Has distance learning improved for Fresno-area students? Here’s what the early data shows

Elementary school students in Fresno could start going back to campuses in a few weeks, but that doesn’t mean distance learning is going away.

The three largest school districts in Fresno County are transitioning small groups of students to in-person classes, but students won’t be on campuses full-time. Until positive coronavirus cases are more under control, distance learning is here to stay.

When schools abruptly closed in March to help slow the spread of COVID-19, school district officials and teachers scrambled to put together distance learning plans, feed students, and distribute laptops and WiFi hotspots.

The coronavirus pandemic has heightened the inequities in education that have long existed. Local school officials have pledged distance learning would be better and more equitable in the fall 2020 school year.

School officials this week said online education systems are improving quickly.

The Fresno Unified School District has transitioned to a one-to-one system, which means every student has their own laptop or tablet, said Kurt Madden, the district’s chief technology officer. About 9,200 WiFi hotspots have also been distributed since March.

“We had been building up the inventory at our schools with that purpose in mind, but we had planned on spending three to five years to make that shift over to one-to-one instead of five months,” he told The Bee in a phone interview. “It really is an equity strategy. If students do not have a device at home, then they are at a disadvantage compared to the students at home and at school.”

Attendance numbers in Fresno Unified have also been climbing every week, which is the opposite of what happened in the spring. The number of students who were absent because of connectivity issues decreased by 5.4% in four weeks.

School officials say those numbers show more students have the tools to learn remotely. Although the district did not make distance learning mandatory in the spring, that could also at least part of the reason attendance numbers are higher this fall.

The Clovis Unified School District reports nearly 100% attendance every day, district spokesperson Kelly Avants said in an email to The Bee.

“That is one indication that our efforts to distribute computers and WIFI connection points (hot spots) was successful,” she said. “Every family was contacted and offered technology support if needed.”

Good attendance numbers doesn’t necessarily mean students are learning. Fresno Unified teachers told The Bee most students have their cameras off, and they don’t always know if students are even in front of their computers.

It’s unclear how the pandemic will affect graduation rates, grades, test scores, and college admissions. Some Fresno Unified teachers have said they are concerned more teens will drop out and said they already see students falling behind.

Fresno-area internet connectivity and laptops

Initially, Fresno Unified was giving third-graders and below tablets and older students laptops. The district has recently started to distribute laptops to second and third graders because that’s when students begin typing more, Madden said. The district also just received tablet keyboards to distribute.

According to Madden, about 73% of third-graders and almost half of first and second graders now have a laptop. About 12,000 laptops have also been ordered for younger students that should arrive in about a month.

“We’re trying to make it, so it’s an option for parents,” Madden added.

Clovis Unified has distributed 21,665 laptops and about 5,400 hot spots of the 5,500 purchased, Avants said.

The Central Unified School District has distributed 3,320 hotspots and more than 13,000 Chromebooks since March, spokesperson Sonja Dosti said in an email. The district has also targeted neighborhoods with weaker internet connections to deliver hotspots.

Fresno Unified is working on plans to build its own cell towers in south Fresno because of weak internet connectivity. Madden said the district has been working “pretty aggressively” to make this happen.

The plan is to have the pilot project ready in the spring, Madden said. Fresno Unified is going to work with apartment complexes that house students to add wired internet connections.

“Hot spots from a provider with data plans, those are really designed for noneducational use as well as educational use, so you pay more,” Madden said. “We want to provide a thing that connects them to education resources to the internet to our curriculum resources.”

Since Fresno Unified is launching this project on its own, Madden said, it can provide content filtering.

The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Read more from The Bee’s Education Lab on our website.

This story was originally published October 2, 2020 at 5:00 AM.