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\r\nOver the past several weeks, Tieken has heard from a variety of educators, from administrators of big Texas school districts to college advisors who serve public and semi-private schools in Maine, about what\u2019s working for them and what they need in a new era of remote learning. She’s also helped create a rural community resource hub<\/a> for school administrators.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The answers she got paint a picture of educators doing their best in uncharted waters \u2014 teachers moving instruction online, administrators distributing food and technology. She hopes that the stories she has gathered will help shed light on the issues these communities face and help direct resources to the schools and districts most in need.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cIn the long term, I would like to help think about what we can take away from this experience and how we can change our educational system based on what we\u2019ve learned,\u201d Tieken says.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Perhaps the most pressing problem facing rural school districts around the country is food. During the school year, many students rely on breakfast and lunch provided by schools free or at reduced prices, and educators have to figure out how to continue to distribute those meals. (For students who are homeless or transient, the challenge grows exponentially more difficult.)<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n It\u2019s a little easier for urban and suburban school districts to set up convenient meal pickups at places around a city. It\u2019s harder for rural schools, which might serve families across a vast geographic area and whose families still might not have transportation.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Palmer says school administrators in his district, Regional School Unit 10, have set up meal pickup points, distributing hundreds of meals a day, as close to families\u2019 homes as possible. \u201cIdeally, we\u2019re trying to get out to the places where people are, because it\u2019s difficult to expect parents to have the time or transportation to get the kids to these places,\u201d Palmer says.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Tieken has heard from other districts that are using school buses to deliver meals, or asking paraprofessionals like classroom assistants to do so. The schools still have to navigate legal issues \u2014 what does an ed tech\u2019s union contract allow him to do? \u2014 plus ever-evolving stay-at-home orders and practical concerns like refrigeration. Still, \u201cthat flexibility is great,\u201d Tieken says.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Keeping students fed is a concern for any school district, rural or urban, that serves poor families. But rural schools in particular have to be creative about technology, Tieken says. Many families don\u2019t have the devices they need for the kids to do schoolwork, and access to high-speed broadband internet varies by race, income, and location<\/a>. In 2019, only 63% of rural adults were broadband users.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cThe terrain can make it more difficult for signals to reach farther,\u201d Tieken says.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Access to technology varies within Palmer\u2019s own district, he says. Districts in other states have had to scramble to distribute tablets or laptops, but Maine has long been a leader in so-called one-to-one technology, and RSU10 has already purchased Chromebooks for most students.\u00a0 In the towns in Palmer’s district, up to 90% of families have access to broadband.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cThis problem is so frustrating because it\u2019s so fixable, and we knew it.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Palmer is happy with the way these students and their teachers have transitioned to remote learning.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n But some pockets of his district don\u2019t even have cell service, let alone high-speed internet. Families there receive lesson plans via paper \u201cstorm packets,\u201d a holdover from snow days. The packets, Palmer says, are focused more on retaining old material than learning something new, since students don\u2019t have as much contact with their teachers and can\u2019t necessarily rely on their parents to teach them.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cIt\u2019s an imperfect system,\u201d Palmer says. \u201cIf this blows through, in the next school year we\u2019ve got a lot of catching up to do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Other districts around the country are trying different solutions. Tieken heard from one in Texas that wants to set up strategic internet hotspots, though demand for them has made them scarce. Some districts have resorted to asking families to come to the parking lots of schools or local businesses to tap into their Wi-Fi from the car, Tieken says.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cThis problem is so frustrating because it\u2019s so fixable, and we knew it,\u201d she says. \u201cThere\u2019s been a persistent rural-urban digital divide, so it should surprise nobody.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Food and technology access directly affects how well students learn, Tieken says \u2014 if you\u2019re hungry or anxious about the future, or your laptop dies, you\u2019re not going to be thinking about math or reading as much. But even when schools and districts can provide food and educational technology, the quality of delivery of these resources will vary from district to district and state to state.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Tieken has talked to educators working in many locations and in all kinds of environments, from private schools to large public districts with thousands of students to small districts with a single school. No one setup is better than the other, she says. Some, it seems, are dropping the ball in terms of revamping their curriculum and making sure everyone has the technology they need.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Others, however, are full speed ahead. \u201cI\u2019ve seen some pretty amazing things happening in terms of districts making sure all their kids have technology,\u201d she says. \u201cTeachers are providing synchronous instruction that helps students structure their days, and they\u2019ve got some really cool, innovative lesson plans or videos that are up on the internet.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n As it turns out, each type of school or district has advantages and disadvantages, Tieken found. A smaller district might be better able to distribute devices and be more supportive of teachers, but a bigger district with more resources and people could ensure that thousands of students get the same educational experience.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cThis idea of centralized control versus local control, small and nimble versus big and consistent \u2014 it will be interesting, the lessons we learn,\u201d she says. But COVID-19 is \u201cnot going to equalize things,\u201d Tieken says. Instead it will only exacerbate existing differences.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cIf this blows through in the next school year we\u2019ve got a lot of catching up to do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n This is especially true when it comes to helping students go to college, Tieken says. Rural students were already less likely to earn a college degree<\/a> than urban or suburban students. And across the board, COVID-19 is changing how high schoolers are choosing a college to attend.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Organizations like Upward Bound, a federal program that since 1965 has helped low-income, first-generation, and rural students gain access to college, have traditionally operated within school buildings, forming relationships with students to help them see college as a possibility, then helping them get there.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cThey can pull a kid from a class and say, \u2018We\u2019ve got an admissions representative coming from this particular school, and I think it would be a great fit for you,\u2019\u201d Tieken says. \u201cYou can\u2019t do that in the same way in this remote environment, build that same kind of trust.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/04\/FB_IMG_1586461009478-e1586461177117-1-900x719.jpg\")
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