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.”