School Experiences with COVID-19: April 2022

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) releases today the latest round of findings from the School Pulse Panel (SPP). These SPP data examine the mental health needs of, and services provided to, students and staff, the state of learning modes offered by schools, and student and staff quarantine prevalence, as reported by school leaders in U.S. public schools. Findings include: Mental Health & Well-Being Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, public schools have seen an increase in mental health concerns among their students. Seventy percent of public schools reported an increase in the percentage of their students seeking mental health services at school and 76 percent reported an increase in staff voicing concerns about their students exhibiting symptoms of depression, anxiety, and trauma. In response, 67 percent of public schools reported having increased the amount or types of mental health services they provide since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ninety-six percent of public schools reported providing mental health services for their students during the 2021–22 school year. Among these public schools, the three most common types of mental health services provided were individual-based intervention (i.e., one-on-one counseling, 84 percent), case management (i.e., coordinating mental health support, 70 percent), and external mental health referrals (66 percent). To help students cope with the pandemic, the three most common practices public schools implemented that addressed students’ social, emotional, and mental health needs were encouraging staff to address these needs (85 percent), providing teachers with additional professional development centered on these needs (56 percent), and creating or expanding programs focused on these needs (46 percent). Fifty-six percent of public schools reported that they moderately agreed or strongly agreed that they can effectively provide mental health services to all students in need. The 88 percent of public schools that did not strongly agree were asked which factors limited their efforts to effectively provide mental health services to all students in need. Those schools indicated that the three primary limitations are an insufficient number of mental health professional staff necessary to manage the school’s caseload (61 percent), inadequate access to licensed mental health professionals (57 percent), and inadequate funding (48 percent). Over two-thirds (67 percent) of public schools reported taking various approaches to address their staff’s mental health needs during the pandemic. The three most common types of approaches included proactive outreach (35 percent), additional professional development focused on mental health (35 percent), and giving staff increased prep time (32 percent). Quarantine Prevalence About 30 percent of public schools reported having a student in quarantine during the April collection window (compared to 31 percent in March). There was an increase in quarantine prevalence for staff, with 15 percent of public schools having staff in quarantine during this time (compared to 8 percent in March). This is the fifth experimental data product 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 to justify release. NCES clearly identifies experimental data products upon their release.