Nearly All Schools Were Offering In-Person Instruction by End of Year, National Survey Shows

Ninety-eight percent of U.S. public schools with fourth- and eighth-graders were offering instruction in classrooms by the end of the academic year, according to the final data from the 2021 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) School Survey released today by the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES). Sixty-three percent of U.S. public schools were open for full-time in-person instruction for all students, and only two percent of U.S. public schools offered only remote learning for students.

"The overall numbers from May are better than anyone could have reasonably expected when we launched this survey earlier this year," said Mark Schneider, the director of IES, the research, statistics, and evaluation arm of the U.S. Department of Education. "But reopening schools and welcoming back students was the first step, but the hardest work is still to come. We must do all we can as a nation to ensure that all students, especially the most high-need students who have already borne the brunt of the coronavirus and its effects, recover from any learning losses." 

At the close of the school year, about 73 percent of fourth- and eighth-graders were enrolled in at least some in-person instruction, and about half of the nation's fourth- and eighth-graders were attending school full-time in-person.

"While the overall numbers are the best we have seen, disparities in enrollment remain," said Peggy G. Carr, acting commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, which administered the survey. "The majority of Asian fourth- and eighth-graders are still receiving remote-only instruction, while the majority of Black and Hispanic students were receiving some form of in-person instruction by the end of year, though rates of in-person enrollment for all of these groups trailed White students. We have a lot of work ahead to recover from these disparities by student groups."  

In August of this year, IES will launch a new study designed to gather information on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education. The IES School Pulse Panel (SPP) will survey school and district staff drawn from 1,200 public elementary, middle, and high schools to provide data on student enrollment in various instructional modes, as well as other indicators such as strategies to address pandemic-related learning needs; safe and healthy school mitigation strategies; mental health and special education services; and information on staffing.

"The IES School Pulse Panel survey will be a wealth of timely, credible information focused on school reopening efforts as reported directly by school and district staff working in American schools and school systems," said Chris Chapman, NCES associate commissioner for sample surveys, the division responsible for the upcoming study. "We will report key findings from the panel each month to inform federal and state response and recovery planning as the country grapples with the long-term effects of the pandemic."

KEY FINDINGS

Other findings from the survey include:

• In May, nearly all—98 percent—public schools with a grade 4 or 8 were open for some form of in-person instruction (hybrid or full-time in-person) to at least some students—up 2 percentage points since April, and 21 points from January, when 77 percent of public schools offered some form of in-person instruction. 

• Sixty-three percent of public schools were open for full-time in-person instruction to all students—up 4 points since April, and 16 points from January, when 46 percent of public schools offered full-time in-person instruction to all students. 

• Only two percent of schools offered no in-person instruction (were full-time remote only)—down 2 points since April, and 21 points from January, when 23 percent of public schools offered only remote instruction. 

• There were regional variations in the availability of full-time in-person instruction. Schools in the West offered full-time in-person instruction to fourth- and eighth-graders at a lower rate than schools in the other regions, with 37 percent of schools in the West offering in-person instruction compared to 58 percent of schools in the Northeast, 72 percent of schools in the Midwest, and 75 of schools in the South. 

• Seventy-three percent of public school fourth- and eighth-graders were enrolled in some form of in-person instruction (hybrid or full-time in-person) in May—up 2 points since April, and 21 points from January, when 51 percent of fourth- and eighth-graders were enrolled in some form of in-person instruction. 

• Forty-nine percent of students were enrolled full-time in-person—up 3 points since April and 16 points from January, when 33 percent of fourth- and eighth-graders were enrolled full-time in-person. 

• Twenty-seven percent of students were enrolled in full-time remote learning—down 2 points since April and 19 points from January, when 46 percent of students were enrolled in full-time remote learning. 

• Twenty-four percent of fourth-graders and 30 percent of eighth-graders were enrolled in full-time remote learning. 

• For fourth-graders, the percentage of students enrolled in full-time remote learning declined 1 point from April, when 26 percent of fourth-graders were enrolled in full-time remote learning, and 19 points from January, when 43 percent of fourth-graders were enrolled in full-time remote learning. 

• For eighth-graders, the percentage of students enrolled in full-time remote learning declined 3 points from April, when 30 percent of eighth-graders were enrolled in full-time remote learning, and 18 points from January, when 48 percent of eighth-graders were enrolled in full-time remote learning.

The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) is the independent and nonpartisan statistics, research, and evaluation arm of the U.S. Department of Education. Its mission is to provide scientific evidence on which to ground education practice and policy and to share this information in formats that are useful and accessible to educators, parents, policymakers, researchers, and the public.

The National Center for Education Statistics, a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, is the statistical center of the U.S. Department of Education and the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education in the U.S. and other nations. NCES, located within IES, fulfills a congressional mandate to collect, collate, analyze, and report complete statistics on the condition of American education; conduct and publish reports; and review and report on education activities internationally.