In-person, hybrid, remote, and/or homeschool – the options for K- through-12 schooling during the pandemic are complicated, each with their own pros and cons. UConn Today asked psychologist Sandra Chafouleas, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor and Neag Endowed Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and co-director of the UConn Collaboratory on School and Child Health, about the importance of social and emotional health for children and their caregivers, particularly this year.
Kathleen Lynch, a professor at UConn’d Nead School of Education, noted that research on the summer slide — and how it affects different groups of students — remains mixed. “I do think some caution is warranted in making projections about COVID learning losses extrapolating from summer learning loss studies,” she said.
Sandra Chafouleas, a Board of Trustees Professor in UConn’s Neag School of Education, said she has seen more openings than ever before for school nurse and psychologist positions. Districts have become more focused on supporting students’ physical and mental health, she said.
“Connecticut is far from the only state diverting school decisions to the local level. With few mandates coming from the federal government, most states are taking a similarly flexible approach to COVID mandates, leaving decisions up to individual districts,” said Sarah Woulfin, associate professor at UConn’s Neag School of Education.
“In Connecticut, college students have been asked to step in as substitutes,” said Michele Femc-Bagwell, director of the teacher education program at the University of Connecticut. “The school has been getting requests to use fifth-year graduate students as substitute teachers. Heavy class loads and internship responsibilities, though, limit their availability to one day a week.”
“The biggest barrier to remote learning is having a good setup, that is, access to materials and technology…as well as resources such as uninterrupted space and time for learning,” said Sandra Chafouleas, professor of educational psychology and Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor at UConn.
“Six months ago, we could not have imagined that our daily vocabulary would be filled with the p-word. And while perhaps we are getting tired of hearing the word pandemic, I can’t help but ask why we haven’t used it to bring urgency to confronting teen suicide,” says UConn Board of Trustees Professor Sandra Chafouleas. “The race to find a cure to the COVID-19 pandemic certainly is front and center, but that same sense of urgency does not seem to be evident for the unsettling rise in teen suicide.”
“Folks are going to be in really different places in terms of their own schedules and situations,” Sarah Woulfin says. “In the spring, a professor from another university posted an adapted syllabus for the COVID era, and one of the points was to have a class where we can get together for ‘intellectual nourishment,’ in his phrasing. I adapted that into my class as pillars for our work together. We’re here to learn, but know that there is a lot of other stuff going on in the world and our lives. So let’s be humane with each other, foster connection, and learn together during our time online.”
“I think the results of our initial study provide confirmation — from a research standpoint — regarding the many news reports that we have seen about the increased expectation, without additional resources, faced by caregivers of children with disabilities,” says Sandra Chafouleas, co-director of the Collaboratory on School and Child Health and a UConn Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor. “The burden is real, and taking not only a toll on their children but caregiver well-being.”
“During the pandemic, I saw teachers from across the world sharing their students’ works similar to a collaboration between students from Purdue University and the University of Connecticut I led three years earlier,” says Christopher Cayari, assistant professor of music at Purdue University. “My students at Purdue were ecstatic to see their ukulele-playing tests turned into a music video featuring their virtual friends hundreds of miles away.”
