Teachers’ instructional responses to the COVID-19 pandemic

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, schools transitioned to Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT). In May 2020, as part of an existing study of flipped Algebra instruction, we interviewed eleven Missouri teachers to understand how their instruction changed as they moved to ERT. Drawing on practical rationality, we found the pandemic led to a breach of norms (assigning grades, synchronous meeting times, delivering new content, and students' completion of work). Findings highlight the interconnected nature of norms and reveal differences in teachers' responses to the breach of norms. We found administrative policies, particularly around grading, significantly impact teachers’ decisions during ERT. [Display omitted] •District and building policies, or lack thereof, were a significant cause of norm breaches•Grading, meeting synchronously, delivering new content, and students completing work were pre-pandemic norms breached•Breaches to normal grading practices were commonly interconnected with the other norm breaches•Teachers primarily adhered to individual and institutional obligations when making instructional decisions•Differences between flipped and non-flipped teachers' responses concerned preparing content and student access