COVID-19 and Education

Researchers Examine Impact of COVID-19 On Education

Overview

An elementary school teacher wearing a mask providing instructor to a studentIn March 2020, school districts across California closed their doors, rapidly adjusting to remote instruction in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The challenges associated with the adjustment are unprecedented and their impacts continue to be felt, even as students have mostly returns to classrooms.

UC Davis School of Education researchers are particularly well-equipped to examine and help address these challenges. Below is a selection of their work unearthing, naming and strategizing the impact of COVID-19 on education. 

K-12 Schools

Webinar: A Tale of Two California Studies: Investigating Holistic Well-Being and Mental Health during COVID-19, AIR, featuring Dr. Faheemah N. Mustafaa.

Report: Chronic Absenteeism Post-Pandemic: Let’s Not Make This Our “New Normal”, published by PACE, co-authored by Prof. Kevin Gee. Published by Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE).

Policy brief: From Policy to Plans: Supporting Students During COVID-19, published by PACE, co-authored by Dr. Alexandria Hurtt, Dr. Sherrie Reed, Dr. Kramer A. Dykeman and Justin Luu, California Education Lab.

Webinar: Data Collection After COVID-19: What Needs to Change?, MAEC, with Prof. Kevin Gee.

ReportEarly Pandemic Responses in California:  Identifying the Structural and Instructional Changes in K-12, published by PACE, co-authored by Dr. Alexandria Hurtt, Dr. Kramer Cohen and Dr. Sherrie Reed, California Education Lab. 

ArticleNew Project Documents How California’s K-12 Schools are Tackling the Pandemic, Office of Research blog, profiling the work of Prof. Michal Kurlaender and Dr. Sherrie Reed, California Education Lab.

Article: Parenting Through Pandemics: Imagining and Demanding Justice in Schools, Multicultural Perspectives, co-authored by Profs. Elizabeth Montaño and Danny C. Martinez.

WebinarPreparing for the Second Half of the School Year and BeyondEducation Week, featuring Prof. Kevin Gee.

Policy briefMulti-Tiered System of Supports to Address Childhood Trauma: Evidence and Implications, published by PACE, co-authored by Prof. Kevin Gee and Dr. Christina Murdoch. 

Policy brief: Chronic Absence Patterns and Prediction During Covid-19: Insights from Connecticut, published jointly by Attendance Works and the Connecticut State Department of Education, co-authored by Prof. Kevin Gee.

ArticleAre America’s Schools Safe for Asian Americans?, The Conversation, co-authored by Prof. Kevin Gee.

Policy briefProsperity or Hardship: Equity-Driven Education Funding in the Era of COVID-19, by Prof. Heather Rose and Patti F. Herrera, EdD ’19

WebinarEnsuring Support for Racial Equity in Schools, School of Education, featuring speakers: EdD student Garth Lewis; Director Carlas McCauley; Prof. Michal Kurlaender; Prof. Margarita Jimenez-Silva; Executive Director of Equity and Support Services, Yolo County Office of Education Micah Studer; and Prof. Danny C. Martinez.

Webinar Series: Finding Balance: Addressing Today’s Challenges with Lessons Learned from Last School Year, produced by the School of Education in partnership with PowerSchool and Microsoft:

California Community College System

Article: UC Davis-Led Team Awarded $3 Million Grant to Assess Pandemic Recovery Efforts by Community Colleges: Identifying Best Practices for Improving Post-Pandemic Outcomes, UC Davis In Focus blog, spotlighting California Education Lab and Wheelhouse: The Center for Community College Leadership and Research.

Research brief: Turning on a Dime: California Community College Transformation in Response to COVID-19. Published by Wheelhouse: The Center for Community College Leadership and Research, UC Davis School of Education website.   

ArticleMeasuring the Impact of Emergency Remote Instruction at California Community Colleges, UC Davis Office of Research blog, spotlighting the work of Prof. Cassandra Hart.

Research brief: Everybody Pulling in the Same Direction: The COVID-19 Shift to Online Delivery of Instruction and Student Services,
published by Wheelhouse: The Center for Community College Leadership and Research, UC Davis School of Education website. Co-authors include Prof. Cassandra Hart, postdoctoral scholar Dr. Michael Hill and PhD student Emily Alonso.

Current and Potential College Students 

Research paper:Disparate Impacts of COVID-19 Disruptions for California College Students,” Journal of Student Financial Aid. Co-authored by Dr. Sherrie Reed, postdoctoral fellow Dr. Elizabeth Friedmann, Prof. Michal Kurlaender and Prof. Paco Martorell.

Research paper: Examining Recruitment Practices for Servingness during COVID-19: Perspectives from Institutional Agents at an Emerging Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), Education Sciences. Co-authored by a team including Prof. Marcela G. Cuellar and undergraduate student Mayra Nuñez Martinez.

Research briefs: authored by the California Education Lab, published by the California Student Aid Commission

ArticleHow Has the Pandemic Affected College Students in California?: COVID-19 Student Survey Shows How Students Are Faring During Pandemic, UC Davis website, spotlighting research by the California Education Lab.

Education General

Webinar: How Covid-19 Changed Education, School of Education, featuring speakers: Dean Lauren Lindstrom, Prof. Margarita Jimenez-Silva and Director of Research and Partnerships/Executive Director of REEd Carlas McCauley.

Research paper: The Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Associated Restrictions on Participation in Community and Citizen Science, Citizen Science Theory and Practice, co-authored by Prof. Heidi Ballard.

WebinarCovid’s Impact on Education, UC Davis Live, with Prof. Michal Kurlaender and Prof. Kevin Gee. 

Remote Instruction

Media mention: With Online Learning, ‘Let’s Take a Breath and See What Worked and Didn’t Work.’ New York Times, quoting Prof. Cassandra Hart.

Research paper: Tinkering in the time of COVID: Lessons from educators’ efforts to facilitate playful tinkering through online learning, International Journal of Play, co-authored by Prof. Lee Martin and PhD student Ciara Thomas Murphy.

Instructional guide: Tips for Facilitating Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) Remotely, Community Futures, Community Lore website. Co-authored by Prof. Nancy Erbstein.

ArticleReflections on Community Engaged Learning During a Pandemic, UC Davis Public Scholarship and Engagement blog, Prof. Lee Martin.

Research paperTeaching an experiential field course via online participatory science projects: A COVID‐19 case study of a UC California Naturalist course​Ecology and Evolution, co-authored by PhD students Laci Gerhart-Barley, Christopher Jadallah, Sarah Angulo, and Greg Ira.

Related ArticleHow to Teach an Experiential Field Course Online, UC Davis School of Education blog.

ArticleEngaging College Opportunity Programs, Researchers and Students through Citizen Science: Reimagining Possibilities of STEM and CTE, Center for Community and Citizen Science, UC Davis School of Education blog.

WebinarDesigning for Equity in K-12 Digital Learning Spaces with UC Davis School of Education, featuring Profs. Margarita Jimenez-Silva, Darnel Degand, Jenni Higgs and Cynthia Carter Ching. Produced by the UC Davis School of Education in partnership with Microsoft and PowerSchool. 

Policy briefSupporting Learning in the COVID-19 Context: Research to Guide Distance and Blended Instruction, co-authored by Prof. Kevin Gee. Published by Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE), Stanford University.

Media mentionCan You Teach a Small Seminar From a Distance?, Chronicle of Higher Education: Teaching Newsletter, quoting Prof. Kevin Gee.

Media mentionDistance Learning Presents Extra Challenges to English-Learners and Their Families, Napa Valley Register, quoting Prof. Yuuko Uchikoshi.

WebinarBack to School: Distance Learning Webinar for Parents with Prof. Rebecca Ambrose. Produced by UC Davs Alumni and Affiliate Relations.

Last updated 10/6/22

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