This ethnographic study aims to understand the effect of COVID-19 on schools in the United States and Scotland for students at secondary schools. Challenges in education have been immense since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools shifted to "safer at home" policies driving in-person classroom learning to online learning. Early research into how the pandemic affected students has shown that, "the average student had lost one-third of a year to a full year's worth of learning in reading and about three-quarters of a year to more than one year in math since schools closed in March of 2020" (Hoofman & Secord, 2021, p. 1072). This dissertation research included 295 educators from Scotland and California. The educators included teachers, principals, head teachers, administrators, and support staff who worked in education since March 13, 2020. The educators selected had experience working with students aged from 12-18 years old. The study was conducted using with a mixed methods approach using a survey given to educators as well as the use of publicly available secondary standardized testing result data. Additionally, several interviews were conducted onsite in Scotland. To analyze the qualitative data gathered from the survey given to educators, the researcher coded responses to track and interpret data. To analyze the quantitative data gathered during the study, the researcher used StatPlus software to conduct the statistical analysis. To analyze the statistics the Likert scale responses from the survey, the researcher used a one-way ANOVA. The results were similar to the findings of the other studies in that student academic performance declined after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (Chistakis et al., 2020). The results also showed that COVID-19 has caused an increase in technology in schools (Lennox et al., 2021), a lack of social interaction (Ishimoto et al., 2022), and a growing inequality in student outcome based on socioeconomic status (Panagoli et al., 2021). Despite facing a decline in academic performance in both California and Scotland, it was observed that California schools, having experienced a more prolonged period of online learning compared to Scottish schools, exhibited a greater decrease in student academic performance. The study revealed that test scores in California decreased by an average of 5%, whereas Scottish exam pass rates rose but grade boundaries in Scotland saw a decrease of 3%, when comparing the results of exams before and after COVID-19 (California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress [CASPP], 2023; Scottish Qualifications Authority, 2023). Survey responses from participants in California indicated a higher average perception than their Scottish counterparts, highlighting that students' proficiency in reading, writing, math, and overall academic performance had diminished due to the disruptions caused by COVID-19 in schools, as documented in this study. The implications drawn from this research suggest that schools should consider resorting to in-person learning only when absolutely necessary. The effectiveness of online learning for the majority of secondary students is found to be inferior, and the negative impact on student learning is pronounced when schools opt for closures. [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.]