During #COVID, This Still Matters

Six years ago I penned a blog post titled, "Virtual School Manifesto: Nine Essential Ingredients." It was based on my years of professional experience in the virtual, or online, learning space along with my personal experience as a family who also educated our four children through virtual learning.

Through my years of opening schools, growing schools, training teachers and staff, and talking with tens of thousands of parents and students, I reached the conclusion that one adjustment with the virtual school model could have the most meaningful impact on student performance and attendance.

At the time the primary model always discussed putting the "student first" in the online learning and then circling that student with teachers, resources, technology, engaging lessons, interactive activities, social opportunities, etc. And yet, the outcomes primarily remained the same in each and every state. Students left virtual schools at an alarming rate, teachers struggled to engage students, and academic performance was not what it could be.

To offset these issues, schools would seek other curricula, supplemental activities, new technology, tracking tools, and more. And yet, the results would remain stagnant.

What could be done? After speaking with and hearing from tens of thousands of parents and students over the years and experiencing it firsthand with our own children, I reached the conclusion that what if we removed the student from the center of this model and replaced him/her with the Teacher-Student Relationship?

What would a virtual learning model look like that put this relationship in the middle and then built everything else around it in order to augment, support, and foster this teacher-student relationship?

I have witnessed the success of this change with the virtual schools and districts that I have had the privilege of working with as a consultant over these past seven years. I have watched student engagement increase dramatically, academic progress improve, and retention climb. Of course, it is not this one change that has caused all of the improvements but this one change has been the foundation for all other improvements.

Why does this matter now? As school districts across the country grapple with COVID and move to virtual learning (digital, online, blended, hybrid) far too many are missing this key ingredient -- the Teacher-Student Relationship. In fact, I would offer that this is more important now during this pandemic than at any other time in history.

Instead, I see districts, charter schools and even private schools making the same mistakes that were made years ago and I fear the outcomes will be reminiscent as well. Consider that these district students are not choosing to go online but must go online due to the pandemic, and there is more reason to believe the outcomes will be dismal.

If the first thing drawn on your whiteboard was not "Teacher-Student Relationship" then whatever was sketched out next will not have the impact it could otherwise have for the students.

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#COVID #DigitalLearning #Coronavirus #Onlinelearning #VirtualLearning #CharterSchools #PrivateSchools