| NSF Org: |
DRL Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL) |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | December 14, 2017 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | December 14, 2017 |
| Award Number: | 1760584 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Celestine Pea
DRL Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL) EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
| Start Date: | December 15, 2017 |
| End Date: | December 31, 2018 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $199,934.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $199,934.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
104 AIRPORT DR STE 2200 CHAPEL HILL NC US 27599-5023 (919)966-3411 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
314 Cloister Court Chapel Hill NC US 27514-1733 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Hurricane Harvey 2017 |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
In the wake of a significant natural disaster, schoolchildren experience substantial disruption to their lives and psychological impacts at greater rates than adults do. However, studies of the effect of natural disasters on students' functioning in schools are rare and studies of the responses of schools and districts are even rarer. This Rapid Response Research (RAPID) project is a unique effort to collect data across diverse school districts with varied degrees of impacts from Hurricane Harvey in August 2017 and Hurricane Matthew in October 2016. The project will provide an understanding of the current strategies employed by schools for disaster recovery and their effectiveness as judged by school and district personnel. This study will also provide data that is critical to the pursuit of the larger study to understand the impact of hurricanes on the school functioning of students and the role of disaster recovery in mitigating that impact.
The project will conduct interviews, focus groups, and surveys with personnel from schools, districts, and state agencies in a sample of 20 districts in Texas and North Carolina that were heavily impacted by the hurricanes. The research questions the proposed study will seek to address are: (1) What impacts did the storms have? (2) How did schools respond to support students? and (3) How successful were those responses? The researchers will conduct 90-100 interviews and 20 focus groups with personnel from schools, districts, and state agencies in Texas and North Carolina to collect data on the effects of the hurricanes and the types of relief efforts undertaken at the school and district level. The research team will use the Constant Comparative Method to categorize and compare qualitative data, to assign codes and to develop subsequent themes found in the data. Coded themes will be related to (1) impacts of the hurricanes on students and schools (e.g., physical destruction of the schools, homeless students, and psychological distress), (2) school responses and supports provided, and (3) the perceived success of the recovery efforts and support from federal, state, and local agencies. Researchers will use the codes to identify and compare themes across different levels of government and across states. Similarly, researchers will use codes indicating school demographics to identify themes at the school level. Additionally, the research team will use codes to identify and tally the use of various strategies across sites. In North Carolina, researchers will administer closed-ended surveys to school personnel in 10 districts to collect perceptions of the success of the recovery in mitigating effects on students one-year after Hurricane Matthew. Survey data will be combined with school and district level data on demographics, grade levels served, and community characteristics. Also, data from the qualitative analysis will be used to create categorical variables to group districts and individual schools within districts by the types of impacts on students and schools (e.g., physical destruction of the school) and the school response and supports provided to students (e.g., provision of counseling services). The research team will use z-tests of proportions, chi-squared tests, and multivariate regression models to descriptively compare the perceived impacts on students and perceived success of the recovery efforts across schools and districts with different demographics, community characteristics, grade spans, impacts, and response and support strategies. Researchers in Texas and North Carolina will discuss findings and use the combined results to generate scientific publications and policy reports that can inform future disaster planning and recovery.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Promising Practices When Schools Are Hit by Hurricanes
In 2016, there were 10 declared disasters due to hurricanes in the US, in 2017 there were 26, and there have been 13 in 2018. After a hurricane hits, schools must manage recovery efforts that consider the needs of their students, staff, facilities, and communities. Hurricane recovery requires assessing damages and being creative to address difficult situations at a time when resources are limited. However, studies of the responses of schools and districts after disasters are rare and very little evidence currently exists to guide educators and policymakers in designing the most effective recovery plans for school district and state education agencies in the wake of a disaster. Yet, disasters occur, and recovery efforts must take place.
This project identifies major issues for schools recovering from hurricanes and promising practices for recovery. Specifically, this project addresses three research questions relevant to school recovery after natural disasters: (1) What impacts did the storms have? (2) How did schools respond to support students? And, (3) How successful were those responses?
Data and Methods
To address these questions, we study schools and districts affected by Hurricane Harvey (August 2017) and Hurricane Matthew (October 2016). Between March 2018 and October 2018, the research team conducted 115 interviews and focus groups in 20 districts across Texas and North Carolina that were heavily affected by the hurricanes. District participation consisted of an interview with the district superintendent or another district administrator; interviews with up to three principals representing the elementary, middle, and high schools; and focus groups with teachers. Additional interviews were conducted with representatives from regional and state education agencies in each state. Interview transcripts were coded to identify themes related to hurricane recovery. Additionally, the team administered an online survey to North Carolina school and district personnel across sampled sites. Ultimately, educator respondents completed 1722 online surveys.
The Effects of a Storm: Disruption and Displacement
Throughout the interviews and surveys, participants discussed how hurricanes impacted students through disruption and displacement. Many students and staff were personally impacted through damage to their homes, loss of personal items, and relocation either to emergency shelters or to homes of family and friends. In addition to the personal impacts, students and staff experienced disruption at school when damage to buildings forced relocations either within a campus or to other buildings.
Many of the disruptions after the hurricanes led to a loss of instructional time. School closure increased absence to help with family recovery, and increased tardies when students lived farther away all mean that students were had less time at school. While at school, there were increased social-emotional needs that can hinder both students’ and staff’s ability to focus.
Promising Practices
We identified several promising practices for hurricane recovery that we recommend schools incorporate into their recovery plans. Broadly, schools emphasized the need to quickly return to a familiar routine in order to help students cope with the disruption following a disaster. Setting a routine helps provide a sense of normalcy during a period of displacement and disruption.
Participants recommended that schools recovering from a disaster reconsider what is required from students and staff. Relaxing the dress code, reducing homework, and overlooking tardies help acknowledge students’ recovery efforts happening outside of school. Similarly, being flexible with time off after schools reopened acknowledges the reality of recovery for staff. While staff were rebuilding their homes, they were able to leave work to attend meetings with insurance agencies or contractors.
The roles of school and district staff shift during recovery efforts. Guidance counselors were frequently tasked with important administrative tasks after the storm—including updating student records to document student relocation and redesigning schedules to combine classes—which limited the time they were available for counseling. Teachers attended to mental health and social-emotional needs in their classrooms and needed support adjusting their curriculum to address these needs and cover the required material in a compressed timeline.
Maintaining communication between families, schools, districts, and other agencies is critical during a disaster. Participants emphasized the importance of having a system in place to monitor student, school, and district needs. This enables a point person to be specific in requests for donations, to better direct received donations, and to send thank you messages to donors.
Conclusions
Effective recovery plans must account for the specific challenges that schools face. During the recovery process, schools must balance efforts repairing their facilities, caring for students and staff amid crisis, and continuing the work of educating students. This project provides an opportunity to learn from schools in the midst of storm recovery and consider what policies other schools can adopt before the next disaster.
Last Modified: 03/20/2019
Modified by: Cassandra Davis
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