Schools confront 'off the rails' numbers of failing grades

Dec 08, 20200

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This Dec. 2, 2020 photo provided by Bianca Ramirez shows Blanca Ramirez at her home in Rincon, N.M. New Mexico, high school registrar Ramirez said her job has evolved during the pandemic to serve as translator, ombudsman and life coach to students and parents who speak only Spanish. In conversations, she asks students how they can have such low grades. The first report cards of the school year are arriving with many more Fs than usual in a dismal sign of the struggles students are experiencing with distance learning. (Bianca Ramirez via AP)

The first report cards of the school year are arriving with many more Fs than usual in a dismal sign of the struggles students are experiencing with distance learning.

School districts from coast to coast have reported the number of students failing classes has risen by as many as two or three times - with English language learners and disabled and disadvantaged students suffering the most.

"It was completely off the rails from what is normal for us, and that was obviously very alarming," said Erik Jespersen, principal of Oregon's McNary High School, where 38% of grades in late October were failing, compared with 8% in normal times.

https://apnews.com/article/distance-learning-coronavirus-pandemic-oregon-7fde612c3dbfd2e21fab9673ca49ad89