“We Need to Do Better by Kids”: Changing Routines in U.S. Schools in Response to COVID-19 School Closures

Abstract

In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools across the United States to close their buildings and educational professionals transitioned to working from home. This paper explores how K-12 principals leading schools serving high numbers of students from racially and socioeconomically minoritized backgrounds made sense of and responded to the pandemic. In particular, we examined how principals made decisions in the immediate aftermath of the school closures to best support their students and school communities during the transition to remote/virtual learning. Guided by sensemaking theory, findings indicate that principals understood the broad, societal effects of the pandemic on their students, beyond the impact of school closures. Findings also show that principals needed to navigate and make sense of policies and guidelines created by top officials and other influential external stakeholders while also engaging in sensegiving with their teachers. Finally, findings reveal that principals implemented changes and create new organizational routines in order to support their students, especially for students receiving special education services. We close with directions for future research as well as implications for understanding the impact of COVID-19 on school leadership and organizational culture.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all of the principals who shared their experiences as part of the Leading in Crisis study. The study was a collaborative data collection effort organized by Jonathan Supovitz of the Consortium for Policy Research in Education at the University of Pennsylvania. The research team included: Erin Anderson (University of Denver), Bodunrin Banwo (University of Minnesota), Bradley Carpenter (Baylor University), Joshua Childs (University of Texas, Austin), Chantal Francois (Towson University), Sonya Hayes (University of Tennessee, Knoxville), Lea Hubbard (University of San Diego), Maya Kaul (University of Pennsylvania), Julianna Kershen (University of Oklahoma), Hollie Mackey (University of North Dakota), Gopal Midha (University of Virginia), Daniel Reyes-Guerra (Florida Atlantic University), Nicole Simon (City University of New York), Corrie Stone-Johnson (University at Buffalo), Bryan A. VanGronigen (University of Delaware), Jennie Weiner (University of Connecticut), and Sheneka Williams, (Michigan State University). More about the study can be found at: https://www.cpre.org/leading-crisis.

Declaration of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this manuscript.