Education Commons^™

Moving Forward In The Wake Of The Pandemic: Shifting From Schools Acting Alone To Engaged Partnerships With Families And Communities, Sheri S. Williams

The William & Mary Educational Review

Workplace shortages are a top concern for schools in times of calm and even more troubling in times of stress. Burnout is especially widespread in stressful situations of disrupted learning, trauma, and discord (e.g., Diliberti & Schwartz, 2022; Thomas et al., 2019). In the wake of the pandemic, educators struggled to deal with the stressors on their own (IES, 2022). It became clear that schools could no longer work in isolation. Moving forward in the wake of the pandemic required an intentional shift in purpose from isolated classrooms to interconnected partnerships with families and communities. In the path to recovery, …

Leadership Reflections Of The Pandemic: Perceptions From Aspiring Assistant Principals, Terrance Mcneil, Trinetia Respress, Soala Dede, Jenna Lehman

The Journal of the Research Association of Minority Professors

The initial COVID-19 outbreak within the United States necessitated the implementation of rapid safety measures, prompting educational leadership to establish unprecedented protocols. In the spring of 2020, schools throughout Tennessee closed for in-person learning before re-opening with new protocols in the fall. The purpose of this study was to gain insight from Tennessee educators about the challenges they faced because of these educational protocols enacted by leadership. The study employed a phenomenological qualitative design. The study sample was comprised of ten educators enrolled in the Tennessee Department of Education's Aspiring Assistant Principal Network. The data were collected using open-ended interview …

Equity During The Pandemic: Exploring Rural Women Superintendents Perceptions Of Equity Leadership, Kelly Brown, Kathryn Washington

Tapestry: Journal of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging in Education

While the percentage of women in the superintendency has grown in the last 30 years, most superintendents (87%) are male compared to 13.2 percent female (Glass, 2021). The participants of this study were female superintendents leading rural school districts. Rural schools educate approximately 25% of the students in our country. Superintendents of rural schools face many additional challenges such as limited resources, declining student enrollments, high teacher turnover or chronic instability due to geographic isolation, a lack of professional development opportunities are just a few of the challenges these school districts face (Azano & Stewart, 2015; Baker et al.; 2014; …

2022 Tcpea Outstanding Dissertation Of The Year Research Summary, Ijeoma Anugweje Ed.D., Jennifer Grace Dissertation Advisor

School Leadership Review

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of administrative support on teachers in Title I schools during the Coronavirus pandemic. This study added to the knowledge base by providing information on teachers' work experiences in Title I schools during the Coronavirus pandemic. This study included a review of data collected from interviews of elementary teachers in a Title 1 district. A purposeful sample of 12 teachers who worked in Title 1 elementary schools during the Coronavirus pandemic were interviewed. The interviews provided an in-depth understanding of the teachers’ perceptions on administrative support during the pandemic in Title …

School Leadership Assessment Of Teachers’ Work-Life Balance: Perceptions And Professional Learning Needs During A Global Health Pandemic, Juliann Sergi Mcbrayer, Summer Pannell, Alissa Sasser, Katherine Fallon, Katarina Evans

School Leadership Review

The purpose of this study was to better understand the work-life balance of educators teaching students during the Covid-19 health pandemic. Teachers face a multitude of challenges during this unprecedented time with a rapid shift from traditional face-to-face class to online learning resulting in a cyclical phenomenon for many teachers as schools have shifted back and forth between virtual and in-person settings in response to constantly changing coronavirus messaging. The findings identified three overarching themes related to teachers’ needs including Boundaries with Time and Commitments, Mentally Processing Daily Stressors, and Healthy Lifestyle. Implications for practice denote that …

Educational Silver Linings In The Cloud Of A Global Pandemic: Our Students Are Grittier Than We Think!, Linda E. Feldstein, Gary Andersen

The Advocate

This qualitative study combines two methodological frameworks in an attempt to elucidate the best of what occurred in the teaching and learning practices during the massive school closures necessitated during the COVID-19 pandemic in the U. S. Using a phenomenological viewpoint informed by the practices of appreciative inquiry, interviews were conducted with education professionals to hear stories of unanticipated benefits in education - times where things went well, new insights were gained, new teaching techniques/frameworks explored, or significant student benefits noted. Participant voices, experiences, ‘aha’ moments, insights, and thoughts form an emergent picture of what has gone well during this …

School Leadership Support: Understanding The Experiences Of Elementary-Level Teachers During A Global Health Pandemic, Kathleen M. Crawford, Pamela Wells, Juliann Sergi Mcbrayer, Kristen N. Dickens, Katherine Fallon

School Leadership Review

The purpose of this study was to better understand how the current COVID-19 global health pandemic has professionally and emotionally impacted elementary-level teachers. Teachers experienced diverse challenges during this unprecedented time with a rapid shift from in-person to online learning. Two overarching themes emerged based on participant experiences: abandoning best practices and increased stress and emotional pain. Implications for practice included the need for school leaders to evaluate the current level of support being provided to teachers and assess areas of need to support professional and emotional growth with the backdrop of the pandemic. We encourage future research with all …

Remembering The 1918 Influenza Pandemic: Missouri Education Policy And Lessons For Covid-19, Phi Nguyen

Journal of Curriculum, Teaching, Learning and Leadership in Education

Amid the disruptions of COVID-19 are opportunities to reimagine schooling and education. Taking a historical perspective, this article analyzes education policy following an earlier pandemic, the influenza pandemic of 1918-19, to explore if and how educational change might be possible. Drawing on primary source analysis of Missouri education policy, I argue that influenza-related policy talk was practically non-existent, and the talk that was present mainly focused on how the flu disrupted, but not changed, school operations. Without policy talk advocating for change, policy action the years following the influenza pandemic continued along the lines of Progressive reforms that were already …

The Trilemma Of 2020: Understanding Higher Education’S Fall 2020 Reopening Decision Amidst The Covid Crisis, Rob Weitz, Viswa Viswanathan, David Rosenthal

American Business Review

In the summer of 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to spread around the world, institutions of higher education were faced with three options in terms of their teaching modality for fall 2020: resume in-person education, switch to online delivery, or adopt a hybrid approach. This observational research study aims to tease out the variables that explain the decisions announced in summer 2020 by various colleges and universities in the United States for their planned instruction for fall 2020. We propose and test eight hypotheses related to the decision. The study found statistical confirmation that universities with higher financial stability …

Teacher Stress In The Current Covid-19 Pandemic, Allison H. Anderson

Journal of Research Initiatives

The Covid-19 infection drastically altered the 2019-2020 school year, shortening and preventing its completion. As a result, we do not know if the school will return as normal in the fall or not. This uncertainty causes stress for parents, students, and teachers. We need to recognize these stresses and develop a strategy to deal with them.

Leaning Into The Disposition Of Hope: Reflections From A Teacher Educator, Michelle C. Hughes Dr.

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

Teaching is multifaceted work that must foster safety, structure, comfort, and connection for K-12 students (Noddings,1984; Shotsberger & Freytag, 2020; Tomlinson, 2019). During the Covid-19 pandemic, a teacher's presence has necessitated fostering an even greater sense of stability and hope for and in K-12 students. With complex challenges such as teaching remotely and responding to students' mental health needs, pre-service and veteran teachers alike must cultivate hope in professional practice more than ever before. Hughes explores the disposition of hope, offering educators five practical suggestions to seek and share hope, use hope-filled language, find hope in community, and view times …

Navigating Leadership In Academia Through A Crisis, Domenick Pinto

School of Computer Science & Engineering Faculty Publications

Academic leadership is a fast-paced ever changing entity. When you add an unexpected global pandemic to the mix, it changes academic life beyond anyone's wildest dreams. In this workshop I hope to share how I and my colleagues handled the pandemic and invite the participants to share their experiences. Let's learn from one another!

Re-Entering Schools After The Pandemic: An Analysis Of Helping Children After A Disaster, Amy L. Pahl

The Interactive Journal of Global Leadership and Learning

Modern schools have not had experience dealing with a pandemic, and as such, there is no pattern to follow when working with students as they re-enter the school system. Pahl draws comparisons from research on disaster recovery and lays out a plan for re-entering schools post-pandemic. The plan takes trauma into account while focusing on resiliency, utilizing student input and creating opportunities to review strengths and supports over time.

Pandemic Policy Preparedness: Unintentional Student Discrimination In The Wake Of Covid-19, Jerry Burkett, Danielle Reynolds

School Leadership Review

Educational leadership requires a set of skills and practices that are shaped by professional ethics. Professional ethics are the dynamics of both personal and professional ethics and requires educational leaders to understand how these ethical codes drive interactions and decisions especially in difficult situations (Shapiro & Stefkovich, 2016). Anderson (2014) argues that educational leaders may not have the deeper understanding of social justice necessary to “better scholarship, but also to better practice” (pp. x) due to the current expectations of leaders including increasing test scores and accountability ratings and addressing social and emotional learning.

Adding to the current expectations of …

Gather Us In: Building Meaningful Relationships In Catholic Schools Amid A Covid-19 Context, Ronald D. Fussell Edd

Journal of Catholic Education

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Catholic schools in the United States pivoted from traditional learning to a remote learning model to maintain continuity of instruction for students. This pivot has served as a catalyst for academic innovation in many Catholic schools. As Catholic schools turn their attention to the possibility of remote learning in the fall of 2020, it is important now to consider how remote learning impacts interpersonal relationships within the school community. This reflective essay examines implications of relationship building in a remote learning context using Cook and Simonds's (2011) framework for relationships for Catholic schools as a lens. …

Subsidiarity & Innovation During The Pandemic, Timothy D. Uhl

Journal of Catholic Education

As the pandemic has unfolded, schools have been faced with challenges in finance, human resources, and curriculum, to name only a few. A system founded on subsidiarity provides an uneven capacity for each school. A system founded on allowing each school to make its own decisions has provided uneven results.

Redesign Resiliency During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Jay Scott

Educational Considerations

Voices from a state-wide school redesign initiative share their challenges and successes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kansans Can: Redesigning Education In Kansas, Randy Watson

Educational Considerations

In fall 2014, the Kansas State Board of Education charged me with gathering information from Kansans as to what they wanted in their school system. After months of studying the research conducted from listening tours and matching that data to current educational research, the State Board of Education launched a new vision for education in October 2015.

This vision had clear metrics for success – Lead the World. Those metrics were all focused on a single point of obtainment – the Success of Each Student. The vision was clear, difficult to achieve, compelling and viewed attainable by 2026. In fall …

Post-Pandemic To Post-Secondary Success, John Heim

Educational Considerations

Ten years ago, the Kansas Association of School Boards Board of Directors authorized a statewide research project to determine how Kansans felt about their public schools. Local boards were encouraged to bring their communities together and ask them some basic questions about what they like and dislike about education in Kansas. One hundred districts ranging in size from Blue Valley to Republic County facilitated community meetings. Over 1,000 Kansans participated and the most commonly reported concern reported was that there was too much emphasis on testing.

With the new “Kansans Can” vision, local districts were asked to look beyond indicators …