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[CHAPTER 2
Student Academic Engagement in Virtual Learning During Mandated School Closures
Mary E. Gillis, Ed.D.
COVID-19 unveiled vulnerabilities in several significant systems in the United States. One such system is that of education. As a veteran high school teacher and a leader in my school, I have taught through a multitude of tragedies, such as 9/11 and too many school shootings to count. I have ridden the cultural shifts brought on by the aggressive emergence of technology, cell phones, and social media. I have been on the front lines of the political pulls of accountability, school funding, school choice, No Child Left Behind, and the Common Core Standards. Nothing comes close to the challenges and the systemic fragility that was revealed during the sudden state mandated closure of schools in response to the COVID-19 global pandemic. The closure of schools required school leaders to scramble, and to decide how to proceed with the school year while students had to learn from home. There were multiple factors to consider beyond just whether or not the students had access to the technology to learn remotely. Leaders had to consider the psycho-social and emotional well-being of students and families who were living through the stress and anxiety of this pandemic. They had to consider that parents and siblings would also be working from home, and how that might impact access to learning resources and assistance when needed. They had to consider children of all ages, as young as four, throughout the school district. They had to consider the varying learning styles, technology skills, learning challenges, and the special needs that many students have. They had to consider how inequitable family circumstances would impact students. Their decision about how to proceed could not be based solely on access to technology.