ERIC Number: ED615389
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2021-Sep
Pages: N/A
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
The Pandemic's Effect on Demand for Public Schools, Homeschooling, and Private Schools. Working Paper 29262
Musaddiq, Tareena; Stange, Kevin M.; Bacher-Hicks, Andrew; Goodman, Joshua
National Bureau of Economic Research
The COVID-19 pandemic drastically disrupted the functioning of U.S. public schools, potentially changing the relative appeal of alternatives such as homeschooling and private schools. Using longitudinal student-level administrative data from Michigan and nationally representative data from the Census Household Pulse Survey, we show how the pandemic affected families' choices of school sector. We document four central facts. First, public school enrollment declined noticeably in fall 2020, with about 3 percent of Michigan students and 10 percent of kindergartners using other options. Second, most of this was driven by homeschooling rates jumping substantially, driven largely by families with children in elementary school. Third, homeschooling increased more where schools provided in-person instruction while private schooling increased more where instruction was remote, suggesting heterogeneity in parental concerns about children's physical health and instructional quality. Fourth, kindergarten declines were highest among low income and Black families while declines in other grades were highest among higher income and White families, highlighting important heterogeneity by students' existing attachment to public schools. Our results shed light on how families make schooling decisions and imply potential longer-run disruptions to public schools in the form of decreased enrollment and funding, changed composition of the student body, and increased size of the next kindergarten cohort.
Descriptors: COVID-19, Pandemics, Educational Demand, Public Schools, Private Schools, Home Schooling, Decision Making, Family Attitudes, Declining Enrollment, Synchronous Communication, Distance Education, Family Income, Racial Differences, Instructional Program Divisions, Young Children, Elementary Secondary Education
National Bureau of Economic Research. 1050 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138-5398. Tel: 617-588-0343; Web site: http://www.nber.org
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: National Bureau of Economic Research
Identifiers - Location: Michigan
Grant or Contract Numbers: R305B170015