“We Could Only Plan So Much Because Things Were Changing So Quickly”: COVID-19 and its Impacts on High School Education
Date
2023-05
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic brought about many changes and exposed vulnerabilities among varying populations both in the United States and globally. The event has required the need for adaptation and recovery efforts, especially in education. The majority of schools around the nation shut down quickly in March 2020 in response to COVID, forcing many teachers and administrators to adapt to a “work-from-home” environment promptly. Disparities arose when the needs of students did not match what they had grown accustomed to in past years with face-to-face instruction. Research from the summer of 2021 identified vulnerable populations and groups within a Delaware school district and weaknesses with the transition from online to in-person. Continuing with this investigation, I conducted interviews with teachers and administrators from a public high school in Delaware to gain an understanding of the challenges, adaptations, and modifications that were in place as instruction returned to in-person during the 2021-2022 school year. From these interviews, I was able to assess the challenges students experienced as a result of the pandemic, and how these needs were addressed. Teachers were compelled to consider students’ needs individually and adapt their lessons to better fit those emerging needs. While many of these strategies were able to help teachers instruct their students throughout the school year, vulnerabilities arose and some students were left behind. Many teachers were faced with burnout and stress as they returned to in-person instruction and new challenges in expectations and engagement arose. The results of this study provide insight into the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic affected students’ and teachers’ abilities within schools. As the pandemic exacerbated the challenges many students in the school had already routinely experienced, such as economic disadvantages, lack of technological access, language barriers, and intersectionality, it forced educators to consider these vulnerabilities in ways they may not have had before in the classroom. Teachers were made to acknowledge and attempt to work past these issues to accommodate their students and reach them via remote and hybrid learning.