Learning Lessons: U.S. Public High Schools and the COVID-19 Pandemic in Spring 2020

Learning Lessons: U.S. Public High Schools and the COVID-19 Pandemic in Spring 2020

A UCLA Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access national survey of high school principals looking at the response of educators to COVID-19 pressures.

BY JOHN MCDONALD

In early March of 2020, the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the closure of public schools across the United States. As the virus surged, with little warning and little opportunity for planning, principals and teachers and school staff acted with urgency to close campuses and classrooms and moved quickly from in-person to remote learning for students. In the midst of this almost unprecedented challenge, educators across the nation stepped up to find ways to offer students instruction, as well as to provide meals, counseling, extracurricular activities, and other critical services.

In a first look at how COVID-19 impacted American high schools last spring, the UCLA Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access has conducted a national survey of high school principals looking at the response of educators in those difficult days. Their work finds schools stepping up strongly to respond to the needs of students confronted by illness, economic insecurity and even death, but challenged by the pervasive inequities that have for too long undermined schools and communities.

“The results of our survey make two things very clear,” said John Rogers, education professor and director of the UCLA Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access. “Public schools have responded heroically, playing a critical role in supporting students and sustaining communities threatened by the deadly virus and economic shutdown. But the inequities that have long plagued our schools have been exacerbated by the pandemic, impeding learning for those students in communities already greatly challenged by economic and social inequalities.”

Public schools have responded heroically, playing a critical role in supporting students and sustaining communities threatened by the deadly virus and economic shutdown. But the inequities that have long plagued our schools have been exacerbated by the pandemic, impeding learning for those students in communities already greatly challenged by economic and social inequalities.

The survey, Learning Lessons: U.S. Public High Schools and the COVID-19 Pandemic in Spring 2020, reports the responses of a nationally representative sample of 344 high school principals questioned in May and June 2020 after schools closed campuses and transitioned to distance learning amid the pandemic.

Throughout Spring 2020, states such as New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Louisiana felt the full brunt of the pandemic. One Massachusetts principal described the “intensity of the problems we’ve faced ... Death. Loss of jobs. Anxiety. Depression.” Nancy Anderson, a principal in suburban New Jersey, noted that her students had “suffered losses … neighbors dying … people afflicted.” While rates of infection in spring were dramatically lower in some other states, the effects of the economic dislocation created by the national lockdown were experienced widely. James Wilson, the principal of a socioeconomically diverse school in urban Washington, remembered “seeing families thrust into poverty so quickly and waiting in food lines.” Sofia De Leon, the principal of a high-poverty school in California, recounted: “As the weeks go on, I know that my students’ lives and well-being have become more and more precarious. There are some social safety nets, but not nearly enough and the disparity is palpable.”

Educators stepped up to meet the needs of students and their families. In the survey, 59 percent of principals who responded said they had helped students and families access and navigate health services. More than 9 in 10 (92%) provided meals. Eighty percent provided access to mental health counseling. Fifty percent said they provided support to students experiencing housing insecurity or homelessness. Almost a third of principals provided financial support to students and their families. Most poignantly, 43 percent of principals reported providing support for students who experienced death in their families.

“These findings underscore the critical role schools play in their communities,” Rogers said. “More than twothirds of principals said their school or district provided meals to family members of students who were not enrolled in the school. And while principals of almost all schools provided meals to students, nearly half of principals of high-poverty schools provided meals to more students.”

59% OF PRINCIPALS HELPED STUDENTS AND FAMILIES ACCESS AND NAVIGATE HEALTH SERVICES.

92% OF PRINCIPALS PROVIDED MEALS.

80% OF PRINCIPALS PROVIDED ACCESS TO MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELING.

43% OF PRINCIPALS REPORTED PROVIDING SUPPORT FOR STUDENTS WHO EXPERIENCED DEATH IN THEIR FAMILIES.

32% OF PRINCIPALS REPORTED THAT ALL THEIR TEACHERS HAD THE NECESSARY TECHNOLOGY WHEN THEIR SCHOOL TRANSITIONED.

17% OF PRINCIPALS INDICATED THAT ALL OF THEIR STAFF—TEACHERS, COUNSELORS, PSYCHOLOGISTS, SOCIAL WORKERS, AND CLERICAL SUPPORT—WERE READY.

SCHOOLS WITH HIGH LEVELS OF POVERTY WERE MORE THAN 8x AS LIKELY TO EXPERIENCE A SEVERE SHORTAGE OF TECHNOLOGY AT THE TIME OF TRANSITION—AT LEAST HALF OF THEIR STUDENTS LACKED THE NECESSARY TECHNOLOGY.

Inequities in Readiness and Access

One in five schools moved to remote instruction the very next day after closing for in-person instruction. But the move to remote learning was not the same for all schools and students. Inequality in learning opportunities was exacerbated with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The digital divide was a prime cause.

Many educators and key staff struggled to move online in the early days of the transition. Online communication was a challenge, with many principals reporting they had never used Zoom or other technologies for video conferencing or online communications with faculty or staff or with students and parents before the pandemic. Staff members also lacked the necessary hardware or connectivity to support remote instruction. Only one-third (32%) of principals reported that all their teachers had the necessary technology when their school transitioned. Only 17 percent of principals indicated that all of their staff— teachers, counselors, psychologists, social workers, and clerical support— were ready. These gaps in readiness were most commonly found in schools with high rates of poverty and in schools in rural areas. Schools with low rates of poverty were more than three times as likely (25% to 8%) as schools with high rates of poverty to have all staff supplied with necessary technology when they transitioned to remote instruction.

These gaps in readiness were most commonly found in schools with high rates of poverty and in schools in rural areas.

In schools that entered the pandemic with a strong technological infrastructure, educators and students were able to draw upon previous experience to support remote instruction. For principals like George Taylor in Texas and Martina Hernandez in Arizona, members of their school community were familiar with platforms like “Google Classroom” and “Schoology.” Ian Brown, a principal in suburban Indiana, reported that his school was “ahead of the curve with preparation for a situation like COVID,” because it had dedicated almost all of its professional development time for six years to train teachers in digital learning.

High-poverty schools and rural schools struggled during the transition. Carol Stevens, a principal at a school in rural Louisiana where many families lack internet or cell phone coverage, said that as the school transitioned to remote instruction her staff was “totally unprepared” to provide “distance learning for all students.” Her teachers “had to learn ‘on the fly’.”

Principals also reported great variability in student access to the technology hardware and connectivity needed to participate in learning from home. Schools with high levels of poverty were more than 8 times (34% to 4%) as likely to experience a severe shortage of technology at the time of transition—at least half of their students lacked the necessary technology. Schools with high levels of poverty worked to provide technology to the most students, and principals in these schools spent more time distributing and troubleshooting technology than principals in other schools.

After several weeks into the transition to remote instruction, a strong majority of principals reported that almost all (95% or more) of their students had access to the necessary technology. Yet even after these efforts, just one quarter (26%) of principals could say that all of their students had the necessary technology for remote learning— and this figure was much lower in highpoverty schools.

Significant Implications for Educational Equity

One of the key questions considered was whether a growing number of students fell behind during remote learning, and was this more likely to occur in particular school communities. The answer is it did. The survey makes clear that the impact of remote instruction has significant implications for educational equity. Many high schools had difficulty providing necessary supplementary services for English Learners and Special Education students. More than 40 percent of all principals reported that their school did not supply English Learners with instructional materials—either online or in print packets—in their home language. And a majority of principals reported that their school did not provide the same quality of services for students with disabilities (such as occupational therapy or counseling) as prior to the pandemic.

In 43 percent of schools, more than a quarter of students were unable to keep up with assignments during remote instruction. This problem was far more likely to occur in high-poverty schools than in low-poverty schools, with two-thirds (67%) of students in schools with high poverty rates falling behind.

Even in those schools that provided students with materials in their home language, English Learners often did not benefit from the informal peer-to-peer conversations that characterize the best classrooms. Suzanne Davis, a principal in California, said that her school found “irrefutable patterns that distance learning doesn’t work for our language learners.” While almost all principals reported that teachers at their schools are working with Special Education students toward their IEP goals, some acknowledged that their teachers were not tracking students’ progress toward these goals or making accommodations for online teaching.

Two-thirds of principals reported that fewer students than prior to the pandemic were able to keep up with their assigned work. In 43 percent of schools, more than a quarter of students were unable to keep up with assignments during remote instruction. This problem was far more likely to occur in high-poverty schools than in low-poverty schools, with two-thirds (67%) of students in schools with high poverty rates falling behind.

And while some students fell behind, others ceased participating at all during remote instruction. Nearly half of principals reported that they have had difficulty maintaining contact with at least 10 percent of their students. In some instances, principals were not able to establish any contact with a subset of their student body. Principals in high-poverty schools were several times more likely than principals in low-poverty schools to report difficulties contacting large numbers of students.

“Our research reveals exceptional efforts by school principals across the country, but also makes clear that the inequities confronting schools amid the pandemic map directly onto the preexisting social inequalities that unfairly affect our most vulnerable students,” Rogers said. “As we have moved to remote instruction, economically disadvantaged communities have been disproportionately impacted.”

“To their great credit, schools have played a strong role in the nation’s response to the pandemic,” Rogers said. “But many principals said they do not want to return to schools as they were. They see the COVID-19 crisis as an opportunity to reset and reflect on values and beliefs, to shift the way students are taught or even dismantle broken systems in a broader reinvention of teaching and learning.

“Creating those public schools will require a well-functioning civil society. Only by nurturing a shared public commitment to the well-being and development of all young people, will we ensure that public schools can fulfill their important role.”

Learning Lessons: U.S. Public High Schools and the COVID-19 Pandemic in Spring 2020 is a project of the UCLA Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access at the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies. The full report of the survey findings is available online at https://idea.gseis.ucla.edu/publications/ learning-lessons-us-public-high-schoolsand-the-covid-19-pandemic/

*All names of school principals are pseudonyms.