Equity for Urban Students: Novice Teachers' Efforts to Virtually Impact Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Urban schools face complex issues related to the ways in which problems within families and communities shape students’ abilities to learn and because of institutionalized, structural barriers which limit access and opportunities for underserved children (Gadsen & Dixon-Roman, 2017). In spring 2020, educators encountered additional challenges of moving to remote learning, of supporting and engaging students and families virtually or remotely, and of dealing with concerns over students who did not log in or submit work (Kurtz, 2020). Papers in this session examine the experiences of novice teachers across urban school districts as they strove within the virtual environment to meet the needs of underserved students with specialized learning needs and to use culturally responsive pedagogy.

Sub Unit

• Division C - Learning and Instruction / Division C - Section 3b: Technology-Based Environments

Chair

• Joyce E. Many, Georgia State University

Papers

• Can Virtual Instruction Be Culturally Responsive? Novice Urban Teachers' Pedagogy When Teaching Online - Ruchi Bhatnagar, Georgia State University

• Using Cultural Responsiveness to Promote Access in the Virtual Setting - Christal Walker, Georgia State University; Diane M. Truscott, Georgia State University

• Strategies of ESOL Educators to Meet English Language Learners' Needs in a Digital Setting - Joyce E. Many, Georgia State University; Taylor Wall, Georgia State University

• Novice Special Education Teachers' Efforts to Impact Student Learning During COVID-19 - Susan Belmonte, Georgia State University

• Factors Shaping, Enhancing, and Thwarting Urban Educators' Instruction in the Virtual Environment - Carla Lynn Tanguay, Georgia State University; Joyce E. Many, Georgia State University

Discussant

• Erica D. McCray, University of Florida