Chicago Public Schools pivot to all-remote learning for Fall 2020

When school starts next month for more than 300,000 CPS students, all classes will be held remotely due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Aug. 5.

Officials promised fall learning will be different from the spring, when remote learning systems were put into place virtually overnight, and CPS had trouble getting many students to log on for a very limited amount of live instruction.

“We learned a lot from our remote learning experience last spring,” CPS said in an Instagram post. “This fall, we are prepared to provide your children with a robust, high-quality education aligned to guidance from the Illinois State Board of Education.”

One of the key differences will be teachers will be providing so-called synchronous instruction in which students and teachers are online at the same time.

“All CPS students will receive several hours of live instruction,” the district said in a written statement.

Teachers will be taking daily attendance and grading assignments. In the spring, teachers gave fewer grades and many gave credit to students simply for turning in homework.

CPS is still figuring out how best to navigate all-remote learning, as other school districts across the state and nation return to classrooms or explore hybrid learning models to help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus that has upended daily life across the globe.

Follow our ongoing coverage of Chicago’s remote schooling here.