ABSTRACT
How can Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) in Missouri take lessons from the COVID-19 global pandemic to use technology to provide greater student access to highly qualified educators? Research on this question examined what impacts, influences, and disruptions occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically during the 2020-2021 school year. How did those lessons learned change the way public schools in Missouri provided online instruction to PK-12 students. Efforts undertaken by LEAs, to provide greater student access in public schools to highly qualified educators using technology, were reviewed. According to Missouri's Every Student Succeeds Act plan, "all students deserve the opportunity to have the best learning environments and access to highly qualified teachers (Missouri's ESSA Plan - Federal Accountability, (2015), pp.24-25). In this study voices of LEA representatives were captured in real-time during the academic school year of 2021-2022 as they shared their struggles to meet students' educational needs during the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)