Remote Learning During Covid-19 What Are the Effects on K-8 Students?

Conclusions 10

• CL1
  Remote learning exposed the importance of outreach efforts to provide coaching to parents on creating a positive home learning environment.
• CL2
  Santa Barbara County school districts did not use one common test throughout Santa Barbara County, making it impossible to compare countywide testing results.
• CL3
  Federal and State COVID relief funds cannot be counted on indefinitely.
• CL4
  Community organizations provided critical assistance to the Santa Barbara County school districts by expanding their efforts to bridge the learning gap between the home environment and school. 2021 Santa Barbara County Grand Jury Page 9
• CL5
  For student achievement, especially for low performing students, in-person learning in small classes or small groups is preferable to larger classrooms.
• CL6
  In-person learning is more effective than remote learning both academically and emotionally.
• CL7
  Students with the greatest learning loss will require a concentrated effort to bring them up to Federal and State grade level standards.
• CL8
  As the 2020-21 school year wore on, remote learning and teaching techniques and students’ computer skills improved.
• CL9
  Internet services were critical to remote learning and, in most cases, Santa Barbara County school districts filled the gap for homes that did not have them.
• CL10
  The 2021 Santa Barbara County Grand Jury found there is a consensus among educators, administrators, consulting and testing firms that remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic had a profound effect on schools, teachers, parents, and most of all students. The full extent of the losses will not be known for years to come. However, Santa Barbara County school districts responded proactively to this unexpected challenge and, going forward, can make use of the positive lessons learned. The 2021-22 school year will require that the remaining COVID relief funds used to offset the effects of remote learning must be carefully allocated to address the academic and social-emotional losses in the future. Extra thought and planning will be necessary to come up with the best strategies to mitigate these losses. When these funds are no longer available, upcoming budgets will need to focus on and include the elements critical to improve the academic performance and social-emotional health for all students. With the arrival of various COVID-19 variants, there is always the possibility of a need for a return, to some extent, to distance learning. So far this year, many students have been sent home due to either students or teachers testing positive for COVID-19, causing further disruptions in learning. During these temporary disruptions, the County districts can implement the changes they have learned during the previous school year to make any future distance learning more effective. However, districts should do everything in their power to keep schools open to enable students to make up for the losses suffered during the COVID shutdown. The 2021 Grand Jury commends the support and guidance from the Santa Barbara County Education Office and the Santa Barbara County school districts’ teachers and staff for adapting to the challenges brought on by the pandemic and for continuing the education of students under these demanding circumstances. 2021 Santa Barbara County Grand Jury Page 8 FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Finding 1 In-person learning is more effective than remote learning both academically and emotionally. Finding 2 For student achievement, especially for low performing students, in-person learning in small classes or small groups is preferable to larger classrooms. Finding 3 Remote learning exposed the importance of outreach efforts to provide coaching to parents on creating a positive home learning environment. Finding 4 Santa Barbara County school districts did not use one common test throughout Santa Barbara County, making it impossible to compare countywide testing results. Recommendation 4 That the Santa Barbara County school districts and the Santa Barbara County Education Office work together to develop a common summative testing program to be adopted for all Santa Barbara County school districts for the 2022-23 school year. Finding 5 Students with the greatest learning loss will require a concentrated effort to bring them up to Federal and State grade level standards. Recommendation 5 That Santa Barbara County Schools outline their plans to attain Federal and State grade level standards for math and English language arts. Finding 6 As the 2020-21 school year wore on, remote learning and teaching techniques and students’ computer skills improved. Finding 7 Federal and State COVID relief funds cannot be counted on indefinitely. Recommendation 7 That the Santa Barbara County Education Office schedule a series of meetings prior to the 2022-23 school year with Santa Barbara County school districts to establish spending guidelines and review budgets’ post-COVID relief funds to ensure that mitigation efforts continue. Finding 8 Community organizations provided critical assistance to the Santa Barbara County school districts by expanding their efforts to bridge the learning gap between the home environment and school. 2021 Santa Barbara County Grand Jury Page 9 Recommendation 8 That each Santa Barbara County school district develop plans by the start of the 2022-23 school year to encourage community organizations to continue to provide critical academic and emotional support. Finding 9 Internet services were critical to remote learning and, in most cases, Santa Barbara County school districts filled the gap for homes that did not have them. Recommendation 9 That each Santa Barbara County school district maintain adequate internet services for all students if distance learning or an emergency should again require remote learning. REQUEST FOR RESPONSE Pursuant to California Penal Code Section 933 and 933.05, the Santa Barbara County Grand Jury requests each entity or individual named below to respond to the enumerated findings and recommendations within the specified statutory time limit: Responses to Findings shall be either:  Agree  Disagree wholly  Disagree partially with an explanation Responses to Recommendations shall be one of the following:  Has been implemented, with brief summary of implementation actions taken  Will be implemented, with an implementation schedule  Requires further analysis, with analysis completion date of no more than six months after the publication of the report  Will not be implemented, with an explanation of why Ballard Elementary School District Findings 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 Recommendations 4, 5, 8, 9 Blochman Union School District Findings 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 Recommendations 4, 5, 8, 9 Buellton Union School District Findings 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 Recommendations 4, 5, 8, 9 2021 Santa Barbara County Grand Jury Page 10 Carpinteria Unified School District Findings 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 Recommendations 4, 5, 8, 9 Cold Spring School District Findings 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 Recommendations 4, 5, 8, 9 College School District Findings 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 Recommendations 4, 5, 8, 9 Cuyama Joint Unified School District Findings 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 Recommendations 4, 5, 8, 9 Goleta Union School District Findings 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 Recommendations 4, 5, 8, 9 Guadalupe Union School District Findings 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 Recommendations 4, 5, 8, 9 Hope Elementary School District Findings 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 Recommendations 4, 5, 8, 9 Lompoc Unified School District Findings 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 Recommendations 4, 5, 8, 9 Los Olivos Elementary School District Findings 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 Recommendations 4, 5, 8, 9 Montecito Union School District Findings 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 Recommendations 4, 5, 8, 9 Orcutt Union School District Findings 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 Recommendations 4, 5, 8, 9 2021 Santa Barbara County Grand Jury Page 11 Santa Barbara Unified School District Findings 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 Recommendations 4, 5, 8, 9 Santa Maria-Bonita School District Findings 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 Recommendations 4, 5, 8, 9 Solvang School District Findings 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 Recommendations 4, 5, 8, 9 Vista del Mar Union School District Findings 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 Recommendations 4, 5, 8, 9 Santa Barbara County Education Office Findings 4, 5, 7 Recommendations 4, 5, 7 2021 Santa Barbara County Grand Jury Page 12 APPENDIX A Santa Barbara County COVID Relief Allocation Dollars by School District all Grades (K-12) CARES – CARES – $900B COVID Rescue Plan – Total of all Relief Per District Federal State Relief Federal Relief Funds Student all Grades 3/27/2020 3/27/2020 12/27/2020 3/11/2021 SM - Bonita $4,104,856 $18,905,077 $14,187,147 $31,543,693 $4,154 $68,740,773 Lompoc $2,428,018 $7,746,601 $8,391,682 $18,658,061 $3,971 $37,224,363 Santa Barbara $2,244,243 $7,761,110 $7,756,522 $17,245,846 $2,722 $35,007,720 Orcutt $483,668 $2,233,042 $1,671,647 $3,716,738 $1,933 $8,105,094 Goleta $360,511 $1,731,099 $1,245,993 $2,770,340 $1,729 $6,107,944 Carpinteria $341,934 $1,749,260 $1,181,788 $2,627,586 $2,810 $5,900,567 Guadalupe $255,089 $1,364,641 $881,635 $1,960,227 $3,543 $4,461,592 Solvang $232,743 $319,240 $581,261 $1,292,376 $3,930 $2,425,621 Hope $111,680 $414,334 $385,987 $858,203 $1,949 $1,770,204 Cuyama $68,640 $211,116 $237,233 $527,463 $5,259 $1,044,451 Montecito $67,886 $132,970 $211,857 $471,043 $2,471 $883,757 Buellton $38,196 $340,772 $132,012 $293,516 $1,274 $804,497 College $37,787 $144,319 $130,599 $290,374 $3,033 $603,078 Los Olivos $11,827 $57,279 $40,876 $90,884 $1,421 $200,867 Cold Springs $12,596 $46,823 $43,534 $96,794 $1,199 $199,747 Blochman $0 $118,719 $0 $0 $571 $118,719 Vista del Mar $1,383 $14,878 $4,780 $10,628 $1,343 $31,669 Ballard $0 $31,218 $0 $0 $218 $31,218 Total $10,801,057 $43,322,498 $37,084,553 $82,453,772 $173,661,881 EdSource.Org/2021 Link: Find out how much California school districts and charter schools will get in COVID relief | Database | EdSource 2021 Santa Barbara County Grand Jury Page 13 K-8 Enrollment by School 2020-21 Ballard 128 Blochman 173 Buellton 553 Carpinteria 1,418 Cold Spring 178 College 192 Cuyama 133 Goleta 3,378 Guadalupe 1,270 Hope 775 Lompoc 6,294 Los Olivos 155 Montecito 374 Orcutt 3,971 Santa Barbara 6,445 Santa Maria-Bonita 16,665 Solvang 607 Vista del Mar 25 Total # of Students 42,734 Note: Does not include 56 students enrolled in Santa Barbara County Education Office (SBCEO) schools. 2021 Santa Barbara County Grand Jury Page 14 REFERENCES Summary of Studies on this Topic “Closing the Learning Gap: How Frontline Educators Want to Address Lost Learning Due to COVID- 19.” Insights from the Horace Mann Voice of the Educator Study. March 2021. https://www.horacemann.com/en/closing-the-learning-gap. “COVID-19 and the Educational Equity Crisis/Evidence on Learning Loss from the CORE Data Collaborative.” January 25, 2021. PACE. https://edpolicyinca.org/newsroom/COVID-19-and- educational-equity-crisis . “COVID-19 Impacts on Student Learning/Evidence from Interim Assessments in California.” June 2021. PACE. https://edpolicyinca.org/publications/COVID-19-impacts-student-learning . Dorn, Emma, Hancock, Bryan, Sarkatsannis, Jimmy and Viruleg, Ellen. “COVID-19 and Education: The Lingering Effects of Unfinished Learning.” McKinsey & Company. July 2021. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/covid-19-and-education- the-lingering-effects-of-unfinished-learning?cid=eml-web Kuhfeld, Megan, Soland, James, Tarasawa, Beth, Johnson, Angela, Ruzek, Erik, and Liu Jing. (2020). “Projecting the Potential Impacts of COVID-19 School Closures on Academic Achievement.” EdWorkingPaper: 20-226. Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/cdrv-yw05. “Missing in the Margins: Estimating the Scale of the COVID 19 Attendance Crisis.” October 2020. The Bellweather Education Study. https://bellwethereducation.org/publication/missing-margins- estimating-scale-COVID-19-attendance-crisis. Pier, L., Christian, M., Tymeson, H., & Meyer, R. H. “COVID-19 Impacts on Student Learning: Evidence from Interim Assessments in California [Report].” June 2021. Policy Analysis for California Education. https://edpolicyinca.org/publications/COVID-19-impacts-student-learning . Pier, L., Hough, H. J., Christian, M., Bookman, N., Wilkenfeld, B., and Miller, R. “COVID-19 and the Educational Equity Crisis: Evidence on Learning Loss from the CORE Data Collaborative [Commentary].” January 25, 2021. Policy Analysis for California Education. https://edpolicyinca.org/newsroom/covid-19-and-educational-equity-crisis. “Teachers Speak Out on Students’ Social and Emotional Well-Being.” February 19, 2021. Inverness Institute. https://edsource.org/2021/spotlight-2-students-social-and-emotional-wellbeing/649021. Note: All hyperlinks last checked on October 12, 2021 2021 Santa Barbara County Grand Jury Page 15

Observations 1

• OB1
  to ask them about their experiences as they adapted to serve their students during the pandemic. One hundred twenty-one teachers completed the initial survey. A summary of their responses is chilling. Almost half (46%) of teachers report that distance learning is not effective in meeting students’ social and emotional needs. The report stated that 65% of their students are in danger of suffering long-term mental health issues. Nearly all teachers reported these barriers to effective learning: social isolation of students, the emotional trauma of students and families and the upheaval caused by economic and social distress. https://edsource.org/2021/spotlight-2-students-social-and-emotional-wellbeing/649021 2021 Santa Barbara County Grand Jury Page 7  Provide parent education programs and continue communication with and outreach to parents.  Plan yearly summer school and after-school programs at school and/or through community resources. Expand relationships with community resources to work with students in math and ELA. 2 - Social-Emotional Loss: With the start of the 2021-22 school year, student engagement has been a focus of professional development for teachers and counselors. The following steps are being taken by districts to bolster the social-emotional health of students:  Hire more counselors, school psychologists and nurses to work with individual students.  Continue using programs used during shutdown and partner with outside organizations for outreach to relieve stress on students, faculty, and staff.  Add emotional health training on how to apply this learning to academics as top priority for each teacher.  Administer ongoing social-emotional health testing to determine which students require more intervention.

Agency Responses 11

Government agencies' official responses to this report's findings and recommendations. Click on a response to see the structured breakdown.

No Responses Found 9

Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.