Happy Teacher COVID-19 Impact Study

The present study attempts to fill a gap in COVID-19 educational research by examining the experiences and perceived challenges and needs of a large sample of early childhood teachers teaching virtually in the United States during the early months of the pandemic. It is hoped that, through examining these experiences, we can find ways to support their successful transition to the use of virtual approaches moving forward. 

To obtain a better understanding of the national distance learning landscape for ECE during the COVID pandemic, during a two-and-a-half month period in the late Spring to mid-summer, we sent out a survey nation-wide to current ECE teachers to inquire as to their teaching experiences and well-being in the early months of the pandemic. We recruited via various social media platforms (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) and sent emails to various early childhood organizations, agencies, and programs. To ensure responses from various states and types of settings (e.g., family child care center, private child care center, Head Start programs, public schools), stratified sampling (by state and type of settings) was also integrated into the recruitment and sampling approach.

Specifically, we were interested in how ECE teachers who were teaching virtually viewed their experiences and the challenges and needs associated with it. We received 1434 responses from ECE teachers in 46 states.