Failing grades in one of Virginia’s most prominent school districts have spiked this quarter compared to the same time last year, likely signaling the difficulties students, parents, teachers and administrators have faced in moving the local educational system over to “virtual” learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Those troubling numbers are drawn from a report from the school district’s Office of Research and Strategic Improvement, which the district commissioned after learning that students were struggling with the school’s online-only educational structure, which has been in placed since April.
Middle and high school students with failing grades in two or more classes throghout Fairfax County Public Schools were up 83% in the first quarter of the 2020-21 school year compared to the same quarter last year, with the share of F-marks jumping from 6% of all grades to 11%, nearly doubling.
Among younger students the increases were significantly higher. Middle school students overall saw a 300% increase in Fs; female middle schoolers saw a jump of 600%. Disabled students and Hispanic students both saw jumps of 400%.
The overall 83% spike in Fs was also more pronounced among individual demographics district-wide: Hispanic students saw a 92% jump in flunking grades, while English learner students saw a 106% increase. Students with disabilities, as identified by the report, saw their failing grades go up overall by 111%.
By raw numbers, the total number of Fs handed out district-wide jumped from 5359 in the first quarter of 2019 to 9698 this quarter.