Poll: Mass. K-12 parents describe challenges of education during the pandemic
Difficult choices and uncertain impacts raise the stakes for parents and students
Parents describe a difficult and tumultuous start to the school year, and anticipate a range of negative impacts on their children. Around half (52%) of parents say the current school year is having a negative impact on their child in terms of academics. Similar numbers say the same of mental / emotional health as well as social / behavioral skills (both 49% negative). More parents now see their children falling behind grade level (28%) compared to the previous wave of this survey in May/June, when 22% said the same. This represents a steady rise in concern since before the pandemic, when 13% of parents said their child was behind grade level.
That’s according to the latest wave of a year-long set of education surveys conducted by The MassINC Polling Group. This wave is the first statewide poll this school year examining how parents and students are engaging with education in this turbulent time. It follows MPG polling done in June, at the end of the previous academic year. With little official data available, surveys like this can help offer education leaders, advocates and the public an early look at how the school year is unfolding. The current wave is sponsored by The Barr Foundation and produced in collaboration with The Education Trust. The poll will be released in an online forum on Thursday, November 19, 2020 from 10:30 AM - Noon. Please register here.
“School is a struggle for students, parents, and schools during the pandemic,” said Steve Koczela, President of The MassINC Polling Group who conducted the poll. “Parents describe increasingly negative impacts as time goes on.”
One of the big divides this school year is school format, with different schools offering various combinations of in-person instruction, online instruction, or hybrid models. Most parents say their children are in either fully remote school (46%) or a hybrid model (46%). Just 11% say their children are doing in-person schooling full time.
There are major differences by race and income groupings in terms of which students are doing what format, raising concerns about long-term impacts on education equity in the state. Black, Latino, and lower-income parents are far more likely to be doing all remote schooling. White parents and upper-income parents are most likely to say their children are in a hybrid school situation. National surveys and surveys from other states show the same distribution on in-person, hybrid, and remote school.
Schools and districts went to great lengths to develop hybrid models, bringing students back for some days or weeks. The survey results shed light on how hybrid schooling is being received. Parents of hybrid students are much more negative than parents of fully remote or in-person students on the impacts of the school year. This is echoed by other surveys, such as a Pew Research Center national survey showing more hybrid parents most concerned about their children falling behind. Most see the schools as doing the best they can, particularly hybrid and remote parents, but more still see negative impacts.
With this in mind, it is far from clear that parents whose children are in a fully remote setting would prefer more class time if offered the opportunity. Indeed, over half (58%) of remote parents were offered a hybrid or in-person model and chose remote anyway. Parents considered a range of factors when thinking about school format, but health and safety was the most important.
The survey also upends some conventional wisdom, particularly around so-called “pods”. Going into the school year, observers raised concerns that pods would be skewed toward wealthier and whiter parents, exacerbating existing inequities and achievement gaps. This survey finds no such pattern, with pods being both uncommon and not skewed by race. Instead, between 13% and 15% of white, Black, Latino, and Asian parents in each race grouping say they are participating in pods. A recent national K-12 parent survey by Ed Choice also found no clear pattern by race in pod formation.
The previous wave of this survey series identified technology and internet access as key limitations to class participation. Since that time, device access has improved, with more parents in key demographics now saying they have enough devices for their family’s work and educational needs. Device distribution by schools appears to have been an effective intervention -- those who received a device are more likely to say they are participating in live online classes compared to those who did not.
On the other hand, access to sufficient internet has slipped somewhat. Synchronous learning with live video means families likely need more internet capacity than what they needed last year for the same students. Lower income (19%) and unemployed parents (22%) are the most likely to report insufficient internet access.
In assessing all of these issues, describing arrangements precisely poses challenges, given the many variations of schooling formats families and schools are engaged in this year. When interpreting these results, it is also important to remember they are parent perceptions rather than assessment or outcome data.
“These poll results offer an important glimpse into families’ school experience this year. But they also highlight the need for clear, transparent data on student learning experiences and outcomes so that state and local education leaders can figure out how to best support students and families now – and how to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic when schools buildings reopen,” said Natasha Ushomirsky, State Director for Massachusetts at the Education Trust.
Several groups who are part of the Massachusetts Education Equity Partnership – a collective effort of social justice, civil rights and education organizations working to advance education equity in the Commonwealth -- offered thoughts on the poll results:
“The digital divide was a barrier to learning for our students of color and our economically disadvantaged students long before COVID,” said Lorena Lopera, Executive Director of Latinos for Education. “Today, it’s become a near insurmountable roadblock. Tackling that divide is both an educational and a moral imperative.”
“The big differences in how students are learning this year create a real risk that already vast educational disparities in our state will get that much larger,” said Vernee Wilkinson, Director of Family Engagement at SchoolFacts Boston. “We must not only do everything possible to support students and families in this moment, but to plan now for how we’ll mitigate impacts of this pandemic when schools reopen. We need to assess the needs of our most vulnerable students and families and work from there to serve the needs of all students and families. If we listen to them they know exactly what they need in order to engage equity in education. Our listening and active responsiveness are lacking and as a result students are missing out in ways they may not be able to rebound.”
“Families – especially our Black and Brown families – know exactly what’s at stake this year,” said Tiffany Rufino, Regional Director of Parent Villages. “They are going above and beyond every day to ensure students keep learning. Education leaders must work closely with students and families to understand what they need right now and to provide those resources and supports.”
About The MassINC Polling Group: The MassINC Polling Group is a nonpartisan public opinion research firm serving public, private, and social-sector clients. MPG elevates the public's voice with cutting-edge methods and rigorous analysis. Based in Boston, MPG serves a nationwide client base.