Impact of COVID-19 on Educators’ Comfort with Racial Issues in Two Urban School Districts
Start Date
21-6-2021 9:15 AM
End Date
21-6-2021 10:00 AM
Topic
Interventions in Education
Session Chair
Julia Hastings
Abstract
This study explores the challenges that two small-city school districts attempting to address racial disparities in education encountered in mentoring new teachers and educators’ attitudes toward social justice before and during Covid-19. Funded by a national education association, this four-year pilot project’s primary goals are to develop tools that districts can use to support new teachers around educational disparities and create more inclusive school environments, with a particular focus on improving academic and disciplinary outcomes for youth who are black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC). Disparities in educational outcomes, which are influenced by educators’ beliefs and behavior, are strongly related to health disparities. Observational and survey data from this project allows comparisons of educators’ attitudes and behavior in Spring 2019 and 2021. Located in districts 70 miles apart in upstate New York, the labor-management leadership teams joined the pilot project in hopes of improving their retention of new teachers through professional development and mentoring around racial and social justice. The districts serve between 6,000-9,000 students in grades pre-Kindergarten to 12th, with over 60% coming from economically disadvantaged families and steadily growing BIPOC populations exceeding or reaching 50% of students. Focusing on early career educators and their mentors, the project piloted a series of 90-minute workshops designed to deepen participants’ understanding of historic systematic inequalities, provide them with guided reflection on experiences shaping their identities, and explore strategies for improving relationships with diverse students. These workshops were halted in Spring 2020 when schools were forced to pivot to online instruction due to the pandemic but were held virtually in one of the districts during the 2020-2021 school year. In addition to the professional development workshops, all educators in these districts were invited to participate in school climate surveys focused on racial and ethnic issues conducted in March 2019 and two years later in March 2021. Around 450 teachers responded to the anonymous survey in each year, which allows comparisons of trends at two points in time. Preliminary analyses reveal some interesting trends. Despite incidents of racial injustice prompting increased social unrest during 2020, teachers’ reports of their comfort levels discussing racial and/or ethnic issues with family members, their students and colleagues did not change significantly from 2019 to 2021. They indicated feeling more comfortable discussing these issues with their families than with colleagues or students, but the relative differences did not change over the two years. In contrast, survey responses in 2021 indicated that teachers, especially early career teachers, were less likely to feel that “multicultural or BIPOC issues are receiving too much attention” than they did two years earlier. Additional analyses provide context for understanding these trends with examination of changes related to communication with colleagues, students, and their families. Combined, the results of this study suggest that, while a greater awareness of the digital divide and unequal access to resources has occurred due to the pandemic, the influence of the Black Lives Matter movement and the murder of George Floyd have also brought these issues to prominence nationally.
Author Bio
(Presenter)
Kathryn Schiller (Ph.D. Sociology, University of Chicago) is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Educational Administration & Policy Studies. She is also affiliated with the Department of Sociology, an Associate of the Center for Social and Demographic Analysis, and affiliated with the Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy. In addition to sociology of education, Dr. Schiller teaches courses in applied statistics and research methods for both researchers and educational leaders. Her research has explored the role of schooling in the development of human capital focusing on how organizational structures and social networks shape individuals’ developmental trajectories. She was a co-investigator for Adolescent Health & Academic Achievement (AHAA), a $5 million research project funded by the National Institutes of Health, the US Department of Education, and the National Science Foundation. An education component for the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, results from AHAA detailing links between adolescents’ social relationships, academic experiences throughout high school, and health in young adulthood were published in leading research journals including Sociology of Education, Educational Evaluation & Policy Analysis, American Journal of Education, and Journal of Educational Leadership. She participates regularly in national and state-funded research, including the 2005 National Mathematics Curriculum Study (National Center for Education Statistics) that provided the first detailed analysis of Algebra I and Geometry curricula across the nation linked to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Much of Dr. Schiller’s current research focuses on the role of school leaders and adaptations by teachers when implementing high stakes systemic reforms (e.g., Common Core Learning Standards and Annual Professional Performance Reviews) or on approaches to mentoring novice teachers about promoting racial justice in their classrooms. Two of these projects explore the impact of pandemic disruptions on educators’ work conditions and ability to meet their and students’ needs.
Beth Anne Horning is a third year Ph.D. student at the University at Albany, SUNY. She is studying educational policy in the School of Education’s Department of Educational Policy and Leadership. She works as a graduate research assistant for Dr. Kathryn Schiller, Department Chair and Associate Professor of Educational Policy and Leadership at University at Albany. Beth Anne completed a B.A. in English and History with a concentration in American History in December 2018 at the University Albany. She completed an M.S. in Educational Policy and Leadership in December 2020 at the University at Albany. She was a 2018 recipient of the Helena U. Whitaker Scholarship for outstanding academic achievement from the UA History Department and the 2019 recipient of the Patricia Stocking Brown Graduate Research Award from the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives. Beth Anne has previously presented research at the 2019 Researching New York Conference and the 2020 Institutions and Societies Graduate Student Conference. She will be presenting one co-authored paper and one solo-authored paper in roundtable sessions at the 2021 American Sociological Association Virtual Annual Meeting in August 2021. She currently has a co-authored manuscript under peer review at Urban Education. Beth Anne’s research interests include the integration of restorative justice practices in school discipline policies, the social and political influences on historical shifts in school discipline policy in the United States, the inclusion of social and racial justice in teacher professional development and mentoring programs, and postsecondary education for incarcerated students.
Document Type
Extended Abstract
Impact of COVID-19 on Educators’ Comfort with Racial Issues in Two Urban School Districts
This study explores the challenges that two small-city school districts attempting to address racial disparities in education encountered in mentoring new teachers and educators’ attitudes toward social justice before and during Covid-19. Funded by a national education association, this four-year pilot project’s primary goals are to develop tools that districts can use to support new teachers around educational disparities and create more inclusive school environments, with a particular focus on improving academic and disciplinary outcomes for youth who are black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC). Disparities in educational outcomes, which are influenced by educators’ beliefs and behavior, are strongly related to health disparities. Observational and survey data from this project allows comparisons of educators’ attitudes and behavior in Spring 2019 and 2021. Located in districts 70 miles apart in upstate New York, the labor-management leadership teams joined the pilot project in hopes of improving their retention of new teachers through professional development and mentoring around racial and social justice. The districts serve between 6,000-9,000 students in grades pre-Kindergarten to 12th, with over 60% coming from economically disadvantaged families and steadily growing BIPOC populations exceeding or reaching 50% of students. Focusing on early career educators and their mentors, the project piloted a series of 90-minute workshops designed to deepen participants’ understanding of historic systematic inequalities, provide them with guided reflection on experiences shaping their identities, and explore strategies for improving relationships with diverse students. These workshops were halted in Spring 2020 when schools were forced to pivot to online instruction due to the pandemic but were held virtually in one of the districts during the 2020-2021 school year. In addition to the professional development workshops, all educators in these districts were invited to participate in school climate surveys focused on racial and ethnic issues conducted in March 2019 and two years later in March 2021. Around 450 teachers responded to the anonymous survey in each year, which allows comparisons of trends at two points in time. Preliminary analyses reveal some interesting trends. Despite incidents of racial injustice prompting increased social unrest during 2020, teachers’ reports of their comfort levels discussing racial and/or ethnic issues with family members, their students and colleagues did not change significantly from 2019 to 2021. They indicated feeling more comfortable discussing these issues with their families than with colleagues or students, but the relative differences did not change over the two years. In contrast, survey responses in 2021 indicated that teachers, especially early career teachers, were less likely to feel that “multicultural or BIPOC issues are receiving too much attention” than they did two years earlier. Additional analyses provide context for understanding these trends with examination of changes related to communication with colleagues, students, and their families. Combined, the results of this study suggest that, while a greater awareness of the digital divide and unequal access to resources has occurred due to the pandemic, the influence of the Black Lives Matter movement and the murder of George Floyd have also brought these issues to prominence nationally.
Comments
The recording of this speaker ends at 1:35:20