It’s no secret that rural schools encountered unimaginable challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the aftermath, the Center for Rural Pennsylvania set out to define those problems, see how schools handled them and create a plan to address those needs should they in arise a the future.
A report called “Distance Learning and Online Coordination of Service in Pennsylvania’s Rural School Districts,” compiled through the Pennsylvania State University, is available on the Center’s website.
The report found that rural schools had inadequate internet access, with 58% of rural superintendent respondents reporting that internet access had the greatest impact on their ability to deliver distance education. More than 80 percent of districts had to provide hotspots to students, and nearly 76 percent had to provide teachers with hotspots or devices to teach online.
Resulting policy considerations included increasing funding for municipalities or counties to provide access to high-speed broadband, and to provide tax incentives to companies that bring broadband to rural areas.
Another finding was that rural schools didn’t have enough computers, laptops or tablets to provide each child with one, and since the pandemic, roughly a third of districts have expanded their initiatives to accomplish that.
A policy consideration was that programs must be created or expanded to fund these 1:1 computing initiatives in schools.
The study found that professional development required increased support. “Every rural school in this study reported providing professional development for online instruction, but over three-quarters reported problems including time constraints (66 percent), collective bargaining intercentre agreements, (29 access problems (20 percent),” the report read.
Providing statewide professional development in online course design, teaching strategies and technologies would help address that problem, the report stated.
In schools, as in many walks of life, the pandemic increased the demand for mental health services.
“The respondents noted surge levels of stress during the pandemic,” the report indicated. “District leaders struggled to hire mental health professionals, social workers, and counselors because of the lack of a candidate pool for these positions in rural areas.”
Policies need to support and fund more rural school and community mental health services, according to the study.
“Rural schools face staff and teacher shortages. Prior to the pandemic, rural school districts had staff, faculty, and substitute teacher shortages because of location and competition with businesses and other workplaces that can provide higher wages to job candidates. During these pandemic Shortages were exacerbated,” the report stated. Coupled with that, cyber charter schools affect rural school district enrollments.
Officials need to consider increasing “state-level monitoring of cyber charter schools to ensure they adhere to Pennsylvania Department of Education guidelines for quality of instruction,” the report indicated.
The last issue identified was with state and federal guidelines that are constantly changing, causing real challenges for the districts.
“Rural school officials were required to administer shifting policies and guidelines that were passed onto them. They faced the anger of their communities over these changing rules and mandates although they had no control over them. Initial community support for schools eroded of the over the cool pandemic, the report indicated.
The recommended course of action was as follows: “Change the Pennsylvania School Code to remove the 180-day requirement or the hourly requirement for students, and to prioritize education based on competence to align with effective practices in distance learning.”
At the conclusion of the report, the authors wrote, “The very real problems faced by Pennsylvania’s rural schools can only be addressed by remedial actions that consider their actual needs and situations. In the long-term, coordinating policies and procedural recommendations between state age To provide consistent guidelines for schools would help rural school districts be more stable during periods of extended school closure.”
The authors of the report were Gerald LeTendre, Ph.D., Peggy Schooling, Ed.D., Hansol Woo, Meredith Bannon, and Josh Almes, The Pennsylvania State University.
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