Public Opinion on − COVID-19 and K 12 Education 2020 Schooling in America Wave 1 (May 22−June 2, 2020) KEY FINDINGS BACKGROUND COVID-19 IMPACTS REMOTE LEARNING LOOKING AHEAD RACE/ETHNICITY SURVEY PROFILE 2 KEY FINDINGS  Majorities of the general public give high grades (A/B) to local and state institutions on their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. They indicate national institutions are lagging. – Roughly two-thirds of Americans give A/B grades to local schools and businesses (68% and 66%, respectively). – Americans are much more likely to give low grades (D/F) to the federal government and national news media (34% and 30%, respectively), compared to local and state institutions.  At the end of the school year, a very large proportion of parents said they would likely choose distance/e-learning for their children if the local school district provided the option. – More than 40 percent of parents indicate they would be extremely/very likely to choose distance or online learning rather than their child physically going back to school in the fall. – 58 percent of parents in households reporting at least one high-risk child—but no adults at high-risk—indicate they are much more willing to choose distance/e-learning if given the option.  At the end of last school year, 22 percent of parents indicated they were “not at all” comfortable returning their children to school this fall. Another 25 percent said they were only “slightly” comfortable. 3 KEY FINDINGS  Nearly one-fourth of current school parents (22%) have at least one school-aged child in their household who is at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19. – Parents in households with at least one high-risk child—but no adults at high-risk—are much more likely to say they have children attending non-district schools.  The top challenge for about half of all current school parents during the pandemic is trying to keep to a schedule or routine.  Parents report a mixed picture regarding the well-being of their children. – Parents are more likely to say their children are more stressed now compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic (45% vs. 34%). – However, parents generally are roughly split on whether their children are happier or unhappier (38% vs. 40%). – Parents of high-risk children—with no adults at high-risk in the household—tend to say their say their children are more stressed (51%). Surprisingly, a majority of this group also say the children are happier now (52%). – Based on parent reports, a plurality of children (45%) are more stressed now compared to before the pandemic. But a higher proportion of children (58%) are feeling even more stressed while living in households where parent employment has been affected by the pandemic. 4 KEY FINDINGS  Exposure to COVID-19 is the greatest concern among parents, now and for the near future. – Nearly equal proportions say they are extremely/very concerned about virus exposure right now for their children (50%) and when thinking about exposure in the coming months (51%). – At least 40 percent of parents are extremely/very concerned about their children falling behind academically, feeling socially isolated, having major disruptions to school re-openings this fall, and missing extracurricular activities and programs because of cancellations.  Parents say they now feel more prepared to facilitate distance/online learning. – Two out of five (40%) say they are now extremely/very prepared to do this now. That response is +14 points higher than how they recall feeling prepared before the pandemic (26%).  Parent reports about distance learning reveal a wide range of experiences in terms of students’ workload hours/day and the percentage of time they interacted with teachers. – Half of parents report their children spent at least 3.5 hours on schoolwork on a given day of distance learning. The same proportion say at least 20 percent of this time was spent interacting with a teacher. One out of five parents report no real-time interactions. 5 KEY FINDINGS  Comparing parents of different race/ethnicity finds both some concerning and surprising results that warrant deeper research and polling with bigger sample sizes. – A large proportion of Black parents (51%) and Hispanic parents (50%) indicated they are at least “very likely” to choose remote learning for their children if their district provides that option. – Nearly one-third of Black parents (31%) indicated they are “not at all” comfortable returning their children to school this fall. About one-fifth of Hispanic and white parents expressed the same opinion. – Black and white parents were more likely than Hispanic parents to say keeping a schedule or routine is a major challenge these days. The concerns of Hispanic parents are more evenly spread across a number of major themes. – Nearly half of Hispanic parents (46%) say their child is unhappier now, compared to before the start of the pandemic. And just over half of Hispanics (52%) say their child is more stressed now. Black parents were more likely than other groups of parents to report less child stress and their children being happier now. – Black parents were more likely than Hispanic or white parents to report that their child’s academic learning progress was better than before school closures. (48% better vs. 23% worse) Hispanic parents more likely to say things have gotten worse. (46% worse vs. 29% better) – Black parents were more likely than other groups of parents to report at the end of the school year that their child’s well-being—social or emotional—was better than before school closures. 6 KEY FINDINGS BACKGROUND COVID-19 IMPACTS REMOTE LEARNING LOOKING AHEAD RACE/ETHNICITY SURVEY PROFILE 7 Nearly one-fourth of current school parents have at least one school-aged child in their household who is at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19. % of Respondents Indicating Household Risk Type HOUSEHOLD RISK TYPE Yes, one or more school-aged children, but nobody else Yes, at least one school-aged child and at least one other person Yes, at least one person who is not a school-aged child No person in my house falls into any of these categories General Population 4 6 32 59 Notes: We define “high risk” using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines. Responses of "Don't Know" and "Refusal" not shown. For the online survey, respondents were permitted to skip the question, which is also not shown. Source: EdChoice, 2020 Schooling in School Parents 12 10 16 61 America Survey (conducted May 22−June 2, 2020), QCP24 8 Parents reported that six out of 10 students attended public district schools in February—far exceeding student attendance at any other school type. SCHOOL % of All Students Reported by Current School Parents’ Responses ATTENDANCE IN FEBRUARY (PRE- Public District School 61 PANDEMIC) Private School 16 Home School 13 Source: EdChoice, 2020 Schooling in America Survey (conducted May 22−June 2, 2020), QCP3 Public Charter School 9 9 Students living in households where at least one child is at high-risk for COVID—but no adults at high-risk—are more likely to have diverse schooling experiences (by type) than other households. SCHOOL % of All Students Reported by Current School Parents’ Responses ATTENDANCE IN by Self-reported Household Risk Type Public District School FEBRUARY Public Charter School (PRE- Private School Home School PANDEMIC) 46 School-Aged Child(ren) 15 But Not Others in 23 Household at Higher Risk 17 72 School-Aged Child(ren) 5 and Other(s) in 9 Household at Higher Risk 14 Source: EdChoice, 2020 Schooling in 65 America Survey (conducted May 22−June Nobody in Household at 8 2, 2020), QCP3 Higher Risk 15 12 10