Troubled by students she’s not reaching — ‘that no one is reaching’
Troubled by students she’s not reaching — ‘that no one is reaching’AUSTIN, Texas — Anne Fletcher worries her students won’t succeed.
It’s been more than a year since the coronavirus shut down most college campuses, and many of the problems that emerged at the start of the pandemic still plague Fletcher, who teaches English and developmental writing at Austin Community College.
More students than ever have dropped her courses. They’ve been battered first by the virus and, more recently, by a brutal winter storm and a major power crisis. A student who contracted Covid-19 this semester has fallen behind, but every effort Fletcher has made to reach him has been fruitless. Two of her students have been hospitalized with the virus. Several have family members who died or lost their jobs. Others...