Responding to a Global Pandemic: The Role of K–12 Science Teachers

• In Event: National Studies on COVID-19's Effects on K–12 STEM Education Reported by Teachers, Students, and Families

Abstract

Research conducted following the 2014 Ebola outbreak suggests that when a global health crisis emerges, students turn to their science teachers for information and, at times, reassurance (Author A et al., 2017). Given that roughly 50 million K–12 students interact with a science teacher daily or almost daily, these teachers are a critical part of the nation’s response to COVID-19, which will continue well into the 2020–21 school year.

Researchers at Horizon Research, Inc. (HRI) are collecting data from a nationally representative sample of K–12 science teachers to understand their decision making and resulting instruction in light of COVID-19. Specifically, the study is addressing these research questions: (1) What factors influence whether and how science teachers address COVID-19 in their instruction? (2) How have science teachers adapted their teaching in response to COVID-19, whether viruses and disease transmission are part of their curriculum or not? (3) Where do K–12 teachers of science get information about COVID-19, and what types of resources do they find most useful?

Survey data collection closed in mid-July with just over 2,300 responses, and data analysis has just begun. A full analysis will be complete well before the Orlando meeting, but some patterns are already clear. Among them, the majority of science teachers taught about COVID-19 during the spring of 2020, and although the largest proportion of those who taught about the virus were life science teachers (roughly 40 percent), teachers of other science disciplines also took up the topic, including physical, Earth, and environmental science teachers. Additionally, over 80 percent reported that their students asked questions about COVID-19 before they began addressing it. Particularly interesting, the dominant instructional strategy utilized when teaching about COVID-19 was teachers answering the questions students brought to class about COVID-19, contrasting sharply with data on science instruction in the U.S. generally (Author A et al., 2018). Perhaps not surprising, the two most frequently addressed topics were how the virus is transmitted and how to prevent transmission. Both support the hypothesis that science teachers function as public health educators during such crises.
The survey also collected data on factors that influenced teachers’ instructional decisions related to COVID-19, which will be analyzed using the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 2012) as a framework. Further, all survey data will be analyzed to explore differences and possible inequities by race/ethnicity, poverty level, and location.

Authors

• Patrick Sean Smith, Horizon Research, Inc.

• Peggy Trygstad, Horizon Research, Inc.