{"id":33146,"date":"2020-08-06T05:17:50","date_gmt":"2020-08-06T10:17:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=33146"},"modified":"2020-09-08T10:24:49","modified_gmt":"2020-09-08T15:24:49","slug":"lessons-learned-in-oklahomas-interrupted-semester-will-be-critical-to-delivering-instruction-this-fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2020\/08\/06\/lessons-learned-in-oklahomas-interrupted-semester-will-be-critical-to-delivering-instruction-this-fall\/","title":{"rendered":"Lessons learned in Oklahoma\u2019s interrupted semester will be critical to delivering instruction this fall\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_33150\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 672px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-33150\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Kari-Phillips-672x672.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"672\" height=\"672\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Kari-Phillips-672x672.jpg 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Kari-Phillips-1920x1920.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Kari-Phillips-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Kari-Phillips-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Kari-Phillips-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Kari-Phillips-620x620.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Kari-Phillips-1080x1080.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Kari-Phillips-32x32.jpg 32w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Kari-Phillips-50x50.jpg 50w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Kari-Phillips-64x64.jpg 64w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Kari-Phillips-96x96.jpg 96w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Kari-Phillips-128x128.jpg 128w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Kari-Phillips-1472x1472.jpg 1472w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Kari-Phillips-1104x1104.jpg 1104w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Kari-Phillips-912x912.jpg 912w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Kari-Phillips-550x550.jpg 550w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Kari-Phillips-470x470.jpg 470w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/Kari-Phillips.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Courtesy Kari Phillips<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kari Phillips, an eighth grade math teacher in Mid-Del Public Schools. Phillips says she&#8217;s concerned to go back to school but will take lessons learned from the spring in an attempt to educate students this fall.<\/p>\n<\/div><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kari Phillips is nervous for herself and her fellow teachers.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe anxiety levels are through the roof,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The eighth grade math teacher at Kerr Middle School in Del City is prepping for many\u00a0 possible scenario. She knows any subject she covers might have to be delivered in person, online or in a combination of the two.<\/span><br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.simplecast.com\/f72238eb-5461-4d21-8a64-7937a9d17afa?dark=false\" width=\"100%\" height=\"200px\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Oklahoma school districts are taking a wide array of approaches to educating students in the fall.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Because there are\u00a0 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2020\/07\/23\/oklahoma-state-board-of-education-punts-on-mask-mandate-for-schools\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">no central safety requirements<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for schools to open in Oklahoma amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it\u2019s difficult to determine specifically what classes will look like for many.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Large, urban districts are already pivoting to distance learning because of the continued spread of the coronavirus. Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Western Heights, Yukon and Putnam City &#8211; which combined educate 100,000 students annually &#8211; have all announced they\u2019re moving online.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Henryetta Public Schools and Mission Public School in Lawton were the earliest small districts to announce they\u2019re starting online.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But some school districts have already started in person, like Jennings, in Pawnee County west of Tulsa.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The decisions aren\u2019t made easily, as evidenced by hours long meetings and narrow votes by local school boards.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cMake no mistake, the best education is when we have teachers and students together face to face,\u201d Oklahoma City Public Schools Superintendent Sean McDaniel said. \u201cAnd we want to get there as quickly as we can. But we want to be safe and thoughtful about it.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More could &#8211; and if cases don\u2019t fall <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">will<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; move online. So how did that move go last spring?<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Almost three quarters of Oklahoma schools said they struggled to operate in a distance learning environment according to survey data taken by the Oklahoma State Department of Education and obtained by StateImpact via an open records request.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The survey, taken in May as the school year was winding down, reveals that though schools felt good about their operations at the time, there were serious barriers to distance learning.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And it\u2019s a reason Gov. Kevin Stitt last week <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kosu.org\/post\/oklahoma-will-spend-10-million-ppe-schools\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">announced a $10 million program<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to supply personal protective equipment to schools to lean on them to come back in person.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_32518\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignright\" style=\"max-width: 408px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-32518\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/IMG_6333-672x629.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"408\" height=\"382\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/IMG_6333-672x629.jpeg 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/IMG_6333-1920x1798.jpeg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/IMG_6333-768x719.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/IMG_6333-150x140.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/IMG_6333-300x281.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/IMG_6333-620x581.jpeg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/IMG_6333-1153x1080.jpeg 1153w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 408px) 100vw, 408px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Robby Korth \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oklahoma City Public Schools Superintendent Sean McDaniel at a January press conference.<\/p>\n<\/div><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cSchools are an essential part of our society,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is critically important that they operate safely and effectively for all students.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And that was why over the summer districts spent their time trying to get ready to get kids back in physical classrooms in the fall by looking for ways to teach safely.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, as the number of coronavirus cases has grown &#8211; there were 565 cases identified in the entire month of March and 1,244 new cases on August 1 alone &#8211; it\u2019s become apparent that looking to the past will have to inform the future.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And there were plenty of lessons learned, school leaders said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Meal distribution was honed. An internet connectivity gap was identified and is now being addressed. And teachers learned ways to better communicate with their students during a difficult time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It all means that this fall will look different as lessons learned from the spring inform educators, superintendent McDaniel said\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe\u2019ve come a long ways as we\u2019ve evaluated how the spring went with regard to distance learning,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p><p><iframe id=\"datawrapper-chart-FnGkG\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" title=\"Q: Which best describes your district's ability to offer distance learning opportunities?\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/FnGkG\/1\/\" height=\"795\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" aria-label=\"chart\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">!function(){\"use strict\";window.addEventListener(\"message\",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"])for(var e in a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"]){var t=document.getElementById(\"datawrapper-chart-\"+e)||document.querySelector(\"iframe[src*='\"+e+\"']\");t&&(t.style.height=a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"][e]+\"px\")}}))}();\n<\/script><\/p><p>In May the Oklahoma State Department of Education asked the state&#8217;s school districts how they were faring with distance learning after a statewide closure due to the coronavirus. The first question they asked was &#8220;Which best describes your district&#8217;s ability to offer distance learning opportunities?&#8221; You can view district responses to the other 20 questions\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1zR7V1mC4XYJyKRv78LL6HvwtofO9e-uA\/view?usp=sharing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1zR7V1mC4XYJyKRv78LL6HvwtofO9e-uA\/view?usp%3Dsharing&source=gmail&ust=1596809497106000&usg=AFQjCNEfzXT8ZBjpe9kssRCGaYeQ4U0BYg\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3><b>Internet is a must<\/b><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The survey found about half of Oklahoma school districts did not have online tools to assist with remote teaching. Half of the state\u2019s districts surveyed didn\u2019t have a content or learning management system that they used.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But for many, even if they did have online tools like <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.canvas.net\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Canvas<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in place during the switch, many students were unable to access it from home.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Almost a quarter of Oklahoma students<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2020\/04\/02\/at-least-167000-students-lack-home-internet-access-as-state-ramps-up-distance-learning-plan\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> did not have reliable internet access<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> last spring.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And as the semester came to an end,<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2020\/04\/09\/oklahoma-school-districts-conduct-distance-learning-without-the-internet\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> those problems persisted<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. They persist today.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finding a solution to that issue was of utmost importance, education leaders said.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe learned as a district, we learned as a state and we learned as a country that in today\u2019s age, connectivity to resources should almost be a fundamental right and we have a disparity between affluence and how much connectivity individuals have,\u201d OKCPS Deputy Superintendent Jason Brown said.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The state has helped solve the absence of an online tool in many districts by providing the online tool Edmentum to schools at no cost.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There\u2019s also been a push to get more hot spots and devices into the hands of kids.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In recent weeks the state announced it has ordered 50,000 Verizon internet hot spots to distribute across the state. Smaller, rural districts also received some.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shawnee Public Schools, 40 miles east of Oklahoma City, will receive 675.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They\u2019ll be a critical tool in closing the gap for the district with almost 4,000 students. But they can only be a stopgap, Shawnee Superintendent April Grace said.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Last spring revealed that internet access was a major problem in her district and across Oklahoma. So Cares Act grants paying for hot spots can\u2019t be the end of the web access issue.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThat continues to be something we need to look at as a state, investing in that infrastructure. Somehow we\u2019re going to have to find a way to create pipelines to access for those folks,\u201d Grace said.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_33152\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 536px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-33152\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/1_DSC_2879-DR-GRACE-1-536x672.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"536\" height=\"672\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/1_DSC_2879-DR-GRACE-1-536x672.jpg 536w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/1_DSC_2879-DR-GRACE-1-1533x1920.jpg 1533w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/1_DSC_2879-DR-GRACE-1-768x962.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/1_DSC_2879-DR-GRACE-1-120x150.jpg 120w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/1_DSC_2879-DR-GRACE-1-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/1_DSC_2879-DR-GRACE-1-620x777.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/1_DSC_2879-DR-GRACE-1-862x1080.jpg 862w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/08\/1_DSC_2879-DR-GRACE-1.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 536px) 100vw, 536px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Courtesy Shawnee Public Schools<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shawnee Public Schools Superintendent April Grace.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3><b>Learning regression a problem<\/b><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The survey showed that the chief concern of districts was learning loss in all core areas as a result of distance learning.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Shawnee, Grace said, teachers have spent the summer trying to get ready to play catchup. They\u2019ve shifted lesson plans to be covered and will work more on remediation than has been done in the past.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThere were skills that were not taught in the same way,\u201d Grace said. \u201cSo we\u2019ll just have to take it a little bit at a time. It\u2019ll take time to recover from this.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Students face a so-called \u2018summer slide\u2019 when they come back to school every fall, where they simply forget skills.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This year, schools are bracing for it to be worse than ever.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Oklahoma City, district leaders said they\u2019re prepping for that. They even pushed back the start date to give teachers more time to prepare for the first nine weeks of school online.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And they\u2019re sure that teachers will take advantage of that, deputy superintendent Brown said.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe opportunity to spend some time instead of just learning two days before spring break or a day before spring break that you weren\u2019t going to see your students any more is an opportunity that we\u2019re going to take advantage of, and really prepare not only our teachers and our students but also our families,\u201d Brown said.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>No good options<\/b><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The coronavirus in Oklahoma is out of control and schools filled with students and teachers could become a breeding ground for the pandemic to grow.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kari Phillips, the second-year math teacher in Mid-Del Public Schools, said the transition is unpredictable. But she\u2019s faced unpredictable before.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This time last fall she had her school year mapped out. She was prepared. But the coronavirus threw a wrench into all of her classroom planning.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt definitely changed the outlook of how our educational system looked and how we were educating the kids,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And she\u2019s taking those changes with her into the spring.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s a nerve-wracking time. She\u2019s immunocompromised and said she feels like she\u2019s being thrown into a tiger enclosure like one in Wynnewood made famous by the Netflix series \u201cTiger King.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI feel like Carole Baskin just threw sardine oil on me and I\u2019m going into the tiger\u2019s cage,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But, that won\u2019t stop her from educating. It\u2019s her job and she has every intention of doing it while advocating for a safe working environment. Things will just be different.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say it\u2019s making me second guess teaching,\u201d Phillips said. \u201cIt\u2019s making me second guess the way I teach.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><i>This COVID-19\/education reporting is made possible through a grant from the Walton Family Foundation. <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kari Phillips is nervous for herself and her fellow teachers.\u201cThe anxiety levels are through the roof,\u201d she said.The eighth grade math teacher at Kerr Middle School in Del City is prepping for many\u00a0 possible scenario. She knows any subject she covers might have to be delivered in person, online or in a combination of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":209,"featured_media":33149,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17,23],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33146"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/209"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33146"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33146\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33256,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33146\/revisions\/33256"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}