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.
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/
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/
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