Majority of parents believe distance learning caused their children to fall behind in school, survey finds
Most parents also think their children will be able to make up lost ground amid COVID-19
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A new survey has found that more than half of parents are concerned that their children have fallen behind as a result of remote learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the poll – which was released by USA Today and Ipsos last week – 55% of parents "believe online learning caused their children to fall behind in school." That’s up from May 2020, when 46% of parents felt the same way.
Many parents do believe their children will be able to make up lost progress, however, according to the survey. Ipsos found 67% of parents said their children "will eventually be able to make up any lost ground," while 22% said their children would not be able to.
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Some parents who are particularly worried about their children falling behind have even held their children back a year. Parents and guardians who previously spoke with Fox News said their children struggled to keep up with virtual learning.
To help, those parents transferred their children to private and charter schools, which were meeting in person or had a more hands-on virtual curriculum.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Previous studies have confirmed some parents' fears when it came to virtual learning challenges.
A December report from McKinsey & Company estimated that students fell behind an average of three months on math and one and a half months on reading in 2020. Meanwhile, an October 2020 study from Stanford University found that students in some states lost up to a year in reading and more than a year in math during the 2019-2020 school year.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}More than half of parents believe that remote learning has caused their children to fall behind in school, according to a new survey. (iStock)
According to the Ipso survey, 40% of parents said that academic progress was the biggest struggle for their child while another 40% said lack of extracurricular activities was their child’s biggest struggle.
Other parents said their child’s biggest challenges were lack of physical activity (38%), making and maintaining friendships (37%), mental health (28%) and physical health (19%).
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The survey also found that fewer parents believe their school district prepared their children for remote learning during the pandemic. Last year, 65% of parents believed their school district prepared their children for remote learning, but this year, only 50% of parents believe the same thing.
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In addition, 60% of parents also reported feeling like teachers had a difficult time supporting their children during remote learning.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Overall approval of teachers among the general public was down to 65% from 76% in 2018, the survey found.
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The survey also found that even though parents are worried about their children being exposed to COVID-19, 70% of parents with children under the age of 18 who live at home, do support going back to in-person classes every day.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}About two-thirds of parents also support states implementing mask mandates for teachers and students and about 56% also support vaccine requirements for teachers.