BROCKTON, Mass. — Over 1,500 families took part in a survey looking at educational challenges during the pandemic conducted by the MASS INC Polling Group. More than half, 52 % of parents say the start to the school year is having a negative impact on their children and a similar number feel their kids’ mental and emotional health and behavioral skills have suffered negatively.
“Everybody is in a tough situation right now,” said Steve Koczela, President of MassINC Polling Group.
“Parents with students in a hybrid situation actually had more reservation and more hesitation than children who were fully remote,” Koczela added.
The survey does not reveal why families felt that way about the two models but Koczela offered a theory.
“When you’re in a hybrid situation, you spend more time with asynchronous learning, basically without a teacher there supervising your learning, or teaching you directly, whereas if you’re in a fully remote model, then your teacher is on the screen all the time.”
The survey showed 28% of parents polled felt their kids were falling behind, in May, it was 22%, and before the pandemic, 13%.
Researchers point out that the survey was based on perception not assessments of actual student performance.
Renee Heywood’s daughter Rhema is a freshman at a regional technical school in Easton, before that, she attended Brockton Public Schools.
“All the zooms all the different applications can be a bit taxing on her and it’s frustrating to try to navigate that,” Heywood said.
Heywood says she has a background as an educator as does her husband which has helped their daughter make it through early part of her school year.
To read the survey and slides, click here.
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