Across NEPA, third-graders struggle, grow after COVID-19 hampered their learning

Jun. 4—In her 23 years of teaching Lakeland School District third graders, Josefa Dombrosky has never seen a group of students quite like this. Neither have third grade teachers across Northeast Pennsylvania districts.

Their education largely hindered by the pandemic, the 8- and 9-year-olds missed three months of normal kindergarten instruction. In many districts, they remained virtual for most of first grade. Then second grade included isolation, masking, contact tracing and school closures when COVID-19 case counts grew.

With third grade the first normal year for most students, teachers grappled with more than COVID-related learning loss.

The third graders struggled to work with others. Behavior problems grew. Handwriting, largely unneeded in virtual learning, is sometimes illegible. Even basic skills learned in preschool or kindergarten, like gripping pencils and using scissors, had to be retaught.

Students faced the challenges in a year researchers say is vital to predict future success.

A December report by the Center for School and Student Progress of educational nonprofit NWEA found that current third graders have the largest reading achievement gap and showed the least rebounding. The analysis looked at test scores nationwide.

Researchers found that students unable to read proficiently by the end of third grade have a greater risk of dropping out of high school. Through third grade, children learn to read, and after third grade, students read to learn. When students fail to read proficiently, they lag year after year in every class. By the end of third grade, 74% of struggling readers won't ever catch up, according to the Children's Reading Foundation, a Washington-based nonprofit organization.

Third-graders took Pennsylvania System of School Assessment exams in math and English language arts this spring, and their results, released this fall, will show proficiency rates compared to prior third grade classes.

As the school year concludes, school leaders say their efforts — including extra support, tutoring and smaller class sizes — made a difference. The newspaper recently spent time in third grade classrooms in districts throughout the region.

Hazleton Area School District

The cafeteria at West Hazleton Elementary/Middle School buzzed with excited chatter — the kind of noise level that usually happens on a warm Friday close to summer vacation.

A security guard held a bottle of ranch dressing, squeezing it for students who grabbed side salads from the line. Another guard passed out plastic utensils. Robert Mehalick, an assistant superintendent, stopped to peel a banana.

Down a hall and around the corner in the Luzerne County school, Lindsay Barkanic reviewed students' rough drafts about outer space.

"Expository writing gives us facts and information," Lukehs Obregon, 8, reminded his classmates, who spent most of first grade learning from home.

Lukehs neatly copied his draft on Explorer 1, the first U.S. satellite launched in space, preparing for the final copy.

"On the computer, you have to sit and stare," he said. "It's not that fun to learn."

Barkanic said that while the third graders are eager to learn, they've come with different social skills than previous classes.

"It was a difficult transition ... but it was so nice to be in the classroom with these kids," she said.

With nearly 13,000 students, Hazleton Area is the largest district in the region, increasing population by 1,000 students in the last two years. About 3,100 students are English learners — and 2,400 of those are in their first year of learning the language. The district's English learning population, mostly Hispanic students, created unique challenges when trying to learn virtually at the height of the pandemic.

The district used federal COVID funding to create transition grades at the elementary level. For example, a third grader who needed extra support could spend the year in the transition classroom, first focusing on the second-grade curriculum and mastering it before moving to third grade work. Those students will be ready for fourth grade in the fall, Assistant Superintendent Patrick Patte said.

"If you don't have a good foundation, they're going to struggle along the way," he said.

At Valley Elementary/Middle School in Sugarloaf, third grade teacher Melissa Meyers reviewed subject and verb agreement.

"We're starting to see them now, get back to where they need to be," she said. "They're on an upward trend. There are gaps and holes, but we're doing our best."

Lakeland School District

Students at the Lakeland Elementary Scott Campus gathered in small groups across the room, working on the skills important to know before graduating to fourth grade.

One group played a spelling game. Another rolled dice and answered comprehension questions. Teacher Josefa Dombrosky sat on the floor with her students.

"What does a verb show?" she asked.

"Action," her students said in unison.

Twice a day, the third graders receive intervention and extension time, which the Lackawanna County school district expanded to help combat learning loss and reinforce skills. Reading and math specialists pull kids into small groups for more help.

So far, benchmark testing shows growth, but work remains.

"This class is a product of the pandemic," Principal James Pivirotto said. "We've worked with them, and these kids are resilient."

About 450 students attend the district's Scott campus, and about 280 attend the elementary school in Mayfield. After spending the last three months of kindergarten at home, first grade was a mix of online and in-person learning for students.

The third grade teachers at the Scott school must work on more than academics, Dombrosky said. Many students struggle to work with classmates and behave in the cafeteria, the veteran teacher said.

They retain lessons learned in person, such as multiplication tables, more than those learned virtually, such as basic math facts, and would rather type than write, Dombrosky said.

"They don't socialize well with children, with adults," she said. "They lost the routine in school."

District leaders credit teachers with the growth students made this year.

"We can comfortably say kids are making progress," Superintendent Marc Wyandt, Ed.D., said. "But it's going to take time."

Scranton School District

Third-graders Khloe Vasquez and Talisman Kapitanov wrote their spelling words on the whiteboard for English learning class at John Adams Elementary School.

Believe. Walk. Beautiful.

On the other side of the small room, teacher Theresa Kerrigan provides extra math support for the students who need it most. Some of this year's third graders continue to count on their fingers for basic math problems. Without the basics, multiplication is nearly impossible.

This year's first-graders are doing well. But the older the students get in elementary school — and the most disrupted their education has been because of COVID-19 — the greater the struggles, Kerrigan said. After a disrupted kindergarten year, some of this year's third graders didn't return to in-person classes in the Lackawanna County school until second grade.

Heather Shamaski provides English learning lessons to 36 students. Nearly 20% of the school's 190 students require the extra support and speak a first language other than English, such as Kinyarwanda, Swahili and Gujarati.

Many of those students are behind because of difficulties with virtual learning. Wearing masks also presented challenges. Students need to look at how lips move, she said.

"By the time they reach this grade, if you don't have those essential building blocks, you can't read a fourth-grade passage and understand that," Shamaski said.

Down the hall, third grader Tamya Francis works on a grammar and reading review in her class. The temporary closure of Robert Morris Elementary because of asbestos forced the two third grade classes at Adams to combine into one classroom to allow space for Morris students.

"I like my teachers, and I like the stuff we're learning," Tamya, 9, said. "I don't like to be on the computer. I get to learn more and see my friends now."

The district started Scranton Succeeds time this year, a mandatory, districtwide math initiative that identifies skill deficits and tracks progress. Students also receive additional support from math and reading specialists.

Third-grade teacher Carla Stackhouse sees students struggle socially, but she also witnesses success.

"We've seen growth, but slower than the past," she said. '"We're still trying to catch up on second-grade skills, but the students are surprisingly resilient."

St. Clair Area School District

A sign with the words "learn like a champion" sticks to the wall outside Erin Trezise's third grade classroom. Students slap it each time they walk in the door.

A week before school dismissed for summer break, Trezise transformed her classroom into a campground. Desks draped with plastic tablecloths became tents and lessons happened around a construction paper campfire.

Trezise used the day to review concepts from throughout the year. Students gathered in circles and grabbed letters of the alphabet, coming up with camping-related words for each letter.

"M, mountain. F, fire. H, hiking. R, raccoon."

After comparing and contrasting camping in a tent vs. a trailer, the children made tents with items Trezise grabbed from her kitchen that morning.

"You're going to respond to a question in the third grade way," she said.

Restate the questions, use punctuation and capital letters, the children responded.

About 550 students attend the kindergarten through eighth-grade school in Schuylkill County. The district doesn't have a high school, so St. Clair pays to send students to nearby Pottsville Area.

When most districts remained virtual or hybrid for most of the 2020-21 school year, St. Clair returned fully in-person, with a fully virtual option also available for families.

"The more in person we could do, the better," said Superintendent Thomas McLaughlin.

While some learning loss happened, McLaughlin said it is not as severe as districts that remained virtual longer.

Trezise saw the level of independence of her students decline over prior years, as students sought more reassurance from their teacher.

"They come in like babies and leave like little humans ready to take on the world," she said of teaching third grade. "It just took them a little longer this year."

Molly Roehl, 8, finished her tent made of aluminum foil, felt, toothpicks and marshmallows.

"It was more than a normal school year," she said. "It was the best year ever."

Contact the writer: shofius@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9133; @hofiushallTT on Twitter.

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