The topic of this study was teachers' perspectives on online instructional challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic within a rural Title I school. The problem addressed in this study was that teachers were not ready to fully transition to online learning, especially teachers in rural Title I schools. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore the online instructional challenges that teachers faced during the COVID-19 pandemic within a rural Title I school in Virginia. The key concepts in this study focused on online instruction. This study was supported by three theories: social and emotional learning, the community of inquiry, and online collaborative learning. The methodology used for this study was qualitative and the design was basic qualitative. The target population for this study was elementary teachers from a rural Title I school, who taught online during the pandemic. The target population consisted of highly qualified individuals defined by the Virginia Department of Education. Purposeful sampling was used to identify individuals who participated in a semi-structured interview that consisted of 11 open-ended questions designed to collect rich data regarding teachers' perspectives about challenges faced while providing online instruction during the 2020-2021 school year. Data were transcribed and analyzed using NVivo. The results indicated that teachers faced several challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic when addressing issues in education, social support, and emotional support. Providing teachers' perceptions of the challenges of online instruction throughout the pandemic could provide advocacy for issues that could be the root of online challenges of teaching elementary students online. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]