Very soon after W.Va. Gov. Jim Justice suddenly shuttered all schools in the Mountain State in mid-March 2020, officials with Ohio County schools recognized learning loss would be an issue to address once the students were permitted back in their respective classrooms.
What no one realized, however, was how long the school buildings would be shut down with remote and packet learning replacing in-person instruction.
“And it was a long time,” said Superintendent Dr. Kim Miller. “No one knew day-to-day at first, and then when the (Covid Alert) map was introduced that measured the positive cases, that’s what we kept our eyes on because, when the county was in a certain color, the kids were allowed to come to school.
“Ohio County was in the Red for a really long time, and then it was on-again, off-again, but we knew our students were suffering from the beginning,” she said. “There is just no replacing in-class instruction.”
Not only did more than 10 percent of students attending Ohio County Schools not have broadband access during the ordered closures, but teachers and administrators were forced to request welfare checks for children not interacting online with their instructors on far too many occasions.
“Let’s just say we have been very happy this school year with having the kids back where they belong. Sure, there have been situations where students and teachers have been home ill and others who have had to quarantine, but for the most part we got back to normal as normal can be these days,” Miller said. “And we got a lot of great work accomplished.”
Step by Step
With remote learning no longer an option during the 2021-22 academic year, students interact with teachers, administrators, coaches, and counselors far more often than during the previous three semesters combined, and David Croft, president of the Ohio County Board of Education, explained that while education was delivered, evaluations took place, as well.
“Progress has been made during this recent academic year, and I can tell you that the progress has involved primarily identifying the learning loss,” he reported. “From there, the progress has involved the development of ways we can address those losses in the future. I know most people do not see it taking place, but we have educators who are working non-stop in an effort to help our students get to where they should be with their respective educations.
“It’s truly been inspiring to watch; it really has,” the board president said. “And I am very, very confident those educators will never stop until they accomplish what it is they feel they need to accomplish.”
While a good percentage of the students attending Wheeling Park High School scored well during online instruction, even straight-A pupils struggled and fell behind the attempted pace of instruction. For the population without online access at home, the school system established “hot spot” wifi locations throughout the county, but for some transportation issues prevented use.
“Our school system continues to work on developing ways that our educators can deliver more and more on a daily basis so our students can continue to catch up on the education that was lost during the pandemic for whatever reasons. It’s one of the things I discussed with voters during my re-election campaign because it was something I wanted to talk to our parents about,” Croft said. “I think it’s an important conversation because we still have to get our arms around the learning loss.
“Some kids did very well with the remote learning platform, but some kids didn’t, and that included some students that normally do very well with their grades,” he reported. “That’s why it has been very important for our students and their parents that we have educators who are very capable of recognizing the students that may need that extra help so they can progress at a better pace.”
Croft believes that to understand the issue, one needs to look only as far as mathematics.
“Math is a perfect example of what we’re dealing with right now in our schools,” he explained. “That’s when it comes to all levels of math, if a student does not understand the foundation of whatever level of math it may be, you’ll never catch up because of how important that foundation is to the rest of everything involved.
“That’s why we’re really busy with the development of ways to move our students forward without leaving any of them behind,” Croft said. “Plus, our educators have developed dashboards that allow every teacher and every student to see where they are collectively and individually as they begin and finish each school day, and that technology has been a great tool for all involved.”
