How to Solve the Disrupted School Year

Most schools have moved to online learning due to the coronavirus pandemic, but socioeconomic disparities that existed before the crisis have made the transition to distance-learning harder for certain students. Lack of internet connection in some homes and sparse access to the required devices in others have caused school administrators and teachers to worry that their students could be regressing. Now, districts across the country are considering a variety of solutions to help kids catch up by fall.

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Summer School

Many schools hope that the pandemic slows enough by June to permit students to attend summer school. While some teachers believe it’s the best way to catch kids up to grade-level reading and math goals as soon as possible, it’s still unclear whether large gatherings of students will be permitted by summertime.

Longer School Year

Some schools have pitched the idea of starting the 2020-2021 school year earlier and ending it later. This will give teachers more time to cover missed material with their students, closing all lingering gaps by November or December. But such a solution would rely on a state’s ability to pay teachers for the extra time, and with so many states already strapped for cash, deeper federal assistance would be required to put this plan into action.

Retention and Half-Grades

Another option is to have students repeat a grade or move up a half-grade. For instance, instead of progressing to fourth grade, some students might move into something called grade three-and-a-half. But such a solution could have disproportionate consequences for students from lower-income households. Since children from higher economic means have been able to more seamlessly transition to online instruction, they are more likely to move onto the next grade than are students with more limited resources. As a result, the disparities that already existed between higher-income, mostly suburban students and lower-income, mostly urban and rural students, will likely be exacerbated.

The fact is, there won’t be a one-size-fits-all solution to the learning and financial disruptions caused by this pandemic. Each school must evaluate its own situation, and make a decision that best benefits its own student population.