Boise parents: Online education was a disappointment during coronavirus shutdown
Parents in the Boise School District gave the district an overall positive grade this spring. But they made one thing clear in a recent survey: They are not satisfied with the online education provided during the coronavirus shutdown.
Boise Schools surveyed 7,376 parents in its district, and 67% listed the quality of online learning as their largest disappointment during the COVID-19 closures.
Every school building in the Boise School District closed March 16 after the first positive coronavirus case in the state, and the district switched to emergency remote learning March 30.
Students’ grades were frozen once schools closed. Any assignments done online could only help, not hurt, their grades.
“It’s obvious our parents and staff have high expectations for education, and we are committed to meeting and exceeding these expectations as we move forward,” Boise Superintendent Coby Dennis said in a news release.
The news release did not list the finding, but it was available in the survey results provided with it.
“Our Board of Trustees and our administration will now dig deeper into these survey results as we plan for the fall,” Dennis added. “We want to reassure our parents, students and staff that we will do what we do best — educate our students today for a better tomorrow.”
Boise Schools opted to hold students harmless during the coronavirus school closures because it could not ensure all students had equal access to online material. It posted lessons by grades and classes on its website, offering them as optional for students.
The quality of the online education outweighed other options in the survey. Overall approach was listed as the top disappointment by 18% of parents, teacher engagement by 11% and meal availability by 4%.
The district’s teachers and staff held many of the same concerns as 35% said online learning was their most difficult challenge, ahead of overall approach (18%) and reaching out to families (16%).
Other key findings from the survey include:
Parents were largely happy with the school district’s overall performance this spring, with 83% rating it between a 3 and a 5 on a 1-to-5 scale.
4% of parents said they would not send their child back to a traditional school until there is a vaccine. That adds up to 1,000 students in the Boise School District, which could impact the district’s budget.
38% of parents said maintaining a traditional school environment online with a daily schedule, multiple courses and student accountability was the most important aspect of remote learning. But 32% said an environment that keeps students engaged but provides families flexibility was the most important.
Parents listed several options as their largest concerns with online learning, including losing connection with classmates and teachers (29%), students falling behind (25%), students not being challenged (22%) and lack of time to monitor their student’s learning (16%).
47% of parents said teacher engagement was the highlight of the spring, with the district’s overall approach at 39%.
Few staff members rated this spring poorly, with just 4% rating it a 2 or lower on a scale of 1 to 5.
This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 6:25 PM.
