes of remote instruction, grade transparency and greater attention to students’ social and emotional needs.
However — thinking these are hallmarks of “rigor” — some parents also likely will demand ineffective strategies, such as long lists of spelling words, more complex math problems or extra credit assignments, without realizing the severe consequences these demands can have on their child’s motivation to learn.
Given these conflicting demands of rigor without adequate support or preparation for teachers, we run the risk of simultaneously trivializing and complicating access to content and negatively affecting student engagement.
An editorial published in Science notes teaching difficult concepts before a child is ready to understand them is counterproductive and often leads to “overly strict attention to rules, procedures and rote memorization,” ultimately taking all the joy out of learning.
To support teachers and students with distance learning, here are practical approaches to preserving academic and creative rigor:
As we demand “more rigor” in a distance learning environment, we must understand the pressures teachers will be under and help them avoid traps that include more homework, more content and more boring handouts.
While we understand the sense of urgency, and the pressures and importance of addressing the learning needs of all students, learning in a new environment takes time.
We must get this right. Students, educators and families are counting on us.
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Tom Armelino is the executive director of the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE). This statewide agency supports county offices of education and other local education agencies to improve student outcomes.
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This is a continuing EdSource series on proven innovations in higher education that relate to the problems facing California’s higher education systems.
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KcMcNeal 4 years ago4 years ago
We spent a considerable amount of time devising a schedule that would be consistent whether we are in person, hybrid, or online and the primary complaint we hear is that there is too much school. If teachers are working to provide a variety of activities and lessons during a block period with a mix of lecture, group work and individual work, I cannot understand how that is not appropriate. I think there is some … Read More
We spent a considerable amount of time devising a schedule that would be consistent whether we are in person, hybrid, or online and the primary complaint we hear is that there is too much school. If teachers are working to provide a variety of activities and lessons during a block period with a mix of lecture, group work and individual work, I cannot understand how that is not appropriate.
I think there is some serious confusion around screen time. I get it, it isn’t good, but the vast majority of kids have had a lot of screen time since March, whether for school, watching TV, snapchatting or gaming. Now the thought of requiring students to have focused screen time is too much for some parents even though they allow gaming and netflixing between classes ….
Peter Paccone 4 years ago4 years ago
Tom Thank you. Good article. But I'm not hearing a call for more rigor. What I'm hearing is a call that teachers not abandon rigor. Also, though I agree with your suggestion that teachers, in the online environment, should increasingly turn to project-based learning, I'd go so far as to say that teachers who fail to incorporate PBL into their classroom can not justifiably lay claim to placing before their students a rigorous curriculum. In … Read More
Tom
Thank you. Good article. But I’m not hearing a call for more rigor. What I’m hearing is a call that teachers not abandon rigor. Also, though I agree with your suggestion that teachers, in the online environment, should increasingly turn to project-based learning, I’d go so far as to say that teachers who fail to incorporate PBL into their classroom can not justifiably lay claim to placing before their students a rigorous curriculum. In my opinion, for a teacher to lay claim to rigor today, whether in an online or face-to-face requirement, requires the placing of both a significant chunk of content and one ore more PBL’s before their students.
iana 4 years ago4 years ago
I'm astounded at the disconnect between the title and content of this piece. To say "more minutes of remote instruction" is quality over quantity is a clearly false statement, and most of the other things listed are not about the quality of instruction at all, but instead about access (improved connectivity and more digital devices,... grade transparency) and asking teachers to be parents (greater attention to students’ social and emotional needs). Over the last 100 … Read More
I’m astounded at the disconnect between the title and content of this piece. To say “more minutes of remote instruction” is quality over quantity is a clearly false statement, and most of the other things listed are not about the quality of instruction at all, but instead about access (improved connectivity and more digital devices,… grade transparency) and asking teachers to be parents (greater attention to students’ social and emotional needs).
Over the last 100 years, public school has largely taken over raising our children while the actual education they receive has been steadily degrading in quality and effectiveness. We have been paying for this primarily with our property taxes, which creates the vicious cycle of needing to work more to pay for the schooling (childcare) that you wouldn’t need if you didn’t have to work to pay for it. Quality over quantity should mean: the money we pay to the state goes to creating resources like curricula; parents get a stipend (or tax credit on property taxes) to allow for a stay-at-home parent, homeschooling, pods, or tutors; teachers can hire out to teach kids and therefore can set their own class sizes; and schooling only takes as long as learning is happening.
Jeremy 4 years ago4 years ago
What a joke. How can you require live sessions? My kids cannot even read. I am required to sit and instruct. How am I supposed to work? Why aren’t parents receiving money for all of the ink to print the tons of worksheets? Not to mention, we are regularly exceeding the limits Comcast has put into place. Why should I have to pay for more Internet access? I have an open unemployment claim since 4/26 … Read More
What a joke. How can you require live sessions? My kids cannot even read. I am required to sit and instruct. How am I supposed to work? Why aren’t parents receiving money for all of the ink to print the tons of worksheets?
Not to mention, we are regularly exceeding the limits Comcast has put into place. Why should I have to pay for more Internet access? I have an open unemployment claim since 4/26 on which I have not received a penny. More than 700 calls to the EDD and have not been able to reach anyone.
Frances O'Neill Zimmerman 4 years ago4 years ago
Ironically, unforeseen blessings: the ‘rona could bring back small class-size to California public education, along with individual attention to individual learners, more reading, daily writing and regular verbal exchange of ideas within the virtual classroom.