The Pandemic's Effect on Demand for Public Schools, Homeschooling, and Private Schools. Working Paper 29262

Autor/inn/en	Musaddiq, Tareena; Stange, Kevin M.; Bacher-Hicks, Andrew; Goodman, Joshua
Institution	National Bureau of Economic Research
Titel	The Pandemic's Effect on Demand for Public Schools, Homeschooling, and Private Schools. Working Paper 29262
Quelle	(2021) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	Weitere Informationen
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
Schlagwörter	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; Michigan + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Bildungsanforderung; Bildungsnachfrage; Public school; Öffentliche Schule; Private school; Privatschule; Homeschooling; Home instruction; ; Hausunterricht; Heimschule; Decision-making; Entscheidungsfindung; Distance study; Distance learning; Fernunterricht; Familieneinkommen; Rassenunterschied; Frühe Kindheit
Abstract	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. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	National Bureau of Economic Research. 1050 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138-5398. Tel: 617-588-0343; Web site: http://www.nber.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01