There have been countless challenges faced by American families with school-aged children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the many challenges specifically relating to education has been ensuring children had access to a challenging academic curriculum. Whether children have been educated remotely or in hybrid settings, or whether they have been in a pod or homeschool, there have been barriers to the provision of a quality curriculum, such as:
- Whether the school’s curriculum materials (if there were any) are suitable for remote, homeschool, or pod instruction.
- Whether teachers (whether regular certified teachers, homeschooling parents, or pod teachers) have the knowledge and skill to select and implement needed core and supplementary curriculum materials.
- Whether and how teachers are supplementing the core curriculum materials with enrichment activities and activities matched to student needs.
This paper examines how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the ways curriculum materials were used and identify lessons that could help improve access to quality curriculum and instruction moving forward, whether children are being educated in school, remotely, or in a homeschool/pod setting.
