Detroit and Ann Arbor High Schools Face New Challenges After a Year of Virtual Learning

How Southeast Michigan schools are making plans for high school students without all the data they need.

By Zara Abston

Mara Farmer, a rising junior at Skyline High School in Ann Arbor, attended school virtually starting the middle of her freshman year. “It was extremely stressful and difficult,” Farmer explains. “It felt like I was reliving the same day over again.”

High school is already a difficult time for teenagers, but distance learning added new challenges that students never had to face before. “The biggest struggle was not having that one-on-one relationship with my teachers,” Farmer says. “Hopefully we never have to do this again.”

Schools across the country transitioned to online learning in March 2020, and for many high school students, the transition was difficult both academically and emotionally. Many schools are now moving back to in-person learning, snd for administrators, it’s been a new experience trying to navigate planning for the upcoming year without some key information they would normally have, such as standardized test scores.

Students in The Detroit Writing Room’s Journalism Camp experienced a mix of virtual and in-person learning over the school year. Some enjoyed the virtual experience, while others said they found it challenging. Photo by Dominick Sokotoff

In February and March 2021, Horace Mann Educators Corporation conducted a survey with K-12 educators from across the country. Out of the 941 surveyed educators, 53% reported a significant loss of academic learning, and 44% reported some loss of learning in their students over the past year.

These stats are reflected in some Michigan schools as well. According to district estimates, 35% of high school students in the Detroit Public Schools Community District failed at least one class in the first quarter of the 2020-2021 school year. This is about twice the amount seen in previous years.

When asked about failure rates in DPSCD, spokesperson Chrystal Wilson says all students weren't required to take standardized tests. “So we don't have a good sense of how many students were per se failing because they didn’t all test,” Wilson says. She explains the district has some data, but can’t depend on the stats because some parents may have helped with tests or assignments.

Similarly, Dr. Jeanice Swift, superintendent of Ann Arbor Public Schools, explains that administrators reviewed data over the summer for failing rates, and rates look similar to previous years. Although failing rates did not increase significantly this year, AAPS administrators are unsure how engaged students were in class, and are waiting for the upcoming school year to see what concepts students may have missed.

Schools also struggled with attendance over the past year. Damion Jackson, the culture and climate coach at Achieving Career & College Education, an alternative high school in the Ypsilanti Community School district, says his school remained virtual throughout the 2020-2021 school year, and there were high levels of absenteeism.

Detroit teachers faced a similar challenge, and Wilson says about 70% of DPSCD students were “chronically absent.”

Administrators say the increase in absences may have left some students farther behind, but it is hard to gauge the gap.

Planning without adequate information is difficult, but it’s even more challenging when schools have to address problems they have never experienced before, such as higher absentee and failure rates.

When asked about planning for the 2021-2022 school year, Wilson says the district is using data from students who participated in testing and assessments. “All students will be assessed, as we do every fall, with the District’s i-Ready diagnostic tool,” she says. “This enables schools to track progress often and make adjustments when and where needed.”

The Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor school districts had similar plans to make sure their high school students get caught up this school year.

“If students tend to struggle in various areas of subject matters, teachers usually do pull-outs,” says Jackson, explaining that teachers will request a paraeducator to work one on one with a student for 15 to 30 minutes so the student can get caught up. “We do offer after-school programs, and then if that doesn't work with them and they can't manage that, we have a couple of online programs like Apex.”

Similarly, Swift says teachers and administrators will be paying close attention to areas where students may be struggling, and they will make sure that students understand prerequisite concepts before moving forward. They will also provide students with the opportunity to add additional classes to their schedule for credit recovery.

As for DPSCD, Wilson says, “Our high school students deserve dynamic learning environments and empowering coursework. So we're thinking differently about how we're going to approach the high school experience, and we're doing that this year by providing what we're calling a focus on recovery.” She explains this will include providing schools with problem-solving materials and academic interventions to accelerate progress for student proficiency.

Even without some important information, Michigan’s schools are planning for the upcoming school year and preparing to tackle the new challenges that lie ahead.