Abstract
Due to the recent COVID-19 Pandemic, many schools across the nation are switching to distance learning formats to keep students, families, and faculty safe. However, most teachers do not have training in teaching online and need more support to facilitate online instruction and effectively support all students (Hodges et al., 2020). In addition to this, virtual attendance rates dropped in the spring of 2020 when many schools moved to remote learning, with as many as half of the student population staying logged out (Goldstein et al., 2020). This study intended to discover challenges California middle school teachers are facing as they transition to online teaching, specific strategies that will support all school stakeholders during distance education, and themes that support best practices to implement distance learning plans at the site level. Sources of Data The researchers conducted interviews with five California middle school teachers who teach various content areas for students Grades 6-8. The interview was conducted in a semi-structured format, allowing for researchers to gather anecdotal data to answer their three research questions: (a) What are the main challenges middle school teachers in California face as they transition to teaching online in the midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic? (b) What instructional strategies support teaching and learning during emergency remote teaching? and (c) What best practices might inform implementation of a distance learning plan through a leadership lens. The researchers analyzed the interview responses for commonalities and coded them for themes. The researchers compared the themes found in the data to the research from the review of the literature to determine the best practices for administrators and school leaders to use during successful implementation of distance education. Conclusions Reached The findings of this study suggest that school leaders must support their stakeholders in four key areas during distance education implementation. The data support the researchers’ recommendation for administrators to seek ways to offer support through providing teachers with extra work time; communicating clearly and consistently with all school stakeholders; being supportive through flexibility, care, and empathy; and by promoting social-emotional support and learning. Addressing these four main areas will help administrators overcome the many challenges that stakeholders face during distance education.