Focus on G1-12 Education
SERVING BOSTON SINCE 1994
Your child’s academic success is in jeopardy! The A+ Summer Program is the answer:
In mid-March, schools in the State of MA were closed and overnight all education was forced online. How well did our children actually do with online education since March? Unfortunately, they did not do very well. The Boston Globe reported that one in five children were virtual dropouts. The fact is that even if students were online working with their teachers they simply were unable to keep up with the curriculum that was supposed to be taught this year in public school. In an April 24th article in the Boston Globe, the MA Business Alliance for education reported that only 4 out of the state’s largest school districts were teaching new material during the school shut down.
The experiment with online education has not gone well for public schools. There is simply no comparison between normal classes at school and a virtual education on computers, tablets or phones at home. Many parents were simply unable to watch over their children as they were supposed to be in their virtual classes because they were working from home – or worse, needed to leave their children alone to go to work. Children had difficulties with the technology and parents were unable to help solve the issues in many cases. Even if parents wanted to help their children, few were trained teachers. The schools were unable to provide very much support to so many students that needed it. In many homes where English is not the first language, parents were simply not able to help their students. As parents, you know what this means. Your children did not learn all they should have and missed 1/3 of the current year’s school curriculum.
The school systems knew this. Most schools are not giving students final grades for their classes this year, using instead giving students a “pass/fail” grade. Additionally, the MCAS exams were canceled for the same reason. The schools did this to protect themselves. It allows them to cover over the fact that the students would not have done well with the regular exams. No school system wants to have evidence of how much curriculum the students did not learn this year.
This can have a devastating effect on student scholastic achievement for years to come. The Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) has estimated that some students could lose a whole year of learning. The effect of this will be felt for many years. Students did not learn important concepts that will form the foundation for the 2020-21 school year. In each year of school, teachers follow a strict curriculum guideline and pacing document that is used to allocate time to each of the concepts that is required to be taught in the school year. Teachers will have limited time to work with students before starting on the new school year curriculum. In the academic world, there is a term for what happens in summer – the summer slide. Studies show that students lose significant reading and math knowledge over the summer. Normally teachers have approximately two weeks to review important concepts before beginning with the new year’s curriculum. That will not be enough this next school year. Two weeks of review will not make up for three months of curriculum materials students did not learn while schools were closed.
As if this isn’t bad enough, recent article in the Boston Globe reported that the coming 2020-21 school year will be one of the worst ever for children in the Commonwealth of MA. Many towns, including Boston and Brookline, are laying off teachers for the upcoming school year at a time when we need more, not less, teachers. Our state is enduring an economic disaster that will greatly affect your child’s education. You may not be aware that cities and towns depend upon the state government heavily for money to run schools. The money raised from property tax is never enough to fund a school district and the state government grants cities and towns millions of dollars each year. That won’t happen this year. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected the State of MA’s tax revenues – the MA Taxpayer Foundation is predicting a $6 Billion drop in state tax revenues that will force the state to cut state aid to education. At the very time your child will need more support, it is likely they will receive less.
In addition to this, we don’t know what the next school year will look like. The current guidelines are recommending that classes be no more than 10 students with one teacher and an aide. How will that work? When most classrooms have 20 to 30 students, there are not enough classrooms to follow these guidelines. There certainly aren’t more teachers that can cover the smaller classes. Schools may be forced to rotate different groups of students that attend school “live” and attend school virtually. Your child will need more support than ever before to catch up for the next school year and to stay ahead.
Now is the time to take action to help your child. ASC has been working with children in our communities for 27 years. The A+ Summer Program is well known for excellence in preparing children for academic success in the coming school year. With the loss of critical class time your children experienced at the end of the 2019-20 school year it is even more important to enroll your child in the 2020 A+ Summer Program. As parents we know there is nothing more important that ensuring your child’s academic success by giving them the support they need. ASC professional teachers will make ensure your child is ready for the 2020-2021 school year. You cannot afford to have your child being one of the students who will be left behind because they are not prepared. The lack of preparation will have untold effects on your child and can last years.
At ASC we are confident we will help your child be ready for academic success in the 2020-21 school year. With over 27 years of experience, parents have trusted ASC to prepare their children. This year will be no different. It is our mission to ensure that your child is ready for success in 2020-21.
Call our school at 617-730-3705 at Commonwealth Ave or 617-451-8988 for our Chinatown location today to secure your child’s seat in our classes. With the current demand, we expect classes to fill quickly. Don’t take a chance on your child’s opportunity for academic success!
References:
https://www.scholastic.com/parents/books-and-reading/raise-a-reader-blog/summer-slide.html
