"I Have More Students With More Needs": Teacher Sensemaking of Students' Needs During COVID

• In Event: AERA Virtual Poster Session 9
  In Poster Session: Teachers' Perspectives and Experiences

Abstract

Teaching decisions have been described as the fundamental link between complex, real-time teaching situations and practical actions in classrooms. The 2020-2021 school year, influenced significantly by the COVID-19 pandemic, offered a unique opportunity to examine how teachers interpret and respond to student needs. This qualitative comparative case study examined how teachers make sense of student needs in light of the data disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of the study identified teacher use of constructs for student grouping, the differing rational and intuitive data employed in forming constructs, and the equity implications of the reliance on intuitive data for making sense of student needs.

Authors

• Kim Evert, Middle Tennessee State University

• Angela Hooser, Middle Tennessee State University

• Kevin Scott Krahenbuhl, Middle Tennessee State University

• Lori Klukowski, Middle Tennessee State University