Shocking the System? The COVID Crisis and Virtual Schooling in Oregon. Technical Report

National Center for Research on Education Access and Choice. 1555 Poydras Street Suite 700, New Orleans, LA 70112. Tel: 870-540-6576; e-mail: info@reachcentered.org; Web site: https://reachcentered.org/

Y

67

COVID-19; Pandemics; Virtual Schools; Distance Education; Elementary Secondary Education; Educational Policy; Educational Change; State Policy; School Demography; Public Policy; Educational Practices; Charter Schools; Public Schools; Equal Education

In this paper, the authors draw on evolutionary theories of change and qualitative data from 2019-2022, to explore the impact of the pandemic on K-12 virtual education in a state with a long history of virtual schooling by asking: "How has the ongoing COVID pandemic influenced virtual schooling in Oregon?" A virtual school in this study is a public charter school -- affiliated with either a nonprofit or for-profit education management organization, or a non-profit or district board and approved by the district, state or governing body -- or a district-run school, that offers instruction only via technology, in which students and teachers are physically separated, and interact synchronously or asynchronously (Barbour & Reeves, 2009; Keaton, 2021; Nowicki, 2022). In particular, the authors examine how the health crisis affected state-level virtual schooling policies and local organizational practices, whether there is evidence of deep and lasting changes, why, and the implications for equity.

ERIC

2024

ED660600