COVID and Curriculum: Elementary Teachers Report on the Challenges of Teaching and Learning Mathematics Remotely

This article reports on findings from a survey administered to 524 elementary teachers across 46 states that asked about their experiences with mathematics teaching, learning, and curriculum use before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this article is to report on the challenges teachers experienced with mathematics teaching, learning, and curriculum use during the pandemic and to explore educational inequities faced by students of families with lower income backgrounds. In particular, we discuss differences across high- and low-income schools regarding teachers’ perceived preparedness for online teaching, teachers’ use and decisions about mathematics curriculum, and their students’ remote resources (i.e., internet, computer, and workspace). We also share statements from teachers that illustrate challenges they experienced in engaging students, assessing learning outcomes, and building relationships. We found that students and teachers in schools from all socioeconomic levels faced hardship. However, lower income schools generally faced greater challenges in terms of access to computers, internet, and adequate workspaces. This often resulted in decreased access to teachers and decreased engagement. The exacerbation of educational inequities experienced by students from low income backgrounds during the pandemic suggests that we may see further widening of gaps in learning growth between students of low- and high-socioeconomic backgrounds. This has implications for policy makers, teacher educators, and other stakeholders seeking to advance equity and justice for less wealthy students