Addressing Differential Impacts of Covid-19 in NYS: Changes in Educators’ Awareness of Racial Inequality in Two Small-City School Districts During COVID-19.

Abstract

The rapid pivoting to fully online schooling in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing educational and social inequalities between students, especially in urban districts serving marginalized populations. This chapter highlights changes in teachers’ perceptions of racial inequality and related challenges in two small-city school districts between April 2019 and April 2021 by using responses to a school climate survey administered as part of a project piloting professional development for early career teachers around promoting racial justice. Compared to 2019, teachers in 2021 tended to indicate being more accepting of attention given to multicultural and diversity issues. However, these increases were largest for untenured teachers, who were also more likely than their more experienced colleagues to agree that COVID-19 made racial and ethnic disparities more prominent and contributed to students’ mental health struggles. In open-ended responses, teachers in these districts expressed frustration over a lack of time to address both their own mental health and the mental health of their students due to district focus on curricular instruction. Drawing upon lessons learned in piloting project workshops, suggestions are provided for adapting mentoring and other professional development activities to better support teachers challenged by more prominent racial disparities and increased mental health issues among their students and for themselves.