Going the Distance

An unflinching yet ultimately hopeful appraisal of the workplace factors that determine career risk and resilience among K-12 teachers, informed by the lessons of the COVID-19 crisis

In Going the Distance, Lora Bartlett, Alisun Thompson, Judith Warren Little, and Riley Collins examine the professional conditions that support career commitment among K-12 educators--and the factors that threaten teacher retention. Drawing insight from the period of significant teacher turnover and burnout both during and beyond COVID-19 school shutdowns in the United States, the authors offer clear guidance for policies and practices that meet the needs of teachers and nourish a robust teaching workforce.

The work presents vivid firsthand accounts of teaching during crisis that were captured as part of the Suddenly Distant Research Project, a longitudinal study of the experiences of seventy-five teachers in nine states over thirty months, from the school closures of spring 2020 through two full school years. The authors characterize the pandemic as a perspective-shifting experience that exposed existing structural problems and created new ones: a widespread sociopolitical framing of teaching as an occupation constrained by strict regulation and oversight, an overreliance on test-based accountability, a decline in public investment in education, and growing legislative constraints on what teachers could teach.

Identifying contextual differences between teachers who left and those who persevered, the work calls for solutions--including increased teacher voice, collaborative workplace cultures, and reforming school accountability systems--that support teachers to pursue ambitious educational goals in ordinary times and equip them to respond rapidly and capably in times of crisis.