All Aboard: The Role of School Boards After COVID-19

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 8
  In Roundtable Session: The "Distance" Between Us: COVID-19 and the Politics of Education During a Pandemic

Abstract

The impact of Covid-19 on the educational space in the United States forced students, guardians, staff, and administrators to enact their roles in reimagined ways. The pandemic also had an impact on the nation’s local educational policy-makers, school board members. Through interviews with two Missouri school districts’ school board members, we will uncover what impact Covid-19 had in altering how these board members enacted their roles during the 2020 – 2021 academic year; and how this change of role enactment impacted their decision-making. This analysis will supply further information on how school board members enact their role as individuals and provide insights into how they enact their roles during moments of natural disasters like a pandemic.

Authors

• Blake Willoughby, University of Missouri

• Se Woong Lee, University of Missouri - Columbia

• Daebum Jung, Jinju Health College