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Excited to share a new nationally representative survey of parents out today via @EducationNext. Conducted in late-November, it offers the most detailed picture to date of how U.S. students are being educated this year. A thread with a few highlights: 1/n https://www.educationnext.org/pandemic-parent-survey-finds-perverse-pattern-students-more-likely-to-be-attending-school-in-person-where-covid-is-spreading-more-rapidly/
First, some context: President-elect Biden has made safely reopening a majority of K-8 schools a priority for his first 100 days, with the goal of getting more kids in classrooms. But it is hard to know where we stand with respect to that goal. 2/n
Yes, various orgs have tracked districts’ reopening plans, but those plans may not capture reality on the ground and often give parents some choice about how their child is educated. So we decided to go directly to parents. 3/n
According to parent reports, 53% of students are receiving instruction entirely remotely. Only 28% of students receive all their instruction in person. Parents of 19% of students say their children are learning via a hybrid model. 4/n
The goal of the remote and hybrid models is obviously to limit Covid spread. But we find that the availability and use of in-person instruction in November is unrelated to local Covid incidence at the start of 2020–2021 school year, when most districts made their plans. 5/n
By November, students were more likely to be attending school fully in person in counties where the virus was spreading most rapidly (as measured by new cases in the past month per capita in the county). 6/n
To be clear, this is NOT evidence that in-person school is causing viral spread. But it does indicate that our decentralized decisionmaking process amid the pandemic has produced a perverse result: in-person instruction is most common where it is least likely to be safe. 7/n
We also find big demographic and partisan differences in modes of instruction. Availability and use of in-person instruction are lower for Black, Hispanic, and low-income children and higher for children of Republicans. 8/n
The partisan differences are not surprising, but we do provide the first evidence that Republicans are more likely to pick in-person instruction when given that option. 9/n
So how's school going for families this year? It depends how you ask. Most parents say they're satisfied with the instruction and activities available at their child’s school, yet the parents of 60% of students report that their child is learning less due to the pandemic. 10/n
And there are big differences across modes of instruction: Satisfaction levels are highest—and reports of learning loss least common—for students attending school in person. The hybrid model appears to offer no advantage over fully remote instruction. 11/n
We also document large differences in modes of instruction across sectors. Well over half of district and charter students are fully remote; less than one quarter are fully in person. The percentages are nearly reversed for children attending private schools. 12/n
Perhaps for this reason, private-school parents are more satisfied and less likely to report substantial learning loss than are district and charter-school parents. 13/n
That’s it for the thread, but there’s much more in the survey. How many students are in pandemic pods? (We estimate 3mm.) Has there been a backlash against unions for opposing reopening? (Not yet.) Are fewer students enrolling in district schools? (Probably so.) 14/n
Again, you can find the article (co-authored with @ProfMHenderson and Paul Peterson) below. Please check them out and let us know what you think. 15/15. https://www.educationnext.org/pandemic-parent-survey-finds-perverse-pattern-students-more-likely-to-be-attending-school-in-person-where-covid-is-spreading-more-rapidly
