By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

engaging students

Educators say compassion key in helping students advance grades

Apr 27, 2020 | 8:45 AM

Students need to be handled with sensitivity as they adjust to a new method of learning while hoping COVID-19 isn’t detrimental to their future.

That is the mindset being employed by school divisions in Alberta as student instruction online-only for the forseeable future.

“Many families are struggling, and our number one goal is to set our students up for success when we return to a normal process,” says Kurt Sacher, Superintendent of Chinook’s Edge School Division. “We’re doing as much as we can to be reasonable and practical with respect to students achieving learning outcomes.”

Sacher says the message to parents is to encourage their kids to take part in the online learning being offered, even if it isn’t mandatory.

“It’s only going to help them as they move into next year,” he says. “They’ll pay a price in the fall if they don’t take some time to learn now, but on the flip side is that our staff is being really careful to not put too high expectations on our students when they’re dealing with a highly challenging home environment.

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“Parents are certainly doing what they can,” he acknowledges.

While the division hasn’t said students moving on to the next grade is automatic, Sacher says they are everything in their power to ensure kids aren’t unfairly failed simply because of the pandemic. That includes students being able to improve upon their marks if they do engage.

At Red Deer Public Schools, Associate Superintendent of Learning Services, Nicola Golby, says compassion is being applied to all facets of assessment.

“All of our students will proceed to the next grade level even if they are unable to engage with the teaching being offered for a variety of reasons and stressors. This pandemic won’t stand in the way of a student moving on,” she says.

“It varies (grade to grade), but we think student engagement is somewhere around 80 per cent.”

Golby notes that like Chinook’s Edge, students can improve their grades by attending and showing they’ve gained a better understanding of the material, but that isn’t the only incentive.

“Let’s say a student had 80 per cent in English 20 when classes were cancelled, but then they no longer engaged; they’ll still pass the course, but their mark would drop to 50 per cent. We’re following guidelines from the government in terms of what we’re doing to move forward.”

For students who were below a passing grade when classes ended, Golby says there are usually ways to modify and adapt that student’s learning to ensure they proceed, and the same applies during the pandemic.