“This Is Not Online Education. It’s Disaster Education”: A Qualitative Study of Remote and Hybrid School Climates During COVID-19

In evaluating the experiences of students and educators during the COVID-19 pandemic, considerable attention has been given to teaching and learning. Less research examines school climate, an important predictor of academic outcomes. This study explores school climate in fully remote and hybrid learning environments between Fall 2020 and Spring 2021. Leveraging the expertise of K–12 student services professionals (school counselors, psychologists, and social workers), we qualitatively compared perceptions of aspects of school climate (i.e., relationships, well-being, and self-efficacy) for students and educators. While we expected hybrid schools to have some advantages over fully remote schools for school climate, we found that both types of schools were grappling with disaster educators. Similar issues, such as concerns about student isolation and the demands placed on educators, emerged across participant descriptions of school climate in both settings. The findings can inform planning for future disruptions and crisis events in schools.