Lessons From the Field: Catholic School Educators and COVID-19

Teachers are regularly tasked with planning for long-term academic and formative goals for entire classes and individual students. This planning involves designing and developing effective routines, creating detailed lesson plans, and tracking authentic assessment of students. Skilled teachers are accustomed to predictable expectations and outcomes in the familiar contexts of classrooms; yet, COVID-19 undermined the ability of teachers to plan. Using a case study and narrative analysis approach, this paper examines how 32 urban Catholic school teachers experienced the transition to remote instruction. Data analysis produced a template broadly aligned with Rush et al’s (2014) framework for effective, emergency, online school professional development curriculum during an emergency.A key aim of this paper is to provide some concrete recommendations for school level crisis preparation planning, implementing online learning platforms, matching needs and resources, communicating with parents, and using social media during this pandemic.