Interesting—my spouse has only been in a little over a decade, and has switched districts enough times that we hadn't put together any kind of pattern of changes over the years. I just know that the frequency with which kids are out for a week to visit family in another state (not even around a holiday!) or out for spa days / nails / haircuts et c., seems totally alien to me. I was only out for, like, funerals, or if I had a fever or was vomiting or was in the hospital. I think there might have been one or two times, in my 13 years of school, when we cut out one day before a break to get a jump on a long drive, but that is the entire extent of "optional" days off I had, for all those years. One or two days, total, in 13 years, and I'm not entirely sure we actually did that ever, or maybe my parents just discussed it but ended up not doing it. I grew up thinking that was the overwhelming norm for attitudes toward schooling. It blows my mind that quite a few parents think nothing of pulling their kid out for a whole day, or taking them out early, just to go hang out! Often several times every year!
> This year, my spouse has not had a full classroom any single day due to family vacations. Pre-covid, it was not better, either.
I've got some friends saying their schools are hovering around 80% daily attendance this year, between the usual stuff and COVID. And I think some of the more lax parents are using COVID excuses for their usual BS, making things even worse. Plus the too-frequent days when they can't find enough substitutes and just have to stick 3+ classes in the cafeteria or gym for babysitting. Educational outcomes for this ~2.5 years (once this school year's over, it'll have been about that much) are gonna be really bad. Online, in-person, barely matters, it's all bad. :-(
>Educational outcomes for this ~2.5 years (once this school year's over, it'll have been about that much) are gonna be really bad.
And depending on what grade the student is, that 2.5 years could have repercussions for anywhere from 6 months for the older students trying to be competitive in college, to the rest of their lives. I really, really, really am afraid for students who are just learning the fundamentals and are missing so much social/emotional/educational development.
My money says this is going to have repercussions for decades.
It really will have lasting repercussions and I'm afraid of what some of the administration is doing to band-aid it. I spoke to an IB coordinator last week and I was told that the finals grades had dropped so significantly that the curve system had to be reworked. Not just made stronger, but completely changed.
In fact, the in-class tests were curved according to this formula: 10sqrt(x). A 10% is curved to a 31%, a 25% to a 50%, a 40% to a 63%, a 50% to a 70%, etc.
I spoke to an AP World teacher and he said less than a quarter of students got a 5/5 and less than half a 4/5 compared to pre-pandemic.
> This year, my spouse has not had a full classroom any single day due to family vacations. Pre-covid, it was not better, either.
I've got some friends saying their schools are hovering around 80% daily attendance this year, between the usual stuff and COVID. And I think some of the more lax parents are using COVID excuses for their usual BS, making things even worse. Plus the too-frequent days when they can't find enough substitutes and just have to stick 3+ classes in the cafeteria or gym for babysitting. Educational outcomes for this ~2.5 years (once this school year's over, it'll have been about that much) are gonna be really bad. Online, in-person, barely matters, it's all bad. :-(