KCKPS staff explain use of proximity learning, parents have mixed feelings

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The Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools district is expanding its use of the Proximity Learning platform in order to address the ongoing teacher shortage in the district and state .

Proximity Learning allows for a teacher who works remotely to instruct a class of students with the help of an in-person teaching assistant.

The district has been using Proximity Learning for the past few years, but this year, it's expanding the use to approximately 30 classrooms.

“We know that it’s not the ideal situation, but it allows us to have a certified teacher in the presence of our scholars,” said Dr. Jarius Jones, the associate superintendent of Human Resources for the Kansas City, Kansas Public School District. “It’s allowing us to fill in those gaps. We would rather have a certified teacher that’s teaching those courses rather than having a substitute teacher that has no content knowledge or very little.”

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Jones says there are about 60 vacancies the district needs to fill for teachers and that the district recognizes barriers to people applying.

“It gets a bad rap, it gets a bad name, but we know that there are individuals who are really committed to teaching scholars, who have a passion for it,” Jones said. “We also consider the proximity as a vacancy. Our goal, once again, is to make sure that those proximity seats, that those seats right there are filled with a certified teacher that’s hired through the Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools.”

Prince-Russell Johnson was a teaching assistant at Carl B. Bruce Middle School from September 2022 until May 2024.

While there, he had two Proximity Learning teachers he worked with who taught out of South Carolina.

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“I was responsible for making sure the grades got put in, I was responsible for doing any conferences with the parents, handling any disciplinary things,” Johnson said. “Making sure that they had the devices that they need for the class, making sure that they were able to see and hear the proximity teacher. Pretty much just doing anything outside teaching the content.”

He says he saw multiple benefits to the Proximity Learning platform.

For one, he said he was able to carry a lot of the load that one teacher would normally have, so all his remote teacher had to focus on was instruction.

“Because it’s already complex being online, it was a good thing that they had myself and the proximity teacher to be able to assist them through the content,” Johnson said.

He also noted that because the classes were on Zoom, instructors were able to record the lessons so students wouldn’t miss anything and could rewatch the lessons.

But many parents, like Miyah Masters, are skeptical about the idea of having a remote teacher.

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“It’s kind of a little sad because when I was growing up, I had a close bond with my teachers, and I just feel like it would be a lot better to have somebody hands on and actually there,” Masters said.

Masters has two children — one in the KCKPS district who’s in first grade.

“I feel like [technology] contributes to their growing methods, you know, in certain ways and aspects, but I feel like keeping it old school — pen and paper — probably would be the best,” she said.

Johnson says he understands parents’ concerns about their children’s exposure to technology, but he also encourages them to see it as a positive that’s likely to only make its way into more aspects of their children’s lives.

“I can definitely attest to the fact that proximity learning can be successful,” Johnson said. “These kids spend a lot of time on their phones, they spend a lot of time on their devices — I don’t think there should be any pushback for their educational purposes as well. At some point, they’re going to have to take a course online, and having that experience is important because you already know what to do; you know what it’s like.”

In terms of in-person interactions, Johnson says it won’t be completely erased with the Proximity Learning experience.

“I saw the students actually learning and getting better as the year went by,” Johnson said. “I found new ways to get them engaged, new ways to get them to learn the content, and I was actually learning the content with them.”

Though the district says Proximity Learning has so far been implemented in secondary schools like middle and high school, Masters has seen the use of technology in her son’s classrooms already.

“At my son’s school, there’s only two first grade classes, and they’re almost about 30 students each, so that was a huge concern of mine,” Masters said.

Jones says the Proximity Learning classes are intentionally smaller with about 15 to 20 students per class. Those smaller classes were something Johnson also saw as a benefit during his time as an assistant.

“Some teachers have to spend so much time on discipline, they’re unable to do what they love to do, which is teach,” Johnson said.

He says the solution to the teacher shortage is two-fold and will require people to advocate for teachers.

“Even people who are interested in education, I think one of the things that is pushing them away from coming into the role is the lack of pay, and then also, the lack of accountability on the student and the parent,” Johnson said. “I think that once we get the parents more involved, and actually be involved in their student’s educational journey, I think that we will see a shift in the behavior of the child, and that way, teachers won’t be pulling their hair out by December.”

The district says it’s looking at ways to not only hire more teachers, but also retain them.

One way they’re doing that is by having teaching fellows assist in Proximity Learning classes who can then become stand-alone teachers the next semester.

In terms of increasing teacher pay, the district isn’t making any promises.

“We continue to look at that; we want to make sure that we stay competitive, so that’s a constant conversation,” Jones said.

Jones says KCKPS has one of the highest starting salaries of their neighboring districts and in the state.

According to the district’s site , the Level One base salary for a teacher with a bachelor’s degree is $50,000.

When asked if Proximity Learning is more cost effective, Jones shared the district’s long-term financial goal.

“It allows us to continue to stay afloat,” Jones said. “Our goal though, to me is the more cost-effective piece, is having a classroom teacher that is supporting in that classroom.”

Until that happens, he says he doesn’t see Proximity Learning going anywhere anytime soon.

“It’s hard to say whether or not, when it will go, if it will go,” Jones said. “I honestly believe that we’re going to see more of it in various districts and even some that never think that they would because it allows us to address a major issue — we don’t have teacher to fill those classrooms and fill the demand.”

The district and Johnson say they were able to measure the success of students in Proximity Learning classes and that the academic achievement in those classes has been just as good as in-person classes.

Still, it’s a changing landscape that will take some getting used to.

“I know that this is not what parents and individuals want to hear is that their scholar is receiving the actual instruction from someone who is not physically there,” Jones said. “But what we can guarantee is that that scholar is going to get the education that they need. The instruction, the instructional delivery that they need."

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