Amanda Richards, Possip’s Reporting Team Lead, analyzed data from our Pulse Checks™ to provide you with the top 10 family trends from the beginning of this spring semester!
Happy new year from Possip! With a new year, comes both new and repeated points of praise and feedback from families regarding the current state of their child’s education. Our trends blog this week will cover the top ten biggest trends we’ve heard from families as they are returning back from winter break. The goal of our trends blog is to shine a light on important topics and areas of concern that families consistently share, with the hope that it will inform school leaders’ actions and help families understand they are not alone.
During the week of January 10th, Possip has heard from over 11,500 unique family members through Possip Pulse Checks™! As an average for the year, 74% of families stated they were happy with their school.
What is top of mind for families right now?
1️⃣ COVID Safety Measures
2️⃣ Virtual Learning
3️⃣ Curriculum Feedback
4️⃣ Academic Support
5️⃣ Communications Around COVID Practices
6️⃣ Teacher Communication
7️⃣ School Schedule
8️⃣ Technology Needs
9️⃣ Transportation and Carline Logistics
🔟 IEPs or 504 Plans
TOP 10 FAMILY TRENDS BREAKDOWN:
COVID Safety Measures.
The largest feedback trend was around COVID safety measures on school campuses. Family members shared feedback, opinions, and questions about COVID safety procedures that are or are not happening. Between decisions to transition to remote school districtwide, frustrations about mask policies, and questions about quarantine learning, COVID was the most significant trending topic. Overall, though, there is a wide variety of opinions, feelings, and desires in terms of COVID safety measures from families.
Virtual Learning.
Families shared feedback about virtual learning. Moreover, both a desire for a virtual learning option and frustration over schools moving to virtual learning. Some families were extremely thankful for going virtual and having an option to continue school through that method. Other families were frustrated that the move to virtual learning in their district is greatly impacting their own ability to go to work, their student’s ability to learn and socialize, and their student’s mental health. This was the second-largest trend and may continue as more schools and districts are debating this choice now.
Curriculum Feedback.
Curriculum feedback was the third most talked about topic in Possip this past week. Families mentioned that not enough learning is happening in class and shared specific feedback about certain classes or subject topics. Families also discussed the desire to have less screen time during class. Instead, they want more engaging lessons, and more support for advanced learners through more rigorous curricular options.
Academic Support.
Families are also requesting academic support for students during this time. Consequently, families want increased tutoring options, extra support when coming back from quarantine learning, accommodations for students who are struggling with content, and more one-on-one time with teachers.
Communication Around COVID Practices.
Families want more transparency on the decision-making process for classroom closures, quarantine decisions, and the decision to move to virtual learning. Families also wanted more communication and clarity around quarantine procedures. For example, contact tracing procedures, COVID positive case reporting numbers, and information on testing without parental consent. Overall, families want more information from schools around proactive decision-making processes and clarity around the safety of their students on campus.
Teacher Communication.
In addition to COVID communication, families also talked about wanting increased teacher communication this past week. Specifically, families discussed slow or no response from teachers, requests for more information on student progress, and more information on what is happening in classrooms.
School Schedule.
Questions around the school schedule and when students would return from school after temporary virtual learning was the next trend in feedback. Families are asking for more advance notice if anything in the school schedule changes. Also, they are sharing feedback on holiday breaks, length of class periods, and school start times.
Technology Needs.
With many schools going remote temporarily, technology needs were a trend in this week’s Possip Pulse Checks™. Families need laptops, wifi, help with google links, support logging into apps and zoom rooms, and requests for more tech support from a teacher or school staff member.
Transportation Needs and Carline Logistics.
Families of students who ride the bus shared that the busses are either always late or don’t arrive at all. For families who do carline drop off, they are sharing feedback that the carline process is very time-consuming, unsafe, and disorganized.
IEPs or 504 Plans.
In the number ten spot, families that have students with IEPs or 504 plans are requesting increased support. Families are sharing feedback about staff shortages in the special education department at their school, virtual learning not being an effective learning method for students and a general lack of meeting students’ IEP or 504 plan this year.
Bonus trends can be found here:
- We heard a lot of feedback, ideas, and comments about extracurricular activities. This ended up as #11 on our trends list. Families want more opportunities for their child to build community with others, learn social skills, offer in-person events for the school community, and share more information on clubs and extracurricular opportunities that the school currently offers.
- Bullying was the #12 trending topic on our list. Families are concerned that their children are being bullied and want action to be taken to resolve bullying concerns. Possip has a few helpful resources on this topic if you are looking for resources and recommendations on bullying prevention.
If you have questions about these trends, how to resolve them in your school or have feedback on our trends blog, please reach out to amanda@possip.com!
