Elementary school teachers’ perspectives about learning during the COVID-19 pandemic

The study investigates how COVID-19 school closures affected elementary students’ access to education and learning outcomes, and how teachers adapted to emergency remote instruction. Contextualizing against global closures that left over 1.5 billion students out of school, the authors highlight concerns about long-term academic consequences and exacerbation of existing inequalities for vulnerable groups. The purpose is to use teachers’ frontline observations to assess: (1) the experience transitioning to remote learning, (2) impacts on equitable access to learning opportunities, and (3) observed learning losses or gains during 2020–2021. Teachers’ perspectives are positioned as a valuable, widely available source of classroom-level evidence during a period when standardized testing data were limited.

Early empirical evidence (e.g., Engzell et al., Netherlands) documented learning losses of ~0.08 SD during closures, with 60% larger losses among students from less-educated households, despite high digital access. Subsequent studies across multiple countries generally reported learning losses and slower growth during 2020–2021, with some exceptions finding minimal or no negative effects. Pre-pandemic SES-related achievement gaps were evident from kindergarten onward and persisted; during the pandemic, disadvantaged students had longer closures, reduced access to computers/internet, and fewer resources/time for at-home learning. Meta-analyses estimate losses equivalent to ~35% of an academic year. Underrepresentation of disadvantaged students in available datasets further complicates accurate estimates. Teacher surveys are proposed as an important complement, given teachers’ continuous observations across diverse contexts. Literature also indicates increased teacher dissatisfaction, reduced sense of success, and higher attrition considerations during the pandemic.

Design and setting: Cross-sectional online survey administered via Qualtrics to elementary school teachers in Canada and the United States, fielded at the end of the 2020–2021 school year. Sample: N=911 teachers (Canada and US). The sample included teachers across grade levels (1–6 and multiple grades) and a range of student SES contexts (from low- to high-income classrooms). Respondents were predominantly full-time. Country-level differences were small, though US teachers had slightly more experience and reported lower student SES on average. Ethics and consent: Approved by the Non-medical Research Ethics Board, University of Western Ontario. Participants provided electronic consent by checkbox after reviewing a Letter of Information. Survey duration ~10 minutes. Most items required responses, with an “I prefer not to answer” option. Measures: Items targeted three domains: (1) teachers’ experience transitioning to remote learning (prior online teaching experience; training; self-rated digital skills; perceived challenge; preferences; retirement considerations); (2) equitable access (student technology access; attendance levels, consistency, and estimated proportions of regular/irregular/absent attendees; content coverage; extent and need of adult support at home); (3) academic outcomes (overall performance relative to expectations; domain-specific performance in Math, Reading/Literature, Spelling/Writing; perceived change in gap between high- and low-performing students; expectations of long-term effects). Context of instruction: Over 90% experienced some school closures (partial or whole-year). Partial closures averaged ~82 days (Canada ~90, US ~74). Remote instruction averaged ~18.87 hours/week. Alternatives included synchronous online (70%), asynchronous online (42%), and other media (10%), often in combination. Data handling and availability: Data and materials available on OSF (datasets: https://osf.io/3dsef; survey: https://osf.io/bx63k/). Analyses reported include descriptive statistics and inferential tests (e.g., Kendall’s tau-c, chi-square tests, ANOVAs and tests for linear trends) examining associations with SES and country. Analytic notes: Given small effect sizes between countries, most results are reported for the combined sample; stratified analyses examined SES gradients and select country interactions (e.g., attendance by SES).

• Transition and preparedness:
  • 58% had no prior online teaching experience; 24–26% received training only at the beginning or only during summer; 25% both; 24% none.
  • 77% self-rated digital skills as somewhat or extremely good.
  • Switching to remote instruction was very or extremely challenging for ~59% of teachers.
  • 58% preferred in-person only for future teaching; 33% preferred hybrid; 7% online only.
  • 30% considered retiring during the pandemic.
• Access and participation:

  • 96% reported most/all students had necessary technology access.

  • Nearly 65% observed a drop in attendance during 2020–2021 (narrative report); teachers’ estimates averaged 70% regular attendance, 21% irregular, and 9% completely absent across the year.
  • Attendance consistency fluctuated for 33% of classrooms; 27% stayed the same across the year.
  • Content coverage: 67% reported covering less content than typical (49% slightly less, 18% considerably less).
  • Adult assistance: 28% said it was needed; 71% reported most/all students received adult support to some degree.
• Academic achievement:
  • Overall, 56% reported students performed below grade-level expectations; 37% at expectations; 7% above.
  • Domain-specific performance relative to in-person: Math worse for ~52% (15% much worse, 37% somewhat worse); Reading worse for ~25% (10% much, 15% somewhat) with ~44% reporting improvement; Spelling worse for ~21% with ~48% reporting improvement. No strong evidence of differential losses across domains in teachers’ ratings.
  • 58% reported the gap between low- and high-performing students increased (32% same; 10% decreased).
  • 68% anticipated lasting negative effects; 17% no lasting effects; 15% positive.
• Socioeconomic disparities:
  • Teachers of low-SES classrooms were more often first-time online instructors (e.g., ~75% no prior experience vs ~40% in high-SES; τc≈0.22, p<0.001) and had lower self-rated digital proficiency.
  • Adult support at home was perceived as higher in higher-SES classrooms (τ≈-0.25, p<0.001).
  • Attendance declines were more frequently reported in low-SES classrooms in the US (τc≈-0.19, p<0.001), not observed in Canada.
  • Performance declines were more frequently reported in low-SES classrooms (τc≈-0.25, p<0.001); illustrative figures note ~40% reporting drop in high-income vs >70% in low-income classrooms.
• Country contrasts (small effects): Canadian teachers reported fewer students below standard and more above standard than US teachers; Canada experienced longer partial closures on average.

Teachers’ reports indicate that while most students had access to digital tools, this was insufficient to ensure equitable access to learning: instruction time was lower than typical; content coverage was reduced; and attendance and engagement issues were common. Over half of teachers perceived declines in academic performance and widening within-class achievement gaps. Socioeconomic disparities were pronounced: lower-SES classrooms were associated with less teacher preparedness for online teaching, lower perceived adult support at home, more attendance challenges (notably in the US), and greater performance declines. These observations align with prior evidence that the pandemic amplified pre-existing inequalities. Although domain differences were not clearly evident in teacher ratings, the overall pattern points to substantial disruptions with stronger negative impacts in lower-SES contexts. Teachers also experienced substantial professional strain, with many finding the transition challenging and a notable fraction considering retirement, highlighting workforce sustainability concerns. Together, the findings address the research questions by documenting the nature of the transition to remote learning, disparities in access and participation, and perceived learning losses, especially among disadvantaged students.

This study leverages teachers’ classroom-level observations to provide timely insights into elementary education during the first full pandemic school year (2020–2021) in Canada and the US. Despite widespread digital access, teachers reported reduced instruction time, incomplete curriculum delivery, decreased attendance, and overall declines in performance, with widened gaps between low- and high-performing students. Socioeconomic gradients were consistent: lower-SES classrooms faced less-prepared teachers for online teaching, lower adult support at home, more attendance issues, and larger learning losses. These results underscore the unequal distribution of the pandemic’s educational impacts and the need for targeted supports to mitigate long-term adverse effects. Future work should combine teacher reports with standardized assessments and longitudinal designs to quantify individual-level impacts, track recovery, and evaluate interventions aimed at addressing SES-related disparities and supporting teacher capacity and well-being.

• Observational, cross-sectional survey limits causal inference.
• Teacher reports reflect classroom-level aggregates and may include perception/reporting biases; individual-level effects cannot be determined.
• Potential cross-country differences in how teachers interpret SES categories; SES bins may not be directly comparable between Canada and the US.
• Missing data on subjects taught limited analyses of domain-specific performance by teacher specialization.
• Sample limited to Canada and the US; findings may not generalize to settings with different resource levels or pandemic policies.
• Some discrepancies between narrative summaries and tabulated proportions (e.g., attendance) suggest caution in interpreting exact magnitudes.