The COVID Effect: Rethinking Learning, Data Systems, and Truth for Justice

Session Type: Invited Speaker Session

Abstract

Studying the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on students and schools and the opportunities it provides for authentic change is the kind of consequential research that can have real effects on public policy and practice. This research, and the calls it makes for better data and systems to inform educational service delivery, asks uncomfortable questions about what was done, what should have been done, and how we can learn from this experience to construct a more equitable future. Session researchers will push boundaries of ideas, methods and data by providing a rigorous assessment of student academic outcomes, enrollment, school climate and social-emotional outcomes during and after the pandemic. Studies include a mix of quantitative and qualitative findings that probe the effects of the virus, economic uncertainty, health impacts, school closures, and online learning on classroom teachers, school counselors, school psychologists, principals and district administrators. Their experiences, along with rigorous analysis of survey and administrative data, will uncover truths around pandemic response and our current condition. Finally, scholars will discuss recommendations for policy and practice as we move forward.

Sub Unit

• AERA Presidential Session

Chair

• Tyrone C. Howard, University of California - Los Angeles

Papers

• School Enrollment Patterns Impacted by COVID as the Canary in the Coal Mine - Thomas S. Dee, Stanford University

• Rethinking Student Learning Outcomes in Response to COVID: Seeking New Assessment Truths - Andrew Ho, Harvard University; Lucrecia Santibanez, University of California - Los Angeles

• School Climate Data Pre- and Post-COVID: Student and Educator Perspectives in Pursuit of Education Justice - Lucrecia Santibanez, University of California - Los Angeles; Joseph P. Bishop, University of California - Los Angeles

• The Role of Relationship-Based Individualized Instruction, Scaling Frameworks, and Practices in Response to the Pandemic - Susanna Loeb, Stanford University

Discussant

• Janelle T. Scott, University of California - Berkeley