ERIC Number: ED671938
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2021-Aug
Pages: 33
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: 0000-00-00
The Revealed Preferences for School Reopening: Evidence from Public-School Disenrollment. EdWorkingPaper No. 21-446
Thomas S. Dee; Elizabeth Huffaker; Cheryl Philips; Eric Sagara
Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University
Before the 2020-21 school year, educators, policymakers, and parents confronted the stark and uncertain trade-offs implied by the health, educational, and economic consequences of offering instruction remotely, in person, or through a hybrid of the two. Most public schools in the U.S. chose remote-only instruction and enrollment fell dramatically (i.e., a loss of roughly 1.1 million K-12 students). We examine the impact of these choices on public-school enrollment using unique panel data that combine district-level enrollment trajectories with information on their instructional modes. We find offering remote-only instead of in-person instruction reduced enrollment by 1.1 percentage points (i.e., a 42 percent increase in disenrollment from -2.6 to -3.7 percent). The disenrollment effects of remote instruction are concentrated in kindergarten and, to a lesser extent, elementary schools. We do not find consistent evidence that remote instruction influenced middle or high-school enrollment or that hybrid instruction had an impact.
Descriptors: Public Schools, Pandemics, COVID-19, School Closing, Distance Education, Electronic Learning, Declining Enrollment, In Person Learning, Kindergarten, Elementary Schools, Preferences, Educational Change, Evidence, Enrollment Rate, Enrollment Influences
Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University. Brown University Box 1985, Providence, RI 02912. Tel: 401-863-7990; Fax: 401-863-1290; e-mail: annenberg@brown.edu; Web site: https://annenberg.brown.edu/
Related Records: EJ1393074
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Elementary Education; Kindergarten; Primary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A