ERIC Number: EJ1461054
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Dec
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: EISSN-2731-5525
Available Date: 2025-02-13
Maternal Perspectives on COVID-19 Kindergarten Learning Impacts: A Qualitative Study of Families with Low Income
Khara L. P. Turnbull1; Brianna Jaworski1; Deiby Mayaris Cubides Mateus1; Frances L. Coolman1,5; Jennifer LoCasale-Crouch1,6; Rachel Y. Moon2; Fern R. Hauck3; Ann Kellams2; Eve R. Colson4
Discover Education, v4 Article 34 2025
In this paper, we aim to understand maternal perspectives on: (1) COVID-19 pandemic learning impacts for kindergartners from low-income households; and (2) Factors that mitigated or exacerbated impacts on learning. We conducted a qualitative study with 22 mothers of low-income households in the United States who had kindergarten-age children. Through in-depth, semi-structured interviews, mothers reflected on their experiences during the 2020-21 school year. We used an iterative approach for developing and revising codes and themes emerging from the transcribed interview data until we reached thematic saturation. Many mothers noted negative learning impacts, but some noted positive impacts that they attributed to active parental engagement in their child's learning. Mothers described several family-level and school-level supports and barriers to their child's learning. Fewer mothers described supports and barriers pertaining to their social circle or their larger community. The most commonly reported supports included: economic and social supports that allowed the time and financial means to engage actively in their child's learning, mental health supports to strengthen family functioning, and regular, timely, and open home-school communication.
Descriptors: Mothers, Parent Attitudes, COVID-19, Pandemics, Kindergarten, Low Income Groups, Barriers, Parent Participation, Affordances, School Role
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Elementary Education; Kindergarten; Primary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1University of Virginia, School of Education and Human Development, Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning, Charlottesville, USA; 2University of Virginia School of Medicine Charlottesville, Department of Pediatrics, Charlottesville, USA; 3University of Virginia School of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine, Charlottesville, USA; 4WashU Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, St. Louis, USA; 5University of South Florida, Present Affiliation College of Education, Tampa, USA; 6Virginia Commonwealth University, Present Affiliation School of Education, Richmond, USA