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Directions: In addition to the thread, you are required to reply to at least two classmates’ threads bewlow. Each reply must be 150–250 words. Where applicable, be sure to use references to support your assertions, using citations in current APA format. Quotes should rarely be used and do not count towards the total word count. Discussion threads and replies may not be submitted as attachments. Please include word counts at the end of each thread or reply. Please label each reply so that I know who are responding to.

Discussion 1:

In March 2020, my district along with many others across the state of New Jersey and nationwide closed due to COVID-19 concerns forcing a drastic pivot from traditional in-person education to remote or virtual instruction. As teachers and students struggled through the first few months of this completely new experience, a new academic year offered hope to many. Unfortunately, the unfinished learning from the prior academic year, carried over into a hybrid instructional model. Nationally, COVID-19 cases continue to rise, and many larger districts announced full remote instruction will continue until April, 2021. The challenges faced by students, teachers, parents, caregivers and other stakeholders remain much the same as when the pandemic began.

My current assignment is in a high-poverty, urban school district in New Jersey where students have chronically performed below the state average on statewide assessments as reported by the NJDOE. The same district has experienced declining enrollment, transient student populations, punitive discipline policies, and high administrative turnover. Students, often below grade level in both ELA and math, receive two sometimes three meals a day in one of the district’s academic buildings. One of my direct responsibilities is to oversee our early college program. In this program, students are concurrently enrolled in high school courses as well as in a local community college. The period of hybrid and remote learning has recently revealed a significant learning loss on benchmark tests which challenged me to wonder how widespread the phenomenon traveled. Additionally, as Supervisor of the English as a Second Language department, an examination of attendance rates for this subgroup population indicates that 25% of the enrolled students have been marked absent for 40 to 50 days this academic year alone.

Kuhfeld, Soland, Tarasawa, Johnson, Ruzek, and Liu (2020) conducted a study to project how COVID-19 based school closure might affect achievement and growth during the 2019-2020 school year. According to the authors, nearly 50% of low-income families and 42% of families of color lacked sufficient devices at home to access distance learning (2020). Therefore, for low-income, urban districts concerned with closing the achievement gap, consequences of remote learning and student achievement could be severe. Given the correlation between high poverty and low student achievement often identified as the achievement gap, one may conclude the achievement gap will widen as a result of COVID-19 school closures. An additional problem worthy of examination is to determine how the shift from traditional learning to virtual learning has effected student perceptions of student to student, student to teacher, student to school, and student to content relationships.

Reference

Kuhfeld, M., Soland, J., Tarasawa, B., Johnson, A., Ruzek, E., & Liu, J. (2020).

Projecting the potential impact of COVID-19 school closures on academic

achievement. Educational Researcher, 49 (8), 549-565.

https://doi-org/10.3102/0013189X20965918

Discussion 2:

The problem is that recess time in schools around the world is in decline. As a result, children are less exposed to nature and less engaged in moderate to vigorous physical activity each day. Sedentary behaviors amongst school-age children are higher, and childhood obesity rates have surged in recent years. In 2018, European children between the ages of 6 and 12 were spending 209 minutes per school day in sedentary activities and about 16 minutes per day in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), making MVPA constitute only about 5% of the school day (de Greef, 2018).

In the United States, many researchers link this problem to the 2001 Congressional passing of the No Child Left Behind Act when schools began to heavily emphasize instruction on material that students would later encounter in standardized tests. Martin et al. (2018) explain that “after the passing of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, many schools began to experience pressure to perform, and one way for schools to find more instructional time was to eliminate recess time in the school day” (p. 249). The NCLB Act imposed strict teacher accountability measures, and schools that failed to meet Annual Yearly Progress, an annual goal also introduced by the legislation, faced harsh consequences including publication in the local newspaper.

Martin et al. (2018) argue that “standardized tests have become a mainstream focus for K-12 institutions, and the entry-level requirements for a 5-year-old starting kindergarten have become a 3-page exam” because school districts are feeling increasing “pressure to meet testing mandates handed down by the states, at all costs” (p. 245). In an article written from a medical perspective on the issue, pediatricians and children health professionals note that “as parents, teachers, and policy makers have focused on increasing academic performance in schools, school administrators have responded by increasing classroom time in core subjects and decreasing time for physical education and other opportunities for students to be active during the school day” (Daniels, 2016, p. 1).

Many studies have found that recess actually aides students in demonstrating on-task behaviors, and parents of children diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder have reported that their children displayed less symptoms of ADHD after time engaged in outdoor activities (Kuo & Faber Taylor, 2009, as cited in Schutte et al., 2017). These findings are in keeping with Kaplan’s (1989) Attention Restoration Theory which suggests that time in nature allows directed attention to rest and ultimately be restored – a relevant theory and practice worth further study for the field of education.

References

Daniels, S. (2016). Physical activity and attention. The Journal of Pediatrics, 168, 1-2. doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2015.11.004

de Greeff, J., Bosker, R., Oosterlaan, J., Visscher, C., & Hartman, E. (2018). Effects of physical activity on executive functions, attention and academic performance in preadolescent children: a meta-analysis. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 21(5), 501-507. http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1016/j.jsams.2017.09.595

Schutte, A., Torquati, J., & Beattie, H. L. (2017). Impact of urban nature on executive functioning in early and middle childhood. Environment and Behavior, 49(1), 3-30. doi:10.1177/0013916515603095