Trends and Observations: In addition to observations from across the US, this week we feature a look back on in-person trends over the course of the year with a series of visuals that illustrate the year.
Trends and Observations: K-12 transitions have come to a close as the numbers are now fixed for the balance of the year, with just over 30% of US K-12 students attending hybrid or virtual schools. We saw some large districts announce virtual offerings for next year, have a "Year in Review" chart comparing K-5, 6-8, and 9-12 learning plans, and state-level mask mandates continue to be removed.
Trends and Observations: This week we feature a "Year-In-Review" summary of in-person learning in big city districts versus the balance of the country as well as evolving policy around distancing and in-school mask mandates.
Trends and Observations: Transitions slowed to a crawl this week but we did see some interesting policy movement at the state and local level with regard to re-openings. We also introduce a national map of school mask policies.
Trends and Observations: Transitions are almost complete and we expect the academic year to end with roughly 30% of US K-12 students attending either hybrid or virtual schools. Policy shifts around masks in schools accelerated this week, and we offer a snapshot as to how local economies will be affected by the shifting timing and behaviors of the upcoming Back to School period.
Trends and Observations: As the year comes to a close there are very few transitions - from virtual to in-person, or from hybrid to traditional - left to be made, so the shifts were much smaller. This week we take a look at Washington DC as a case study of an urban district with announced plans to offer traditional next Fall, trends in summer school, and districts where middle and high school will stay virtual this entire academic year.
Trends and Observations: The continued drop in virtual this week was driven by grades 6-12 as the "Always Virtual" areas with long phase-ins offered in-person to more of these students. This week we review the regions of the country that have not yet offered traditional in-person this year and summarize the obstacles and unknowns around a nationwide return to traditional in-person next Fall.
Trends and Observations: This week the virtual-only figure took another drop as now 5.6% of all K-12 students are attending virtual-only schools. This week we examine the places where K-5 schools are still virtual, take a look at the developing landscape for virtual learning in the Fall of 2021, and review the shifting landscape of start dates for Fall 2021.
Trends and Observations: Over sixty percent of US K-12 students now attend schools that offer traditional in-person learning and less than ten percent attend virtual only schools as "Always Virtual" districts across the country introduce in-person and hybrid districts continue to move to traditional. This week we also observe some of the more limited definitions of in-person learning and note that NY State's recent adoption of CDC guidelines resulted in some schools reversing in-person learning plans.
Trends and Observations: We saw a 4.1% increase in the percentage of K-12 students attending traditional school this week as both virtual and hybrid continued to drop. The percentage of K-5 students in virtual dropped below 10% and the percent of high school students attending traditional schools went above 50%. Several states saw in-person jumps due to state level mandates. And for millions of US K-12 students, the school year is weeks away from coming to a close.
Trends and Observations: The percent of K-12 students attending traditional schools increased this week as both virtual and hybrid declined for the second straight week, driven by traditional transitions in grades 6-12. With over 30% of US students attending hybrid schools, this week we take a look at states where that format predominates.
Trends and Observations: This week represents the first time in our tracker where the percent of students attending virtual schools dropped in a given week and the percentage of students attending hybrid schools dropped as well, indicating a continued shift to traditional learning being offered by K-12 schools. Our data indicates it is the K-8 grade level that is driving that trend. We saw immediate reactions to the new CDC distancing guidelines, and this week we have a chart showing trends in learning plans over the course of this academic year. More below.
Trends and Observations: Over half of US K-12 students now attend schools with traditional learning and less than twenty percent attend virtual-only schools. The new 3 feet rule from the CDC will accelerate reopening, in particular conversions to traditional from hybrid, though many districts were already using the three foot standard. This week we introduce a chart showing the percentage of students that are virtual-only by state.
Trends and Observations: The number of students attending virtual dropped by 2.9% this week to 20.8%. Middle and high school students returned to in-person learning a bit faster than elementary this week, reflecting "long phase-in" transitions that started in February. The percentage of students in traditional learning grew faster than hybrid (2.2% versus 0.7%) reflecting continued transition to traditional in places that had been hybrid. State level mandates will quicken transitions, but not for a few weeks, and this week we present a bar chart of our in-person index by state.
Trends and Observations: This week the percent of students attending "virtual" schools dropped to under 25% on a national level. "Always Virtual" regions are returning their students in hybrid, but within the regions that have been hybrid since the Fall we are seeing a shift to traditional, in particular for K-5. The percent of K-5 students attending traditional schools now sits at 57%
Trends and Observations: In the Fall when districts introduced in-person for the first time it tended to be over no more than a two week period and included all students. In the "Always Virtual" areas many districts have what we are calling "The Long Phase-In" for introducing in-person learning.
Trends and Observations: With the short week, winter break in many districts, and difficult weather in much of the country we didn't see much local reaction to the new CDC Guidelines in district communications. This piece from NPR is a good overview of some of the issues created by the guidelines...
Trends and Observations: In the most important news of the week the Centers for Disease Control issued updated guidance that effectively nationalizes the discussion of school reopening by adding explicit community spread threshold benchmarks...
Trends and Observations: In "Always Virtual" areas, Virginia Governor Northam called on all K-12 schools in Virginia to make in-person learning available by March 15th.
Trends and Observations: Returns to in-person this week included big parts of Colorado, Georgia, and pockets of the Midwest. The overwhelming majority of schools introducing in-person learning this month had students in the classroom in early November.
Trends and Observations: We counted schools in 26 states returning from virtual-only to in-person options, generally in small to mid-size districts concentrated in the Midwest and Northeast.The largest groups returned in Maricopa County, AZ, El Paso County, TX, Kent County, MI, Fairfield County, CT, Morris and Bergen Counties, NJ, parts of Cook County IL outside Chicago, and Fulton County GA.
Trends and Observations: We counted schools in 26 states returning from virtual-only to in-person options, generally in small to mid-size districts concentrated in the Midwest and Northeast.
Trends and Observations: The next two weeks are big for planned returns to the classroom. Delaware's governor encouraged districts to open in hybrid on January 11th after almost all schools were virtual around the holiday. Mobile, Alabama plans to return to in-person this week, as does New Hanover, NC plus many districts throughout the Midwest, among them St.Louis, Mo.
Trends and Observations: The virtual-increase since our report the week before Christmas was driven by post-break in-person closures, primarily in the Northeast. Districts such as Yonkers, NY, Lower Merion, PA, Central Islip, NY, and Ridgewood, NJ are just a few of many that are virtual this week...
Trends and Observations: Many districts have just announced delays to in-person learning after the holiday. In Rhode Island, the entire state's schools will now return in-person no earlier than January 7th (a Thursday) and no later than January 15th, after starting virtual.
Trends and Observations: NYC began in-person learning for K-5 students and special needs students this week. Only a portion of eligible students chose in-person learning.
Trends and Observations: Large scale announcements this week included Kansas City Schools postponing in person return to at least April and the Governor of Delaware recommending - but not ordering - all schools in the state to close through January 8th.
Trends and Observations: In an abrupt adjustment after recently closing schools to in-person learning, on Sunday November 29th New York Announced students in K-5 would return to classroom beginning December 7th...
Trends and Observations: We have seen closures in over 30 states in the past three weeks, including the widely reported closures of New York City Public Schools...
Trends and Observations: A number of large districts concentrated across the middle part of the US closed to in-person learning this week. Immediate changes include...
Trends and Observations: As foreseen in earlier summaries, community spread thresholds are now preventing districts attempting in-person openings for the first time.
Trends and Observations: This week saw a continuation of the transition to in-person for a number of districts, but the move away from virtual is slowing dramatically...
Trends and Observations: Again this week over 3% of US K-12 students moved from attending virtual-only schools to traditional in-person or hybrid plan. Large parts Harris County, TX (Houston), Marion County, IN (Indianapolis) and...
Trends and Observations: Covid closings are moving beyond school specific outbreaks to community spread thresholds. NY was the first widely reported state to close schools due to community spread but this week . . .
Trends and Observations: Over 4% of US K-12 students, or roughly 2MM students, moved from attending virtual-only school to traditional in-person or hybrid plans this week. Miami, FL, Forth Worth, TX...
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