Large district online programs: dying out or doubling?
The headline seems to say it all:
“Many Remote Learning Options Shutting Down as School Reopens for Fall 2022.”
Dig just slightly further, though, and a different interpretation of the numbers becomes apparent:
“Even as COVID-19 infections continue to fluctuate, roughly one-third of the country’s largest school districts are ending their remote learning programs this fall…” (emphasis added)
Hmmm…what’s happening with the other two-thirds of the nation’s largest school districts that were studied?
“Another third are continuing longstanding programs that had been in place before schools shuttered, and the remaining third are operating new virtual programs created during the pandemic…”
Here’s the graphic from the Center on Reinventing Public Education showing these numbers:
These data are very valuable. They can, however, be interpreted quite differently than the opening paragraph of the main news article about them.
Here’s another way to report on these same findings: the number of large districts offering online programs in school year 2022-23 almost doubled, compared to pre-pandemic numbers.
Are large district online programs dying out or doubling? It depends, apparently, on who is interpreting the data.
Also, there’s another critical analysis to be layered onto these numbers.
Some of these districts operate in states that offer online schools to all students. If Cincinnati and Philadelphia don’t offer an online option, students still have online school alternatives.
But if New York or Chicago don’t make an online school available for their students, those students and families don’t have other options.