Majority of students say lockdown has negatively impacted their education
24% overall said that they had been "somewhat" impacted, and 16% overall said their education had been "very much" affected.
By DONNA RACHEL EDMUNDSThe top 14 ranked physics pupils in the country getting ready for the upcoming contest in Yakutsk, Russia(photo credit: SARAH LEVI)
More than 80% of North American Jewish day-school students feel their education has been set back to some extent by the coronavirus lockdown, a new survey has revealed, with those who attend smaller schools more likely to feel adequately supported in their studies.The finding came in a July 2020 survey of 16 Jewish day high schools in North America, in which 1,383 students enrolled in grades 9-12 answered the question: “Do you feel that remote learning has set your education back in some way?” Possible responses, on a four-point scale, were: “Not at all,” “A little,” “Somewhat,” and “Very much.” They were then asked to explain their answer in their own words; 1,112 went on to do so.The survey found that just 19% of students felt that remote learning hadn't affected their education at all, leaving 81% who believed that their educated had been impacted to some extent. However, half of those (41% overall) said that their education had only been impacted "a little." Their responses to the write-in answer indicated that, overall, they don't see their education as having been pushed too far off course.24% overall said that they had been "somewhat" impacted, and 16% overall said their education had been "very much" affected.In general, girls were significantly more likely than boys to feel that remote learning had set back their education. The survey also found that a significantly greater proportion of 10th and 11th grade students felt that remote learning had set them back, in comparison to grades 9 and 12.However, fewer than 5% of the students felt that their school let them down during this period; rather, the majority ascribed the cause of the impact to factors such as how well they personally coped with learning remotely and their home life.“I have no complaints about what the school has been doing, I just can’t learn as well online and I learn better in person,” was a typical response.Overall, the students' own approach to the changing circumstances was found to be a significant factor in whether they thought their education had been negatively impacted. Those who felt least negatively impact typically viewed the experience as an opportunity for growth, appreciating the extra free time available, and grateful to have a more intensive educational experience than their peers in public schools.One student told researchers: “I like the extra time I have to complete assignments and less pressure when doing schoolwork. I enjoy working and learning on my own more.”Another said: “It was a challenging change, however I feel that things like this can only help. It’s giving us a different view of how we can improvise with our education abilities.”Conversely, those who felt most set back by the experience were those who focussed on the negative aspects: disappointment with the resources made available, feelings of missing out from having less contact time with teachers, and more friction with siblings at home.Nevertheless, the survey also found a strong correlation between class size and students' perception that their education had been affected and those attending schools with existing close-knit communities reporting the least impact. Students at schools with fewer than 20 students to a grade typically reported the highest levels of feeling that their education had not been effected. These schools were also more likely to have invested in community building activities, such as daily prayer, town hall style meetings, extra curricular activities such as a color war, and in one instance, a Yom Ha’atzmaut parade that came to every student's home.Those who felt that the experience had strengthened their connection to the school community in some way were also significantly more likely to report positively on the experience - 45% of students who reported that their connection to the school community was strengthened "somewhat" or "very much" also reported that their education not set back at all.The results bear out a general perception that Jewish day schools have been particularly effective at responding to the changing circumstances of the lockdown, the researchers note, but add that so much of the success or otherwise of their efforts depends upon the subjective experiences of the students themselves. This, they acknowledge, makes it particularly difficult for schools to adapt their offering to better support students.However, they offered two recommendations based on the findings.Firstly, that schools - perhaps counterintuitively - spend fewer hours in direct contact with students, allowing them instead the space to find their own equilibrium within the new conditions. "Give them a chance to get on top of the work, get off the screen, be more independent of the teacher, and more dependent on one another," the report suggested, noting that one school had found that moving to a four-day week had allowed the students the space they needed to adapt.The approach should be tailored to the student, the report suggested, with those who feel they are missing out if the school cuts back on contact time being given more personalized contact to make up the support.The second suggestion was that schools instead focus on community building, with larger schools splitting the year group into 'pods' to enable students to have more time with the same peers. "In parts of the country where groups of students can get together in person, work on cultivating micro-communities among the same groups of students," the researchers suggest.They continue: "In smaller communities, celebrate what’s special about everyone knowing everyone else. In normal times, this may be claustrophobic. In these times when we face the most elemental challenges to our needs as social beings, cultivating such communities is the most effective way in which we can enable students to thrive personally, socially, and academically."Where resources are limited, the researchers suggest focussing their efforts on grades 10 and 11, noting that these are the students who felt the greatest impact. "Those are the first students to bring back into school," the researchers say.The research was conducted by Rosov Consulting in partnership with Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools and supported by the Jim Joseph Foundation. The survey was developed with support from the Government of Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs.Ten of the schools taking part in the survey were Modern Orthodox, while six were Community or Conservative high schools.
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