Research Article
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Education During the Pandemic in the U.S.

Year 2023, , 15 - 24, 30.06.2023
https://doi.org/10.25233/ijlel.1218779

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic that emerged in the U.S. in spring of 2020 significantly impacted all aspects of American culture. This paper examines the specific impact on education, both PK-12 and higher education. It examines financial issues, personal mental health-related concerns, and Covid-19’s effect on student learning. By examining multiple surveys, governmental data, current scholarship and popular media, the analysis concludes that four key themes define the Covid-19 pandemic for education – being embattled, confounding uncertainty, emergent responses, and potential positives.

References

  • AAUP (2021). The annual report on the economic status of the profession, 2020-21. The American Association of University Professors, July, 2021. Retrieved from https://www.aaup.org/file/AAUP_ARES_2020-21.pdf
  • Active Minds Survey (2020). Student mental health survey. Retrieved from https://www.activeminds.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Student-Mental-Health-Data-Sheet-Fall-2020-1.pdf
  • American Psychological Association (2020). Stress in America 2020: A national mental health crisis. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2020/sia-mental-health-crisis.pdf
  • Aristovnik, A.; Keržič, D.; Ravšelj, D.; Tomaževič, N.; Umek, L. (2020). Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on life of higher education students: A global perspective. Sustainability, 12, 8438. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.3390/su12208438
  • Bailey, D., Duncan, G.J., Murname, R.J. & Yeung, N.A. (2021). Achievement gaps in the wake of covid-19. Educational Researcher, 50(5) 266-275. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X211011237
  • Bauman, D. (2021). A brutal tally: Higher ed lost 650,000 jobs last year. The Chronicle of Higher Education, February 5, 2021. Retrieved from https://www.chronicle.com/article/a-brutal-tally-higher-ed-lost-650-000-jobs-last-year
  • Beach, B., Clay, K., & Saavedra, M.H. (April, 2020). The 1918 Influenza pandemic and its lessons for Covid-19. National Bureau for Economic Research. NBER Working Paper Series. Retrieved from https://www.nber.org/papers/w27673
  • Behn, R.D. (1980). Leadership for cut-back management: The use of corporate strategy. Public Administrative Review, 40, 613-620.
  • Branswell, H. (September 20, 2021). Covid-19 overtakes 1918 Spanish flu as deadliest disease in American history. STAT. Retrieved from https://www.statnews.com/2021/09/20/covid-19-set-to-overtake-1918-spanish-flu-as-deadliest-disease-in-american-history/
  • Burns, E. (2015). 1920: The year that made the decade roar. Berkeley, CA: Pegasus Books.
  • Bushweller, K. & Lloyd, S.C. (2021). How the pandemic is shaping K-12 education (in charts). Educational Week. Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/leadership/how-the-pandemic-is-shaping-k-12-education-in-charts/2021/04
  • CDC Foundation (2021). Mental health impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on teachers and parents of K-12 students. Retrieved from https://www.cdcfoundation.org/mental-health-triangulated-report?inline.
  • Chaturvedi, K., Vishwakarma, D.K., & Singh, N. (2021). Covid-19 and its impact on education, social life and mental health of students: A survey. Children and Youth Review Series, 121, 1-6. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105866
  • Chronicle of Higher Education (2021). Burned out and overburdened: How to support the faculty. Washington, D.C.: The Chronicle of higher Education.
  • Course Hero (2020). Faculty wellness and careers. Course Hero (November 18, 2020). Retrieved from https://www.coursehero.com/blog/faculty-wellness-research/
  • Dennon, A. (2021). Over 9 in 10 college students report mental health impacts from covid-19. Best Colleges. Retrieved from https://www.bestcolleges.com/research/college-mental-health-impacts-from-covid-19/
  • De Smet, A., Dowling, B., Mugayar-Baldocchi, M. & Schaninger, B. (September, 2021). Great attrition or great ATTRACTION? The choice is yours. McKinsey Quarterly, Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/great-attrition-or-great-attraction-the-choice-is-yours.
  • Dolan, B. (2020). Unmasking history: Who was behind the anti-mask league protests during the 1918 influenza epidemic in San Francisco? Perspectives in Humanities, 5(19), 1-23.
  • Dorn, E., Hancock, B., Sarakatsannis, J. & Viruleg, E. (2021). Covid-19 and education: The lingering effects of unfinished learning. McKinsey & Company. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/education/our-insights/covid-19-and-education-the-lingering-effects-of-unfinished-learning#
  • EdWeek Research Center (2021). Student mental health during the pandemic: Educator and teen perspectives. Education Week and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Retrieved from https://epe.brightspotcdn.com/b1/6f/d090eb334f3da041da230c14999f/student-mental-health-edweek-research-center-6.15.21.pdf
  • Finley, A. (2021). Campus challenges and strategic priorities in a time of change: A national survey of campus stakeholders. Washington D.C.: Association of American Colleges and Universities. https://www.aacu.org/campus-challenges-and-strategic-priorities-time-change
  • Friga, P.N. (2021). How much has covid cost colleges? $183 billion. Chronicle of Higher Education, February 5, 2021. Retrieved from https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-to-fight-covids-financial-crush
  • Garcia, E. & Weiss, E. (2020). Covid-19 and student performance, equity, and U.S. education policy: lessons from pre-pandemic research to inform relief, recovery, and rebuilding. Washington, DC: Economic Policy Institute. Retrieved from https://files.epi.org/pdf/205622.pdf
  • Goldberg, E. (2021). As pandemic upends teaching, fewer students want to pursue it. The New York Times, March 27, 2021. Retrieved from As Pandemic Upends Teaching, Fewer Students Want to Pursue It - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
  • Golberstein, E., Wen, H, & Miller, B.F. (2020). Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) and mental health for children and adolescents. JAMA Pediatrics, 174(9), 819-820. Retrieved from https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2764730
  • Grant, A. (April 19, 2021). There’s a name for the blah you’re feeling: It’s called languishing. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/19/well/mind/covid-mental-health-languishing.html
  • James, E.H. & Wooten, L.P. (2005). Leadership as (un)usual: How to display competence in times of crisis. Organizational Dynamics, 34(2), 141-152.
  • Keyes, C.L.M. (2002). The Mental health continuum: From languishing to flourishing in life. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 43(2), 207-222.
  • Klebs, S., Fishman, R., Nguyen, S. & Hiler, T. (2021). One year later: Covid-19s impact on current and future college students. Third Way, (June 29, 2021). Retrieved from http://thirdway.imgix.net/pdfs/one-year-later-covid-19s-impact-on-current-and-future-college-students.pdf
  • Kufeld, M., Soland, J., Tarasawa, B., Johnson, A., Ruzek, E. & Liu, J. (2020). Projecting the potential impacts of Covid-19 school closures on academic achievement. EdWorkingPaper: 20-226. Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/cdrv-yw05.
  • Melin, A. & Egkolfopoulou, M. (2021). Employees are quitting instead of giving up working from home. Bloomberg Wealth (June 1, 2021). Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-01/return-to-office-employees-are-quitting-instead-of-giving-up-work-from-home#:~:text=A%20May%20survey%20of%201%2C000,on%20behalf%20of%20Bloomberg%20News.
  • National Student Clearinghouse (2021) Covid-19: Stay informed with the latest enrollment information. Retrieved from https://nscresearchcenter.org/stay-informed/
  • Office of Civil Rights (2021). Education in a pandemic: The disparate impacts of Covid-19 on American students. Office of Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/20210608-impacts-of-covid19.pdf
  • Our World Data (2021). Statistics and research: Coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccinations. Retrieved from https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations
  • Pearson, C.H. & Clair, J.A. (1998). Reframing crisis management. The Academy of Management Review, 23(1), 59-76.
  • Petit, E. (2021). AAUP survey spells bad news for faculty wages amid pandemic. The Chronicle of Higher Education (April 12, 2021). Retrieved from https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/live-coronavirus-updates/aaup-survey-spells-bad-news-for-faculty-wages-amid-pandemic
  • Petit, E. (2021a). Faculty members are suffering burnout: These strategies could help. The Chronicle of Higher Education (February 25, 2021). Retrieved from https://www.chronicle.com/article/faculty-members-are-suffering-burnout-so-some-colleges-have-used-these-strategies-to-help
  • Potter, L., Parr, A., Pekel, K., Gibbons, K., Schantz, J., & Evenson, A. (2021). Minnesota Safe Learning Survey. Comprehensive Center Network (CCNetwork). Region 10. Retrieved from https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XtoeDLUfcrZ5TR9WFISSAB4JbMJkfE9m/view
  • Renaissance (2021). How kids are performing: Tracking the school-year impact of covid-19 on reading and mathematics achievement. Wisconsin Rapids, WI: Renaissance learning, Inc.
  • Son, C., Hegde, S., BEng, Smith, A., Wang, X, & Sasangohar, F. (2020). Effects of covid-19 on college students’ mental health in the United States: Interview survey study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(9), Retrieved from https://www.jmir.org/2020/9/e21279
  • Teo, W.L., Lee, M. & Lim, W.S. (2017). The relational activation of resilience model: How leadership activates resilience in an organizational climate. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 25, 136-147.
  • The Steve Fund (2020). Adapting and innovating to promote mental health and emotional wellbeing of young people of color: Covid-19 and beyond. The Steve Fund (Fall, 2020). Retrieved from https://www.stevefund.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/CRISIS-RESPONSE-TASK-FORCE-STEVE-FUND-REPORT.pdf.
  • Tyack, David B. & Cuban, Larry (1997). Tinkering towards utopia: A century of public school reform. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  • Yeyati, E.L. & Filippini, F. (June, 2021). Social and economic impact of Covid-19. Global and Economic Development at Brookings. Brookings Global Working paper #158.
  • Veer, I.M et al. (2021). Psycho-social factors associated with mental health resilience in the corona lockdown. Translational Psychiatry, 11(67), 1-11. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-020-01150-4
  • The World Bank (June 8, 2020). The global economic outlook during the covid-19 pandemic: A changed world. Retrieved from https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2020/06/08/the-global-economic-outlook-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-a-changed-world
  • Worldometer (November 24, 2021). Coronavirus Death Toll. Retrieved from https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-death-toll/
Year 2023, , 15 - 24, 30.06.2023
https://doi.org/10.25233/ijlel.1218779

Abstract

References

  • AAUP (2021). The annual report on the economic status of the profession, 2020-21. The American Association of University Professors, July, 2021. Retrieved from https://www.aaup.org/file/AAUP_ARES_2020-21.pdf
  • Active Minds Survey (2020). Student mental health survey. Retrieved from https://www.activeminds.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Student-Mental-Health-Data-Sheet-Fall-2020-1.pdf
  • American Psychological Association (2020). Stress in America 2020: A national mental health crisis. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2020/sia-mental-health-crisis.pdf
  • Aristovnik, A.; Keržič, D.; Ravšelj, D.; Tomaževič, N.; Umek, L. (2020). Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on life of higher education students: A global perspective. Sustainability, 12, 8438. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.3390/su12208438
  • Bailey, D., Duncan, G.J., Murname, R.J. & Yeung, N.A. (2021). Achievement gaps in the wake of covid-19. Educational Researcher, 50(5) 266-275. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X211011237
  • Bauman, D. (2021). A brutal tally: Higher ed lost 650,000 jobs last year. The Chronicle of Higher Education, February 5, 2021. Retrieved from https://www.chronicle.com/article/a-brutal-tally-higher-ed-lost-650-000-jobs-last-year
  • Beach, B., Clay, K., & Saavedra, M.H. (April, 2020). The 1918 Influenza pandemic and its lessons for Covid-19. National Bureau for Economic Research. NBER Working Paper Series. Retrieved from https://www.nber.org/papers/w27673
  • Behn, R.D. (1980). Leadership for cut-back management: The use of corporate strategy. Public Administrative Review, 40, 613-620.
  • Branswell, H. (September 20, 2021). Covid-19 overtakes 1918 Spanish flu as deadliest disease in American history. STAT. Retrieved from https://www.statnews.com/2021/09/20/covid-19-set-to-overtake-1918-spanish-flu-as-deadliest-disease-in-american-history/
  • Burns, E. (2015). 1920: The year that made the decade roar. Berkeley, CA: Pegasus Books.
  • Bushweller, K. & Lloyd, S.C. (2021). How the pandemic is shaping K-12 education (in charts). Educational Week. Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/leadership/how-the-pandemic-is-shaping-k-12-education-in-charts/2021/04
  • CDC Foundation (2021). Mental health impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on teachers and parents of K-12 students. Retrieved from https://www.cdcfoundation.org/mental-health-triangulated-report?inline.
  • Chaturvedi, K., Vishwakarma, D.K., & Singh, N. (2021). Covid-19 and its impact on education, social life and mental health of students: A survey. Children and Youth Review Series, 121, 1-6. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105866
  • Chronicle of Higher Education (2021). Burned out and overburdened: How to support the faculty. Washington, D.C.: The Chronicle of higher Education.
  • Course Hero (2020). Faculty wellness and careers. Course Hero (November 18, 2020). Retrieved from https://www.coursehero.com/blog/faculty-wellness-research/
  • Dennon, A. (2021). Over 9 in 10 college students report mental health impacts from covid-19. Best Colleges. Retrieved from https://www.bestcolleges.com/research/college-mental-health-impacts-from-covid-19/
  • De Smet, A., Dowling, B., Mugayar-Baldocchi, M. & Schaninger, B. (September, 2021). Great attrition or great ATTRACTION? The choice is yours. McKinsey Quarterly, Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/great-attrition-or-great-attraction-the-choice-is-yours.
  • Dolan, B. (2020). Unmasking history: Who was behind the anti-mask league protests during the 1918 influenza epidemic in San Francisco? Perspectives in Humanities, 5(19), 1-23.
  • Dorn, E., Hancock, B., Sarakatsannis, J. & Viruleg, E. (2021). Covid-19 and education: The lingering effects of unfinished learning. McKinsey & Company. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/education/our-insights/covid-19-and-education-the-lingering-effects-of-unfinished-learning#
  • EdWeek Research Center (2021). Student mental health during the pandemic: Educator and teen perspectives. Education Week and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Retrieved from https://epe.brightspotcdn.com/b1/6f/d090eb334f3da041da230c14999f/student-mental-health-edweek-research-center-6.15.21.pdf
  • Finley, A. (2021). Campus challenges and strategic priorities in a time of change: A national survey of campus stakeholders. Washington D.C.: Association of American Colleges and Universities. https://www.aacu.org/campus-challenges-and-strategic-priorities-time-change
  • Friga, P.N. (2021). How much has covid cost colleges? $183 billion. Chronicle of Higher Education, February 5, 2021. Retrieved from https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-to-fight-covids-financial-crush
  • Garcia, E. & Weiss, E. (2020). Covid-19 and student performance, equity, and U.S. education policy: lessons from pre-pandemic research to inform relief, recovery, and rebuilding. Washington, DC: Economic Policy Institute. Retrieved from https://files.epi.org/pdf/205622.pdf
  • Goldberg, E. (2021). As pandemic upends teaching, fewer students want to pursue it. The New York Times, March 27, 2021. Retrieved from As Pandemic Upends Teaching, Fewer Students Want to Pursue It - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
  • Golberstein, E., Wen, H, & Miller, B.F. (2020). Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) and mental health for children and adolescents. JAMA Pediatrics, 174(9), 819-820. Retrieved from https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2764730
  • Grant, A. (April 19, 2021). There’s a name for the blah you’re feeling: It’s called languishing. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/19/well/mind/covid-mental-health-languishing.html
  • James, E.H. & Wooten, L.P. (2005). Leadership as (un)usual: How to display competence in times of crisis. Organizational Dynamics, 34(2), 141-152.
  • Keyes, C.L.M. (2002). The Mental health continuum: From languishing to flourishing in life. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 43(2), 207-222.
  • Klebs, S., Fishman, R., Nguyen, S. & Hiler, T. (2021). One year later: Covid-19s impact on current and future college students. Third Way, (June 29, 2021). Retrieved from http://thirdway.imgix.net/pdfs/one-year-later-covid-19s-impact-on-current-and-future-college-students.pdf
  • Kufeld, M., Soland, J., Tarasawa, B., Johnson, A., Ruzek, E. & Liu, J. (2020). Projecting the potential impacts of Covid-19 school closures on academic achievement. EdWorkingPaper: 20-226. Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/cdrv-yw05.
  • Melin, A. & Egkolfopoulou, M. (2021). Employees are quitting instead of giving up working from home. Bloomberg Wealth (June 1, 2021). Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-01/return-to-office-employees-are-quitting-instead-of-giving-up-work-from-home#:~:text=A%20May%20survey%20of%201%2C000,on%20behalf%20of%20Bloomberg%20News.
  • National Student Clearinghouse (2021) Covid-19: Stay informed with the latest enrollment information. Retrieved from https://nscresearchcenter.org/stay-informed/
  • Office of Civil Rights (2021). Education in a pandemic: The disparate impacts of Covid-19 on American students. Office of Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/20210608-impacts-of-covid19.pdf
  • Our World Data (2021). Statistics and research: Coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccinations. Retrieved from https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations
  • Pearson, C.H. & Clair, J.A. (1998). Reframing crisis management. The Academy of Management Review, 23(1), 59-76.
  • Petit, E. (2021). AAUP survey spells bad news for faculty wages amid pandemic. The Chronicle of Higher Education (April 12, 2021). Retrieved from https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/live-coronavirus-updates/aaup-survey-spells-bad-news-for-faculty-wages-amid-pandemic
  • Petit, E. (2021a). Faculty members are suffering burnout: These strategies could help. The Chronicle of Higher Education (February 25, 2021). Retrieved from https://www.chronicle.com/article/faculty-members-are-suffering-burnout-so-some-colleges-have-used-these-strategies-to-help
  • Potter, L., Parr, A., Pekel, K., Gibbons, K., Schantz, J., & Evenson, A. (2021). Minnesota Safe Learning Survey. Comprehensive Center Network (CCNetwork). Region 10. Retrieved from https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XtoeDLUfcrZ5TR9WFISSAB4JbMJkfE9m/view
  • Renaissance (2021). How kids are performing: Tracking the school-year impact of covid-19 on reading and mathematics achievement. Wisconsin Rapids, WI: Renaissance learning, Inc.
  • Son, C., Hegde, S., BEng, Smith, A., Wang, X, & Sasangohar, F. (2020). Effects of covid-19 on college students’ mental health in the United States: Interview survey study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(9), Retrieved from https://www.jmir.org/2020/9/e21279
  • Teo, W.L., Lee, M. & Lim, W.S. (2017). The relational activation of resilience model: How leadership activates resilience in an organizational climate. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 25, 136-147.
  • The Steve Fund (2020). Adapting and innovating to promote mental health and emotional wellbeing of young people of color: Covid-19 and beyond. The Steve Fund (Fall, 2020). Retrieved from https://www.stevefund.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/CRISIS-RESPONSE-TASK-FORCE-STEVE-FUND-REPORT.pdf.
  • Tyack, David B. & Cuban, Larry (1997). Tinkering towards utopia: A century of public school reform. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  • Yeyati, E.L. & Filippini, F. (June, 2021). Social and economic impact of Covid-19. Global and Economic Development at Brookings. Brookings Global Working paper #158.
  • Veer, I.M et al. (2021). Psycho-social factors associated with mental health resilience in the corona lockdown. Translational Psychiatry, 11(67), 1-11. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-020-01150-4
  • The World Bank (June 8, 2020). The global economic outlook during the covid-19 pandemic: A changed world. Retrieved from https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2020/06/08/the-global-economic-outlook-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-a-changed-world
  • Worldometer (November 24, 2021). Coronavirus Death Toll. Retrieved from https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-death-toll/
There are 47 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Studies on Education
Journal Section Research Article
Authors

Kelli Thomas 0000-0002-1975-8861

Rick Ginsberg 0000-0001-7109-0144

Early Pub Date June 25, 2023
Publication Date June 30, 2023
Submission Date December 14, 2022
Published in Issue Year 2023

Cite

APA Thomas, K., & Ginsberg, R. (2023). Education During the Pandemic in the U.S. International Journal on Lifelong Education and Leadership, 9(1), 15-24. https://doi.org/10.25233/ijlel.1218779