Enrollment and School Experiences with COVID-19: Winter 2022

Today, NCES released the latest round of findings from the experimental Institute of Education Sciences School Pulse Panel and a new round of data collected through the National Assessment of Educational Progress pre-assessment activities. These data examine learning modes, quarantine prevalence, and COVID-19 mitigation strategies within schools. Findings include:  Forty-four percent of public schools reported having at least one teaching vacancy as of January 2022. Of schools reporting at least one vacancy, 45 percent reported vacancies for special education teachers, 31 percent reported vacancies for general elementary teachers, and 20 percent reported vacancies for substitute teachers. For public schools who reported having either a teaching or staff vacancy, over 50 percent of vacancies were due to resignation. To cover staffing vacancies, over half of these schools reported the increased need to use school staff outside of their intended duties. Sixty-one percent of public schools that reported having at least one vacancy specifically identified the COVID-19 pandemic as a cause of increased teaching and non-teaching staff vacancies.  Less than 2 percent of fourth-and eighth-grade public school students were enrolled in remote learning in winter 2022. As of January 2022, about 99 percent of public schools reported requiring students to quarantine, most commonly for testing positive for COVID-19 (97 percent). Ninety-nine percent of public schools track how many students are quarantining daily, and 95 percent of public schools provide some form of formal instruction for quarantined students. These School Pulse Panel data were collected from public schools from January 11 to January 24, 2022. The NAEP data are from public schools serving fourth- and eighth-graders that were sampled to participate in the 2022 NAEP assessment. The mode of instruction data are based on a sample of 10,700 schools and were collected from December 6, 2021 through February 10, 2022. The masking and social distancing data are based on a sample of 9,200 schools and were collected from December 6, 2021 through January 21, 2022. This is the second experimental data product release from the School Pulse Panel. Experimental data products are innovative statistical products created using new data sources or methodologies. Experimental data may not meet all NCES quality standards but are of sufficient benefit to data users in the absence of other relevant products. NCES clearly identifies experimental data products upon their release. The data released today can be found at the IES dashboard at https://ies.ed.gov/schoolsurvey/.