School Experiences and Stress in Kindergarten-aged Children, Parents, and Teachers during the COVID-19 Pandemic

• In Event: Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Topic - Solicited Content: COVID-19 Related

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent public health measures introduced have introduced many challenges for families. Data from June 2020 reveals worsening mental health for parents and behavioral health for their children in the United States, particularly for parents of very young children (Patrick et al., 2020). One challenge for many families is the loss of childcare and in-person schooling starting in March 2020. As states and school districts begin to make decisions about reopening schools, one important consideration is student and family well-being (Dibner, Schweingruber, & Christakis, 2020). The current pre-registration study serves two purposes. First, descriptive data are being collected to better understand parent and teacher experiences with online and in-person kindergarten in the fall semester of 2020. Second, the study will describe parent and teacher stressors and perceptions of child stress related to schooling in across both contexts.
Currently, data collection is underway in six kindergarten classrooms from six different areas across a south central state. Teachers and families of children in their classrooms are completing surveys using Qualtrics. Three teachers are teaching in-person, and three teachers are teaching virtually. Kindergarten classrooms vary across urban, suburban, and rural settings. Measures include demographic information about teachers and families. Teacher questionnaires include items about classroom format, COVID-19 precautions, teacher stress, and perception of child experiences across the classroom. Family questionnaires for virtual placements include items about the home-learning environment and interaction with the virtual classroom and teacher. Family questionnaires for families with in-person kindergarten placements include items about perception of classroom environment and family involvement with the classroom. Both family questionnaires include items about parent stress regarding schooling, satisfaction, and concerns about schooling. They also include items of parent report of child adjustment, attitudes about school, and child learning.
Data collection will continue through early November 2020. Due to the nature of the project, all analyses and discussion will be complete by December 2020. Frequencies and descriptive statistics will be used to describe learning environments across virtual and in-person classrooms. Further, descriptive statistics will be used to describe the attitudes and types of stress across teachers, parents, and perceived experiences of children. Correlations and t-tests will be used to examine the relation of school factors to family and child stress ratings.
Findings from this study will contribute to understanding the experiences of teachers, children, and families as school systems and individual kindergarten classrooms attempt to respond to COVID-19. Discussion will include breakdown of findings across contexts and include implications for future policy and practice in the face of an ongoing pandemic. Specific recommendations for future work based on this pilot data will also be discussed.

Authors

• Ashley Kimble, Oklahoma State University - Stillwater
  Presenting Author

• Ashtyn Fox, Oklahoma State University - Stillwater
  Non-Presenting Author