Students are at center of online educational programs, participation is imperative
Preventing academic harm to students is an Akron Central School and State Department of Education focus during the current school closures and on-line instruction model.
Superintendent of Schools Patrick McCabe shared an overview of the challenges and planning for student instruction at Akron Central with Akron Central School Board of Education members during their meeting last week.
“It is very student-centered, it’s student-based guidance with the clear indication that SED and the Regents do not want to see children harmed academically as a result of the school closure,” McCabe said. “So there’s a great deal of latitude in terms of giving course credit and options for kids to earn credit and that they’re not penalized.”
“It is important that the kids stay on track to graduate on time.,” McCabe said. “It’s important that the kids continue to work through the closure.” Students need to complete assigned work and participate in the online classrooms to meet that goal. “It is a credit to our counselors and our administrators that our participation rates are steadily growing through the closure,” McCabe said.
McCabe noted that feedback from families indicates that the work was been challenging, and in some cases, overwhelming for the parents unable to help and the kids struggling. “That feedback, in listening our parents and listening to our kids, is really helpful.”
McCabe told board members that building principals and teachers have worked to examine what they are doing and to make it more reasonable for students and families to accomplished. If students are having trouble, teachers are trying to reach out to them, with all understanding there is no penalty for struggling.
McCabe described the quality of programming at the elementary level as exceptionally good. “Those teachers deserve tremendous credit. As you are aware, I live with two elementary teachers from two different districts, and then I looked at our program and our model and I am really blown away.” He is currently breaking down the middle and high school programs to see how things are going and to look at the models again with another critical lens. McCabe told Board members he expects the SED will require the district to provide a continuing plan as initially the plan was for a school closure of a couple of weeks.
Akron has some inherent inequities with the distance-learning model because there are a significant number of students who do not have internet access. “You can’t grade the kids on the same curve when they don’t have access to the same instructional opportunities,” McCabe told board members. Participation in any form is important to fourth quarter grading and building principals prepared a letter to parents designed to provide clarity that will help parents and children have a greater understanding of what they need to do in order to receive feedback on their learning and have a greater sense of understanding of what to expect in terms of the marking periods.
Board member Erik Polkowski noted that Principal Ricci was reaching out to students to check in and see how they were getting information from their teachers, their perception of the workload, and checking on how they were doing.
Graduation plans
High School Principal Brandon Ricci and Director of Educational Services Dr. Taweepon Farrar are exploring ways to make graduation for Akron Seniors meaningful and engaging and are expected to reach out to students and parents for feedback on some of the ideas. Decisions will be sensitive to guidance on gatherings, group sizes, and social distancing.