School Learning Modalities, 2021-2022

The 2021-2022 School Learning Modalities dataset provides weekly estimates of school learning modality (including in-person, remote, or hybrid learning) for U.S. K-12 public and independent charter school districts for the 2021-2022 school year and the Fall 2022 semester, from August 2021 – December 2022.

These data were modeled using multiple sources of input data (see below) to infer the most likely learning modality of a school district for a given week. These data should be considered district-level estimates and may not always reflect true learning modality, particularly for districts in which data are unavailable. If a district reports multiple modality types within the same week, the modality offered for the majority of those days is reflected in the weekly estimate. All school district metadata are sourced from the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) for 2020-2021.

School learning modality types are defined as follows:

• In-Person: All schools within the district offer face-to-face instruction 5 days per week to all students at all available grade levels.


• Remote: Schools within the district do not offer face-to-face instruction; all learning is conducted online/remotely to all students at all available grade levels.


• Hybrid: Schools within the district offer a combination of in-person and remote learning; face-to-face instruction is offered less than 5 days per week, or only to a subset of students.

Data Information

• School learning modality data provided here are model estimates using combined input data and are not guaranteed to be 100% accurate. This learning modality dataset was generated by combining data from four different sources: Burbio [1], MCH Strategic Data [2], the AEI/Return to Learn Tracker [3], and state dashboards [4-20]. These data were combined using a Hidden Markov model which infers the sequence of learning modalities (In-Person, Hybrid, or Remote) for each district that is most likely to produce the modalities reported by these sources. This model was trained using data from the 2020-2021 school year. Metadata describing the location, number of schools and number of students in each district comes from NCES [21].


• You can read more about the model in the CDC MMWR: COVID-19–Related School Closures and Learning Modality Changes — United States, August 1–September 17, 2021.


• The metrics listed for each school learning modality reflect totals by district and the number of enrolled students per district for which data are available. School districts represented here exclude private schools and include the following NCES subtypes:
  
  
  
  • Public school district that is NOT a component of a supervisory union
  
  
  • Public school district that is a component of a supervisory union
  
  
  • Independent charter district
  
  
  
  


• “BI” in the state column refers to school districts funded by the Bureau of Indian Education.

Technical Notes

• Data from August 1, 2021 to June 24, 2022 correspond to the 2021-2022 school year. During this time frame, data from the AEI/Return to Learn Tracker and most state dashboards were not available. Inferred modalities with a probability below 0.6 were deemed inconclusive and were omitted. During the Fall 2022 semester, modalities for districts with a school closure reported by Burbio were updated to either “Remote”, if the closure spanned the entire week, or “Hybrid”, if the closure spanned 1-4 days of the week.


• Data from August 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022 correspond to the 2022-2023 school year and were processed in a similar manner to data from the 2021-2022 school year.


• Data for the month of July may show “In Person” status although most school districts are effectively closed during this time for summer break. Users may wish to exclude July data from use for this reason where applicable.

Sources

1. K-12 School Opening Tracker. Burbio 2021; https://cai.burbio.com/school-opening-tracker/. June 2021.


2. COVID-19 IMPACT: School District Operational Status. MCH Strategic Data: 2021; https://www.mchdata.com/covid19/schoolclosings. (30 June 2021, date last accessed).


3. Return to Learn Tracker. American Enterprise Institute 2021; https://www.returntolearntracker.net/. (30 June 2021, date last accessed).


4. Colorado School District Reopening Plans. Colorado Department of Education 2021; https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQipdjO8QWhilhhJ4bX0FBebnHEzK1G3LEDQbE_S-xRvs2t0oHNm--acHwMRFmL9uKw4cXcOUqy1V66/pubhtml. (30 June 2021, date last accessed).


5. Connecticut Report Cards. Connecticut State Department of Education 2021; http://edsight.ct.gov/SASPortal/main.do. (30 June 2021, date last accessed).


6. COVID Planning Tool. Hawaii Department of Education 2021; https://public.tableau.com/views/COVIDPlanningTool-Embed700px/SimpleDashboard. (30 June 2021, date last accessed).


7. Idaho School District Status. Idaho State Department of Education 2021; https://ioem.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/379299e56f234fa89cff3c8c6acf3ac8. (30 June 2021, date last accessed).


8. How Illinois Districts Are Providing Instruction: Virtual, In-Person, and Blended Learning. Illinois State Board of Education 2021; https://isp.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/fceeacb37da04de4b237ed941dd7d5c4. (30 June 2021, date last accessed).


9. Digital Learning Model Schools. Louisiana Department of Education 2021; https://analytics.la.gov/t/DOE/views/DigitalLearningModel/SchoolLevelModeofLearning. (30 June 2021, date last accessed).


10. Safe Learning Model Dashboard. Minnesota Department of Education 2021; https://analytics.education.state.mn.us/t/MDEPublic/views/MN_Safe_Learning_Model/Dashboard. (30 June 2021, date last accessed).


11. Coronavirus (COVID-19) information. Missouri Department of Elementary & Secondary Education 2021; https://dese.mo.gov/communications/coronavirus-covid-19-information. (30 June 2021, date last accessed).


12. North Carolina School Dashboard. North Carolina Department of Public Instruction 2021. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1We8gDpa4Do5NR83Nf8niGE_YxzLDf-KZh-tVWifStxE/edit#gid=0. (30 June 2021, date last accessed).


13. Ring the Bell: Return to In-Person Learning. New Mexico Public Education Department 2021; https://webnew.ped.state.nm.us/reentry-district-and-school-guidance/. (30 June 2021, date last accessed).


14. Reset and Restart Education. Ohio Department of Education 2021; http://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Reset-and-Restart. (30 June 2021, date last accessed).


15. 2020-21 School Status. Oregon Department of Education 2021; https://www.oregon.gov/ode/students-and-family/healthsafety/Pages/2020-21-School-Status.aspx. (30 June 2021, date last accessed).


16. Current Operational Status. South Carolina Department of Education 2021; https://ed.sc.gov/districts-schools/schools/district-and-school-closures/operational-status/#blk2102. (30 June 2021, date last accessed).


17. Tennessee Department of Education COVID-19 District Information. Tennessee Department of Education 2021; https://districtinformation.tnedu.gov/covid-information/search/-1. (30 June 2021, date last accessed).


18. State Snapshot: Virginia School Operational Status. Virginia Department of Education 2021; https://www.doe.virginia.gov/support/health_medical/office/reopen-status.shtml. (30 June 2021, date last accessed).


19. Current Reopening Status of Vermont's K-12 Public Schools. Vermont Department of Financial Regulation 2021; https://dfr.vermont.gov/about-us/covid-19/school-reopening#public-school. (30 June 2021, date last accessed).


20. School Reopening Data. Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction 2021; https://www.k12.wa.us/about-ospi/press-releases/novel-coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-resources/school-reopening-data. (30 June 2021, date last accessed).


21. Public school districts. National Center for Education Statistics 2021; https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/districtsearch/. (30 June 2021, date last accessed).