Virtual Learning in Kindergarten Through Grade 12 During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Chronic Absenteeism
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) William N Evans, University of Notre Dame; Kathryn Muchnick, University of Notre Dame; Olivia Roselund, University of Notre Dame
Version: View help for Version V1
| Name | File Type | Size | Last Modified |
|---|---|---|---|
| replication_code | 08/19/2024 08:26:AM |
Project Citation:
Evans, William N, Muchnick, Kathryn, and Roselund, Olivia. Virtual Learning in Kindergarten Through Grade 12 During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Chronic Absenteeism. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2024-08-21. https://doi.org/10.3886/E207769V1
Project Description
Summary:
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Chronic absenteeism among K-12 students has increased considerably after the COVID-19 pandemic. We examine the relationship between virtual learning during the 2020/21 school year (SY) and chronic absenteeism during the 2021/22 SY at the school district level. We construct a panel at the school districts level for the 2018/19 and 2021/22 SYs. Chronic absenteeism rates are regressed on the percentage of school days in a learning mode in the previous SY, demographic and socioeconomic controls, plus district and year fixed effects. Observations are weighted by district enrollment and standard errors are clustered at the district level. The key covariates in our analysis are the percentage of hybrid and virtual school days in the previous school year. We assume that these values in the 2018/19 SY were zero. Our data set has 11,017 school districts for 2 years and 22,034 observations. Chronic absenteeism rates increased from 15.9% in 2018/19 SY to 29.4% in the 2021/22 SY. Students whose schools had 100% virtual instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic had chronic absenteeism rates that were 6.9 percentage points higher (95% confidence interval [CI] of 4.8 to 8.9). The coefficient on hybrid instruction is statistically insignificant. The correlation between virtual learning and chronic absenteeism varies by socioeconomic status with the conditional correlation much larger for at-risk students. Chronic absenteeism rates were 10.6 percentage points higher (95% CI of 7.2 to 14.1) among students with 100% of days in virtual learning from districts in the top quintile of poverty rates. In this cross-section study, chronic absenteeism rates were substantially higher in school districts that used virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding how to reduce chronic absenteeism and use the virtual learning without potentially negative consequences are key policy questions moving forward.
This contains the data and stata code to replicate the results in
William N. Evans, Kathryn Muchnick, Olivia Rosenlund. 2024. Virtual learning
in kindergarten through grade 12 during the COVID-19 pandemic and chronic absenteeism. JAMA Netw Open. 7(8):e2429569. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.29569
Chronic absenteeism among K-12 students has increased considerably after the COVID-19 pandemic. We examine the relationship between virtual learning during the 2020/21 school year (SY) and chronic absenteeism during the 2021/22 SY at the school district level. We construct a panel at the school districts level for the 2018/19 and 2021/22 SYs. Chronic absenteeism rates are regressed on the percentage of school days in a learning mode in the previous SY, demographic and socioeconomic controls, plus district and year fixed effects. Observations are weighted by district enrollment and standard errors are clustered at the district level. The key covariates in our analysis are the percentage of hybrid and virtual school days in the previous school year. We assume that these values in the 2018/19 SY were zero. Our data set has 11,017 school districts for 2 years and 22,034 observations. Chronic absenteeism rates increased from 15.9% in 2018/19 SY to 29.4% in the 2021/22 SY. Students whose schools had 100% virtual instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic had chronic absenteeism rates that were 6.9 percentage points higher (95% confidence interval [CI] of 4.8 to 8.9). The coefficient on hybrid instruction is statistically insignificant. The correlation between virtual learning and chronic absenteeism varies by socioeconomic status with the conditional correlation much larger for at-risk students. Chronic absenteeism rates were 10.6 percentage points higher (95% CI of 7.2 to 14.1) among students with 100% of days in virtual learning from districts in the top quintile of poverty rates. In this cross-section study, chronic absenteeism rates were substantially higher in school districts that used virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding how to reduce chronic absenteeism and use the virtual learning without potentially negative consequences are key policy questions moving forward.
Scope of Project
Subject Terms:
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COVID-19;
Chronic Absenteeism;
Virtual learning
Geographic Coverage:
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National
Time Period(s):
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8/2018 – 6/2022 (The 2018/19 and 2021/22 School Years)
Universe:
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The data consists of 11,017 public school districts throughout the US
Data Type(s):
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administrative records data;
aggregate data;
census/enumeration data
Methodology
Data Source:
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Common Core of data
Weights:
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All results are weighted by district enrollment
Unit(s) of Observation:
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The school district in a given year
Geographic Unit:
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School districts
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