The ‘Covid Slide’: What Does Chutes and Ladders Have To Do With It?

DEAR PARENTS | L TO THE THIRD POWER!!

WHO REMEMBERS CHUTES AND LADDERS?

I think pretty much everyone or at least most of us.

WHAT DOES CHUTES AND LADDERS HAVE TO DO WITH THE ‘COVID SLIDE’?

I think pretty much everything. 

WHAT IS THE ‘COVID SLIDE’?

As I wrote on my website (FAQs Section), the ‘Covid Slide’ refers to a situation where students show patterns of academic setbacks, which could be considered more severe than losses experienced during what is lost during a typical ‘Summer Slide’ when school is not in session for 12 weeks. Those students receiving special education services, those considered ‘at risk’, those without access to remote instruction (due to lack of computers/tablets, poor/no internet connection), those who have poor attendance, or those already considered ‘behind’ will likely suffer more severe academic losses. 

Due to increases in remote/hybrid learning and limited access to remote learning, many students may experience the effects of a ‘Covid Slowdown’. A slowdown occurs when  students’ knowledge and skill levels remain stable, and are maintained at the same level as when they last attended face to face instruction. 

Look at this graph from the NWEA forecasting Reading in terms of both the ‘Covid Slowdown’ and the ‘Covid Slide’ (April 2020). You can see the lower curves (more loss) in elementary grades.

DOING WHAT IS HARD TO DO

I personally witnessed parents and children using library parking lots and cell phones in an attempt to attend classes and/or complete assignments.  I also know of many, many school districts distributing chromebooks and maintaining internet ‘hot spots’, oftentimes using school buses in this capacity. 

Hats off to the teachers who are trying so hard to maintain contact with their students amidst the juggling act of teaching remotely (sometimes simultaneously teaching ‘live’) with the needs of their own families. Some students report to me that they have trouble focusing and having regular contact with their teachers. Even under the best of circumstances, it is surely not the same for so many students as going to school daily as it was pre-pandemic.

WHAT’S HAPPENING SO FAR?

We now know that the academic losses due to Covid are actually more pronounced in mathematics than in reading. The Brookings Institute estimated students returned to school in the fall of 2020 had retained approximately 50% of mathematics learning gains from the past academic year, while retaining approximately 70% of the reading learning gains from the past academic year.   The results of assessment in Fall 2020 indicated these estimates to be valid for students in grades 3-8. 

Students made similar gains in reading from Fall 2019 to Fall 2020 in reading (good news!), but 5-10 percentile points less gains in mathematics. But view these statistics with caution  for several reasons: 

1 – many students were tested remotely 

2 – these are national statistics, which may not match any particular school district 

3 – 25% of students tested in the 2019 sample were not tested in 2020 (a far higher percentage than in previous years). 

It is estimated that up to 3 million students have not attended school since March 2020.

WHAT ABOUT GRADES K-3?

‘Covid Slide’ setbacks are greater in the early elementary grades as opposed to later grades. These early elementary grades are precisely the ones where learning occurs most rapidly–and when students learn the foundational skills of literacy.

Karen D’Souza, reporter for EdSource, noted that  “wrangling a 5-year-old in front of a computer screen for several hours a day requires constant supervision, technical assistance and cajoling, an impossibility for many working parents, particularly essential workers and those juggling multiple children.” 

Kindergarten enrollment decreased 16% in 2020. Some of these children remained in preschool and will attend kindergarten in September 2021, while others will go straight to first grade. Unbelievably, Kindergarten attendance is mandatory in only 19 states and the District of Columbia.  

Gennie Gorback, President of the California Kindergarten Association, feels that students need time to learn ‘how to do’ in-person school and that teachers will need to explicitly teach students appropriate behaviors in a more structured learning situation. I think these behavioral lessons  will be needed in kindergarten, as well as in later grades due to both the long absences from school and necessary safety precautions. Others point to the need for school-wide social-emotional behavior supports so that students are mentally and emotionally ready to resume learning.

Illuminate Education’s Covid Slide: Research on Learning Loss and Recommendations to Close the Gap authors echo the idea that “learning loss in reading is likely to be greatest in these [K-3] grades.”  For sure, it is the most difficult for our youngest students to receive instruction remotely.  Furthermore, districts markedly differ in how instruction is delivered, as some students connect directly with live lessons, while others view videotaped lessons. Some students spend far more minutes per day in a learning environment than others. According to Catherine Gewertz of Education Week, “some parents push angrily for stronger academics during home learning, while others demand relief, saying they can’t handle home-schooling along with their other obligations.” 

I would second Ms. D’Souza’s thoughts and add that the K-3 cohort needs far more parental monitoring and support. 

Grade 5 is also thought to be a pivotal year in terms of preparing students for the complexities of later learning in middle and high school.

WHY CHUTES AND LADDERS?

Fortunately, more school districts will be able to return to face to face instruction in the coming weeks. 

Look at the ladders above:

1 – A child who plants a seed in box 1 climbs up the ladder on the board to box 38 to see the resulting growth of flowers. In the same way, a child who attends school regularly and is ready to learn will likely experience academic growth.

2 – A child who eats a balanced meal in box 36 climbs up the ladder on the board to box 44 sees that he has grown. In the same way, a child who completes assignments and practices reading will likely result in improvement with good instruction (we hope) based upon the science of reading. 

3 – If schools (and families) make proactive choices moving forward, the learning losses of this past year can be corrected over time. These choices may include diagnostic assessment (to see which students need help and what they need help with), intensive tutoring (as part of the school day or not), lengthening the school day/year, identifying ways to increase instructional time in reading and mathematics, providing social-emotional support so that students are ready to learn, picking up instruction using grade level materials…and the list goes on. 

Now, look at the chutes:

1 – A child can choose to climb up on shelving to reach the cookie jar at box 87…resulting in both he and the cookie jar falling, the cookie jar breaking, cookies on the floor..and slipping all the way back to box 24. In the same way, a child who repeatedly does not attend school and/or does not pay attention whether in class or following remote instruction will likely encounter academic setbacks.

2 – A child can choose to ride a bike with ‘no hands’ and go from box 64 to box 60, where an injured arm results. In the same way, a child who does not complete assignments and/or does not ask for or receive help will likely compromise mastery of the material.

3 -If schools (and families) do not plan, ‘Covid Slide’ learning losses could have long lasting negative effects impacting learning, most especially students in low performing districts.

Parents play a role here as well. Make your concerns known and do what you can to help your children ease back into the learning environment. As Doug Irving of the Rand Corporation says, “The time is now to start thinking about what    those students will need and how to provide it—not just this summer [2021], but next [2022]. It will likely take longer than one year to ‘make up’ for lost learning, especially for disadvantaged students. 

We all make choices. Some are hard and some less so. 

I encourage you to minimize the effects of the ‘Covid Slide’ by explaining the concept of the ‘Covid Slide’ to children, and the notion of the consequences of one’s actions.

Playing the simple game of Chutes and Ladders with young children is a great way to teach the lessons of the consequences of one’s actions, and perhaps can be reprised with older children. It even could be used to help with SEL (Social Emotional Learning). Use the board and imagine additional age appropriate situations where children have choices to make.

Finally, after working with my tutoring student yesterday, I showed her the pictures on the Chutes and Ladders board of the children who engaged in positive behaviors resulting in racing up the ladders to win Chutes and Ladders more quickly as opposed to the children who engaged in negative behaviors resulting in well, ‘sliding’ down those red chutes. 

What was her response???? She exclaimed, “I played this game a lot as a kid, but I never noticed the pictures. I don’t think anyone ever told me about them.” 

WOW!  What a missed opportunity.