A year into online school, more of Salem's youngest students are struggling to read

[TexasTowelie]

Fewer Salem elementary school students are on track to read proficiently by third grade than one year ago, according to data shared with the Salem-Keizer School Board last week. The same data also show particular difficulties for special education students and those learning English, including native Spanish speakers assessed in Spanish.

District administrators presented the data, which measures second graders’ ability to read a passage of text. It’s one of the data points district administrators track and report annually to the school board, and provides a glimpse at the challenges the district’s youngest students face as they return to in-person classes on Tuesday

Educators said the data point is a key indicator for students being able to read and understand schoolwork moving forward and success in other subjects.

“If kids are struggling at that point, it’s going to be really difficult for them to transition into higher level demands,” said Suzanne West, the district’s director of elementary curriculum and instruction, in an interview with Salem Reporter.

Read more: https://www.salemreporter.com/posts/3758/a-year-into-online-school-more-of-salems-youngest-students-are-struggling-to-read

[GPV]

1. Yes, I've seen this firsthand in my school. Distance learning is not a replacement for

in-person. It’s useful in some ways, but will never fully match up to me being able to work directly with my student.

[TexasTowelie]

2. Distance learning may be adequate for snow days or localized outbreaks of the flu or some other

communicable disease, but the amount of missed instructional time needs to be brief It is not a long term solution.

[jimfields33]

3. It's really difficult to be a good student without a foundation in reading

I for whatever reason never learned to read correctly and it’s followed me. Oh I can read, but comprehension is abysmal at best. It was something in my foundation that was lacking and you never get it back. I truly feel for these students!

[SheltieLover]

4. Why aren't parents teacing their kids to read?

[TexasTowelie]

5. Some of the children are in foreign language homes where the parents may have weak

backgrounds in English. If the parents also are from poor educational backgrounds, then they may not value the necessity of learning or teaching.

[SheltieLover]

6. Well, that's true

Still, I'd like to think they could learn together.

[GPV]

7. Not all parents have the foundational skills. Some school dropped phonics

in favor of whole language at one time, so parents missing that piece won’t be much help if their child needs to learn to decode.

[tirebiter]

8. This is why we have summer school