Crisis, Collaboration, and Community: How Rural District Leaders Responded to the COVID-19 Pandemic

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session Six
  In Roundtable Session: COVID-19 Reactions and Responses in Rural Schools (Table 7)

Abstract

This paper examines leadership and decision-making processes in rural education during the first year of the COVID-19 crisis. We focus on leaders’ critical decisions and crisis coordination to better understand how educational context and place intersect with leadership styles and strategies. Using qualitative interview data, our findings suggest rural leaders are uniquely well-equipped to quickly engage in collaborative leadership to meet the needs of students with few resources. This paper highlights the ways in which education policy is designed through an urban lens and tends to privilege urban school systems and contributes to a growing body of literature emphasizing the benefits and advantages of rural education and rural leadership.

Authors

• Hanora Tracy, Tulane University
  Presenting Author

• Annie Hemphill, Education Northwest
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sheneka M. Williams, Michigan State University
  Non-Presenting Author