CALIFORNIA FOCUS
FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, JUNE 30, 2023, OR THEREAFTER
BY THOMAS D. ELIAS
“EXTRA SCHOOL DAYS BROUGHT BENEFITS,
BUT THEY’RE HARD TO MEASURE”
It’s a
truism by now that children lost a lot of educational opportunities during the
coronavirus pandemic, forced for many months to stay home and study via Zoom
and other long-distance modalities.
But kids
and their parents last winter defied the longtime stereotype that they are
essentially uncaring about education, showing up in large numbers over the
holiday break when school districts including Los Angeles Unified, with the
largest enrollment in both the state and nation, offered extra classes designed
to start making up for learning missed during the online-only era.
No one
can doubt what was lost – some say stolen – from children during those almost
two years when virtually no public school in California operated in person.
Standardized
tests have proven this, with drops in student performance at almost all levels
in reading and math.
But under
the state’s Expanded Learning Opportunities program, school districts over the
last year could add three hours to many school days and extend the school year
to help students improve their academics. Since every study shows the poorer a
child’s family, the more learning was lost, most districts prioritized
low-income pupils, English learners or kids in foster care for the extra
classes.
In Los
Angeles, the first day of extra classes brought out tens of thousands of
students, with many teachers reporting pupils enthused even as they lost free
time.
But
things did not look as optimistic when that same district tried essentially the
same thing during its spring break in early April.
Average
turnout was almost 15 percent smaller, despite teachers having months longer to
recruit students who needed help the most.
Still,
the spring turnout of 33,076 students for two days of extra learning was a lot better
than nothing, demonstrating that at least some parents and their kids are
motivated to learn and try to move ahead.
For the
kids who came, there was plenty of individual attention, activities where they
practiced basic math and reading skills, got prepped for advanced placement
tests or tried to lift their grades in various subjects. Both students and
teachers afterward described a calm atmosphere with a solid learning
environment for those who came.
All this,
of course, cost plenty, with many hundreds of teachers called in to work extra
time. In January, Los Angeles district officials said they spent $36 million on
the winter break classes. No figures have yet been reported for the spring
effort.
It was
essentially a way for the district to get in extra school days in a climate where
neither adults nor students appeared to want the school year extended deep into
the summer, as was authorized.
One thing
the extra days demonstrated, with their smaller classes and far more
individualized instruction than normal, was that this kind of instruction
produces more interested students and likely better long-term results.
But more
than 40 percent of students who registered to attend did not turn up once the
extra class days arrived. In both winter and spring, students and teachers reported
that while the extra activities and individual attention were nice, “it was
work that everyone already could do.”
Yet, the
teachers who offered this and similar observations were not accounting for
oft-proven benefits from reinforcing skills already learned.
The
overall reality, then, is that no one knows – and no one may ever know – how
much benefit was really bought with the millions in federal Covid-relief funds
used for the extra classes.
For Los
Angeles and other districts long have offered smaller-scale special instruction
during breaks as well as some academic credit for online work accepted late,
even after the school year ends.
But many
students pointed to benefits that are difficult to measure, like the added
simplicity and ability to concentrate when spending a school day in one
classroom, rather than shifting from room to room, floor to floor and building
to building every 43 or 45 minutes during a regular school day.
“Much
simpler,” some students reported.
Any such
benefits, of course, went only to those who showed up. Another sign that
education can only be as successful as allowed by the interest levels of both
children and their parents.
-30-
Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book,
"The Burzynski Breakthrough, The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the
Government’s Campaign to Squelch It" is now available in a soft cover fourth
edition. For more Elias columns, visit www.californiafocus.net
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