Students earn failing grades across the US as remote learning drags on

Erik Jespersen, principal of Oregon's McNary High School, said that failing grades have risen from 8 percent to 38 percent of all grades this school year. "It was completely off the rails from what is normal for us, and that was obviously very alarming," he worried.

Jespersen noted that at his school, not only were many more students than usual receiving failing grades, but some students are receiving grades of 0 percent as they cease to attend class all together.

These trends have been observed not just appeared in Jespersen's school. Across the country, failing grades among students are rising dramatically. In New Mexico and Houston, Texas, more than 40 percent of students are failing at least one course. In St. Paul, Minnesota, nearly 40 percent of all grades are Fs.

The evidence suggests that failing grades have risen most dramatically among students with disabilities and students who are learning English as a second language. The latter statistic flies in the face of one teachers union in Chicago which insisted that reopening schools would be an act of "racism."

There are a number of factors contributing to the increase in failing grades according to educators, all of which are connected to home learning. Students are increasingly skipping class while they are at home.

Some households, especially poorer ones, have inconsistent access to internet services, if they even have access at all. Teachers are also having more trouble identifying which students are struggling when the class is taught over video chat services, especially when many students keep their cameras off.

In Jespersen's school, he noted that grades began to increase after 300 students were brought to the school to receive in-person support from teachers, although this strategy of actually educating students has been abandoned in response to rising cases of coronavirus.

With school shutdowns continuing, educators are split on how to help struggling students. One suggestion which is being debated in Charleston, South Carolina is to increase every failing grade to a 50 percent allowing students to pass. One teacher in Charleston noted that most failing grades she has handed to students are for missing work rather than work that is incorrect.

Meanwhile, at Hatch High School in Hatch, New Mexico, they have managed to cut the number of failing students by nearly half by making school easier. Homework has been significantly reduced and the grading system has been changed to a 50-point system so that zeroes don't hurt students as much.