The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the effect of learner-centered pedagogy on student engagement in a virtual elementary instrumental music program. Eleven fourth- and fifth-grade students from an elementary school in the Southeastern United States worked remotely toward creating a virtual performance over 28 weeks. All…

This qualitative study explores the English learning experiences of 30 Grade 5 students from three mainstream schools in Kazakhstan during the Covid-19 pandemic. It was informed by Benson et al.'s (2011) four-dimensional model of language learning beyond the classroom: (a) location (physical vs. virtual), (b) formality (formal vs. informal…

This dissertation consists of three papers. In each paper, I leverage a different quantitative method to study a downstream effect of technology on educational outcomes. In the first paper, I study the impact of an online math learning program on 3rd through 5th grade math achievement in Louisiana. Employing Zearn Math usage metrics and…

The purpose of this study was to examine how growth mindset strategies enhance academic achievement for English learners in 5th grade from low socio-economic areas. Secondary data was available through (MAP) Measures of Academic Progress and surveys (Panorama and PACE/CORE) to analyze students' use of strategies from Fall to Winter of 2019 and…

In March of 2020 the COVID-19 Pandemic changed the world in education as we knew it. Schools, along with businesses and public venues around the world shut their doors in order to attempt to slow the spread of the virus. Just because the brick-and-mortar buildings were being closed did not mean that schooling would stop. Teachers and students from…

The problem addressed in this research study involves lower student achievement on the i-Ready Reading Diagnostic test for fifth grade students that received reading instruction in the virtual setting during the COVID-19 pandemic than their peers that received in-person reading instruction. In this qualitative study, five teachers were interviewed…

The disruptions to schooling created by the COVID-19 pandemic prompted nationwide concern about negative impacts on academic proficiency, particularly for vulnerable student populations. Pennsylvania's 2021 statewide assessments offered the first opportunity since the pandemic began to assess how students across the Commonwealth were faring,…

In March of 2020, in response to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the state of Illinois mandated the transition to remote instruction for all schools. Although schools had the option to resume in-person instruction during the 2020-21 school year (SY21), the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) acknowledged that in-person instruction may not…

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020 was marked by a transition to remote learning in Illinois schools and nationwide. The following school year, schools and families faced difficult decisions about how and when to return to in-person learning. School leaders, parents and caregivers, and students considered how to balance…

For over two years, schools, teachers, students, and families across Illinois have worked to adapt instruction and learning under the ever-changing conditions wrought by COVID-19. This report, the third and final in the Learning During the Pandemic in Illinois series, investigates how much time students spent learning in-person and/or remotely…