Create multimodal text on how to combat the challenges brought in the pandemic.
Answers
Educators at all levels around the world were forced to
rethink schooling with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. The increased potential for illness and loss of life of students and school personnel
caused educators to make a rapid transition to remote learning. Currently, schools have attempted to accommodate families by providing remote, face-to-face, and/or hybrid options.
In some large school districts, 50% of students in K–12 have
been engaged in remote instruction. The impact of online instruction for students and the quality of work required of them
has varied greatly, with glaring disparities across schools and
their students. The most disparities have occurred between the
poorest and wealthiest schools.
Decades of research have associated high incidence of economic disadvantage with lower achievement in schools worldwide, with evidence of long-standing inequities in policies,
practices, learning opportunities, and resources impacting the
performance of diverse students living in historically underserved areas. These inequities have become more sharply defined during the pandemic. Consistent with the International
Literacy Association’s (ILA) goal of equity in literacy instruction
for all children, there remains a long-standing need to address
the disparity of learning opportunities for our most vulnerable
students.
The students who struggle in virtual learning environments
are not unlike the students who struggle in all face-to-face
classroom settings. They are not a homogeneous group; rather,
they vary in understandings, skills, and strategies that they
have developed and those they need to acquire to be successful in literacy. They are found across all grade levels in urban
and rural communities, economically disadvantaged and more
affluent school settings, and across all forms of diversity (e.g.,
socioeconomic, racial, ethnic, linguistic). A significant number
of students who struggle with literacy are individuals whose
learning challenges are exacerbated by racial and ethnic disparities in health care, inequities in access to digital tools, and
limited home support for learning because of families and caregivers’ inability to help them or to work remotely. In this brief,
we identify five challenges students are facing and make recommendations for addressing these challenges.
Limited or No Digital Access
Across school districts in the United States, the need for remote learning support continues, with some students engaged
in virtual learning full time and others learning in hybrid formats. And although community partners and philanthropic
donors continue to work with school districts to provide digital
devices such as laptops, mobile Wi-Fi hotspots, and lower cost
high-speed internet access, the need is greater than the supply.
Reports have estimated that even with attempts to counter the
inequities, at least 9 million students in the U.S. lack access to
the internet.
In response, teachers early on went through cycles of preparing packets of materials including books that were delivered to
neighborhood drop-off locations. Both families and teachers
were dissatisfied because there was little guidance for completing the work and there were few attempts to differentiate
expectations on the basis of students’ performance. In addition,
this practice is expensive, with indicators that schools cannot
sustain this effort throughout a school year.
How Might We Meet This Challenge?
• Advance digital equity by advocating for increased government and philanthropic educational funding.
• Repurpose available funds to ensure that every student has at
least one digital tool and high-speed Wi-Fi not only in homes
where such access is unaffordable but also for students living
in homeless shelters or emergency or transitional housing.
• Immerse students across the grades in multiple and continuous reading and writing opportunities.
• Collaborate with district partners and nonprofit and community organizations to support book drops in neighborhoods
• Ensure that books provided at distribution centers are selected both to support instructional goals and student interests and to make connections to students’ diverse ethnic
and linguistic histories.
• Place books in essential locations (e.g. grocery stores, laundromats, pharmacies, barbershops, beauty salons) that families frequent.
• Make connections to these resources as assignments are
created and book talks are held (e.g., through phone calls).