State Education Agency Governance, Virtual Learning, and Student Privacy: Lessons From the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The rapid transition to emergency remote teaching in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic altered public education as schools closed across the United States. Eighty percent of teachers reported interacting with students online, often utilizing free technology like Zoom and Google Workspace for Education. This article provides a comprehensive overview of state education agencies’ recommendations for emergency remote teaching during the COVID-19 school closures in early 2020. Reviewing 337 publicly available documents from 50 state education agencies reveals a fragmented response: state education agencies relied on nongovernmental organizations to do the work of governance.

Finding a Way: What Crisis Reveals about Teachers’ Emotional Wellbeing and Its Importance for Education

“…Cannon, Davis, and Long [20] remark that teachers are often positioned in the frontline of recovery from crises, which has implications for education practices and requires adequate planning to avoid further potential damage. For instance, Willse [21] describes the 'scramble to adopt technologies for emergency remote teaching' amid nationwide school closures in the United States of America (USA).…”

“…For instance, Pinto [22] explores how policy layers create disjunctures between what is mandated and the realities of the workplace for school leaders in Canada. Similarly, Willse [21] analysed 337 publicly available documents in the USA from 50 state education agencies, finding far-ranging recommendations for emergency remote teaching in response to COVID-19 that left many teachers feeling overworked and under resourced. Even before the pandemic, in the USA, Bartell et al [23] (p. 304) flagged 'the recent flux of viral teacher resignation letters [that] are acts of teacher agency, speaking against neoliberal practices and policies that constrain the work of teaching to the detriment of students and teachers'.…”

“…For instance, UNESCO [19] anticipates safe and inclusive environments. According to Willse [21], these are under threat due to the exposed inequities in the educational system in the USA, particularly with regard to technology. Moreover, UNESCO [19] supposes that teachers are well-qualified and renumerated, but Pinto [22] notes that de-skilling teacher professionals and cost cutting measures are required for school leaders to be deemed as 'performing'.…”

“…However, Kim and Asbury also noted [4] (p. 1075) that 'some [teachers], particularly those in senior leadership positions, remained stressed about a lack of clarity around the government's short-to-medium-term plans'. A lack of clarity from the government during the COVID-19 response was also cited as an issue in Willse's [21] study. Similar findings explicitly reporting on the emotional toll of the COVID-19 response on teachers are presented by Auger and Formentin's [6]; and Cannon, Davis, and Long's [20] studies.…”

“…Largely, the Sacred Story permeating the USA throughout the COVID-19 pandemic was congruent with the Sacred Story observed in the (pre-pandemic) earlier work, but with two exceptions: (1) frustration, worry, sadness, and anger are often evoked by the disagreement between governing bodies and the pandemic itself; and (2) hope and courage must be mustered. While the intention and expectation of the Sacred Story is clear, a further complication is that the reality of enacting the Sacred Story is undermined when such powerful voices remain silent or do not facilitate action, much as Willse [21] suggests. Hence, teacher agency is compromised, along with the ability to conjure up hope and courage.…”