RAPID: Investigating School District Resilience and the Impact of Hurricane Exposure on Student Outcomes

北卡罗来纳州在过去20年中因飓风或热带风暴而经历了11次重大灾害。此外，自1851年以来，每两年就有一个热带气旋袭击该州。虽然自然灾害频繁发生，但了解和支持公立学校应对此类灾害的努力却很少。这个快速反应研究（RAPID）项目是一项探索性的混合方法研究，调查受飓风佛罗伦萨（2018年）和马修（2016年）影响的北卡罗来纳州学校恢复的脆弱性和弹性的影响。具体来说，该研究评估了受两次风暴影响的学校是否使用组织学习策略比受飓风佛罗伦萨或马修单独影响的学校更快地恢复。该项目追求三个研究问题：（1）什么特征预测学区弹性？(2)先前的灾难经历如何帮助/阻碍弹性恢复？(3)弹性地区的学生是否表现出更少的学习损失或更快地从学习损失中恢复过来？这个混合方法的项目将涉及访谈，焦点小组和调查与学校和地区的工作人员在一个有目的的样本的15个地区在北卡罗来纳州受到严重影响的风暴和那些只受到一个。这些定性数据将被用来得出复原力的标志，然后用于定量分析。全州范围内学生成绩数据的定量比较（例如，此外，还将在三类地区进行评估（成绩、出勤率）：受两次风暴影响的地区、仅受一次风暴影响的地区和完全未受影响的地区。定量数据将取自现有的纵向数据库，其中包括北卡罗来纳州所有学生的个人特征、出勤率、停学和学习成绩。在北卡罗来纳州的15个地区的有目的的抽样允许一个新的比较的影响，恢复和组织学习在两个灾难和随着时间的推移。灾害可以为组织变革创造机会，从而在未来的危机中提高复原力;然而，现有的研究很少关注学校是否以及如何在飓风等自然灾害发生后恢复和保持复原力。该项目可以通过为那些受到自然灾害单一和反复影响的学校提供经验教训和行动路线图，使处于危机中的学校受益。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

North Carolina has experienced 11 major disasters due to hurricanes or tropical storms over the past 20 years. Moreover, one tropical cyclone has hit the state every two years since 1851. Although natural disasters are frequent, efforts to understand and support public schools' responses to such disasters are rare. This Rapid Response Research (RAPID) project is an exploratory mixed methods study investigating the impact of vulnerability and resilience in the recovery of North Carolina schools affected by both Hurricanes Florence (2018) and Matthew (2016). Specifically, the study assesses whether schools that were impacted by both storms used organizational learning strategies to recover faster than schools that were impacted by either Hurricane Florence or Matthew alone. The project pursues three research questions: (1) What characteristics predict school district resilience? (2) How does prior disaster experience aid/hinder a resilient recovery? (3) Do students in resilient districts show less learning loss or rebound from learning loss more quickly?This mixed methods project will involve interviews, focus groups and surveys with school and district personnel in a purposive sample of 15 districts across North Carolina that were heavily impacted by both storms and those that were affected by only one. These qualitative data will be used to derive markers of resilience that will then be used in quantitative analyses. Quantitative comparisons of state-wide data on student outcomes (e.g., achievement, attendance) will also be made across three kinds of districts: those that were affected by both storms, those that were affected by only one storm and those that were not affected at all. Quantitative data will be taken from an existing longitudinal database that includes individual student characteristics, attendance, suspensions and academic performance for all students in North Carolina. The purposive sampling of 15 districts in North Carolina allows for a novel comparison of impact, recovery and organizational learning across two disasters and over time. Disasters can create an opportunity for organizational change leading to greater resiliency in future crises; however, little extant research has focused on whether and how schools recover and remain resilient in the aftermath of natural disasters, such as hurricanes. This project can benefit schools in crisis by providing lessons learned and a roadmap for action to schools that are singularly and repeatedly impacted by natural disasters.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.