The Perceived Effects of the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Focus on Educators' Perceptions of the Negative Effects on Educator Stress and Student Well-Being

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an urgent pivot to remote learning, causing many challenges for teachers and school administrators. The current study sought to better understand the extent to which the perceived negative impacts of COVID-19 on U.S. educators and their students varied as a function of staff role (teacher vs. administrator), school level (elementary vs. secondary school), and type of school setting (public vs. private), as reported through a national survey of educators conducted in June through July of 2020. Using data from 608 educators (n = 481 teachers and n = 127 administrators;48% elementary;85% public school), we examined educators' perceptions of negative impacts on their personal lives, professional lives, and students' lives;major challenges;and stress in various domains. Findings suggested an overall high level of concern across domains. Investigation of educator subgroup effects suggested elementary educators and administrators were most concerned about the negative impacts on students.Impact StatementEducators, including teachers and administrators alike, experienced significant negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on their work-related stress concern about students, and their own well-being. Some subgroups, like elementary educators, those working in public schools, and teachers (compared to administrators), may require additional assistance in managing stress, and supporting students, both academically and with regard to their social-emotional needs.

Addressing challenges at the intersection of early intervention and child welfare.

BACKGROUND: The Keep Children and Families Safe Act amendment to the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) of 2003 mandated children under age three who are involved with Child Welfare (CW) to receive a referral to the system for early intervention (EI). While there is strong rationale for providing developmental services to young children and families impacted by maltreatment, the early implementation of this policy brought about many challenges related to interagency coordination and readiness of providers to provide cross-systems care. Currently, as the system and providers within the system recover from the effects of Covid-19, a predicted increase in need of services may exacerbate historical gaps in the provision of services to families involved with CW. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: This policy-focused paper explores issues impacting CW and EI providers who coordinate care between CW and EI services. METHODS: This paper provides a historical examination of these challenges and proposes an approach for improving developmental services for families referred from CW, specifically through the lens of addressing resources and supports available to providers. RESULTS: The proposed approach includes an increase and reprioritization of resources to support provider readiness and well-being. CONCLUSIONS: By focusing on support for providers, the authors propose a reduction of stress and improvement of services at each level of the "well-being" system.