Concurrent learning is too much

LEARNING IS Fairfax County Public Schools needs to rethink its plan, fast

WEBSITE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

As high school students’ return to school inches closer, FCPS’s plan is nearing completion. Its “concurrent learning” model has been in the works for a while, merging in-person and virtual students into a physical environment. Having a plan is exciting, but this one is ridiculous.

“I think it’s a really crummy model to be honest,” said school board member Laura Jane Cohen, who represents Springfield. “What you get [in person] ought to be better than what you get now, and I don’t think concurrent meets that in a lot of situations.”

FCPS intends to have virtual and inperson students learn from a teacher in the classroom at the same time. Most virtual students will see the class with a 120-degree camera and participate in class through an online conferencing platform, as if their teacher were online with them.

In-person students whose last names start with a letter between A and K will go to school on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, while those with names starting with L to Z will go on Thursdays and Fridays. When in-person students are not in school, which includes independent work Mondays, they will be at home on the computer. The plan makes students spend three out of five days online, which partially defeats the purpose of choosing to learn in school.

The plan to combine students also doesn’t add up. How can teachers maintain control over students online and in-person, teach, check for virtual chat messages and ensure students are following safety precautions all at the same time? The answer: they can’t.

“Concurrent teaching...it’s an impossible model,” English teacher Anna Caponetti said. “[As a teacher] you’re attending to the very real behavioral needs as well as intellectual needs of the students in the classroom. And then you get to check whether or not the people at home are still with you and if they have any questions, and sometimes that opportunity never arises.”

For teachers who teach entirely virtual, FCPS plans to hire monitors to watch students in person as they learn from their teacher through a screen. Since teachers can’t control the physical classroom through a screen, these monitors are essential to the concurrent learning model, but the hiring process has been slower than expected.

- Laura Jane Cohen School board member

“The staffing is just not in place there yet,” Cohen said. “And if I had to guess, if we’re not there on staffing, my fear is that it will push back some of the timelines.”

Superintendent Scott Brabrand cited metrics like low staff numbers as a reason for delaying first and second grade students’ return to school. It should be obvious to FCPS that not many people will want to watch students in crowded buildings during a pandemic; the district needs to take the hint and not rely on such a concept, since it is likely to cause more delays in the future.

Granted, this concurrent learning plan is one of the only models that can simultaneously satisfy those who want schools to reopen and those who cannot attend in-person classes. But it is up to FCPS’s decision makers to create something that is more reliable and places less burden on staff.

All in all, the plan is so complicated and unfeasible that even FCPS’s own school board cannot back it wholeheartedly.

“[The plan] comes from instructional services, so that’s not us as a board,” Cohen said. “We’ve pushed back pretty significantly on concurrent and...were not in favor of concurrent learning.”

As it stands, months into distance learning, students and staff are facing a return to school with an unpopular, nonsensical plan and red flags flying everywhere. Concurrent learning seems to be 2020 in a nutshell.