Due to COVID-19 lockdowns, Arkansas had to implement virtual instruction into a face-to-face education system for the first time in the 2020-2021 school year. This unique situation is the setting for this dissertation. It explores how adding virtual education to face-to-face education affected student engagement as measured by student attendance.…

Schools are facing many issues as a result of the recent pandemic, as well as societal pressures for all students to achieve. There have been unprecedented changes in the educational landscape with a growing concern for students' success and learning loss. Instructional leaders are expected to make innovative changes to meet the instructional…

Before the 2020-2021 school year, policymakers and parents confronted the uncertain trade-offs implied by the health, educational, and economic consequences of offering instruction remotely, in person, or through a hybrid of the two. Most public schools in the United States chose remote-only instruction, and enrollment fell dramatically (i.e., a…

The global COVID-19 pandemic has passed. This process required greater attention and care to the specifics of the organization of distance learning and the resolution of problems that arose for participants in the educational process. By late 2021 face-to-face teaching was returning but Russian aggression against Ukraine interrupted the…

This instrumental case study is focused on understanding more about literacy instruction in K-3 classrooms during the pandemic-impacted 2020-2021 school year. The study aims to examine (a) how teachers described their literacy instruction before and during the COVID-19 pandemic; (b) the types of literacy instructional practices teachers…

This instrumental case study is focused on understanding more about literacy instruction in K-3 classrooms during the pandemic-impacted 2020-2021 school year. The study aims to examine (a) how teachers described their literacy instruction before and during the COVID-19 pandemic; (b) the types of literacy instructional practices teachers…

Before the 2020-21 school year, educators, policymakers, and parents confronted the stark and uncertain trade-offs implied by the health, educational, and economic consequences of offering instruction remotely, in person, or through a hybrid of the two. Most public schools in the U.S. chose remote-only instruction and enrollment fell dramatically…

Family involvement and school-family cooperation are essential determinants in a child's learning process in early childhood have further increased the significance of family involvement in the distance education process. This study aims to investigate the effects of the "Distance Education and Technology Use during the Pandemic" online…

Executive Functioning (EF) is a cognitive skill set that encompasses metacognition and emotional and behavioral regulation. EF skills grow into adulthood but may have lagging development due to a variety of factors. The resulting executive dysfunction may impact behavior, performance, and social interactions. Many of the skills needed to access a…

The current study was conducted to fill a gap in the literature regarding online instruction in K-12 settings in Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, it aimed at gaining an understanding of the attitudes of teachers in Saudi Arabia towards online instruction and their readiness towards its implementation. It also sought to…

The COVID-19 pandemic drastically disrupted the functioning of U.S. public schools, potentially changing the relative appeal of alternatives such as homeschooling and private schools. We study changes in families' choices of school sector using longitudinal student-level administrative data from Michigan and nationally representative data from the…

During the 2020-21 school year, families' access to--and desire to participate in--in-person schooling was highly stratified along racial and income lines. Research to date suggests that "school hesitancy" was driven by concerns about "fit" and safety, as well as simple access to in-person opportunities. In the context of a…

For the past two decades, there has been a shift in education to include students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in inclusion classrooms. The problem addressed in this study was that the number of pupils with ASD attending mainstream schools is increasing; however, there is a lack of evidence to support whether their needs are being met in…

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused myriad issues for early elementary students and their families. Those early in their educational careers, particularly pre-K-2 students, are especially vulnerable developmentally to abrupt disruptions. School counselors, in turn, are being called upon to respond to crises and provide trauma-informed care for these…

This technical report provides detailed information about the sample, survey instruments, and resultant data for the 2022 American Instructional Resources Surveys (AIRS) that were administered to principals and teachers in spring 2022 via the RAND Corporation's American Educator Panels (AEP). The 2022 AIRS focused on the usage of, perceptions of,…