FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 16, 2020
CONTACT: Patricia Lamiell@tc.columbia.edu, 212-678-3979
New York, NY – It’s been more than three months since schools across the country shut their doors and suspended classroom instruction in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many are unsure when, and under what circumstances, they can reopen and resume in-school instruction. Americans are beginning to assess the quality of school-sponsored, online instruction that, in many cases, was hastily assembled to take its place. A new survey shows that, so far, a substantial majority believe the nation's experiment in remote instruction has failed.
Previous surveys indicated that as many as 83 percent of parents reported that their children are engaged in online distance learning. According to a new national survey by The Public Matters project at Teachers College, Columbia University, more than three-quarters, or 77 percent of respondents said they are very or somewhat concerned about the negative impact of the coronavirus outbreak on academic learning.
About seven in ten, or 72 percent, said they are very or somewhat concerned about the effect of school closings on students’ emotional and social development. And more than two-thirds, or 67 percent of respondents reported being very or somewhat concerned about the negative effect of the outbreak on both the academic learning and the social and emotional development of young learners.
“In most communities, the transition to online distance learning has been rocky,” write study authors Aaron Pallas, Arthur I. Gates Professor of Sociology and Education at Teachers College; and Oren Pizmony-Levy, Associate Professor of International and Comparative Education. The study suggests that a majority of adults consider going to school essential to academic, social and emotional development.
“The academic and social features of the classroom may not transfer easily to schooling at home,” Pallas said.
More information about the survey, “Americans’ Views on K-12 Education When Schools are Closed,” may be found here. Information about The Public Mind project is here. To interview the study authors, please email Aaron Pallas, amp155@tc.columbia.edu, Oren Pizmony-Levy, pizmony-levy@tc.columbia.edu, or Patty Lamiell, lamiell@tc.columbia.edu, 212-678-3979.