COVID-19 & Missouri School Districts

• Missouri school district leadership & personnel

• Students & families

• Local community members and non-profits

• Public health officials

• Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (commissioner, regional directors, analysts)

• School district and charter school survey data from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

• State-level district administrative & demographic data

• Data from primary data collection and content analysis of school district reopening plans

• 2018 American Community Survey Five-Year Study data

• Missouri school district geographic shapefiles

• Harvard Global Health Initiative COVID-19 county risk level data

1. Despite moderate-to-severe COVID rates, up to 75 percent of Missouri students had access to in-person learning at school start. Only half of sampled districts required students and teachers to mask in schools, providing limited protection for future COVID spread. 

2. Nearly all white-isolated districts (93-100% white students) provided some options for in-person instruction. By contrast, two in three students began with fully distanced instruction in districts with the highest percentages of students of color. Modes of instruction and racial/ethnic enrollment could be related for a variety of reasons; for example, students of color are more likely to live in Missouri’s cities and suburbs, which were more likely to open with fully distanced instruction. Districts leaders may have also chosen distanced education if their district faced higher COVID-19 risk levels before school started, if they were concerned about disproportionate health impacts of COVID-19 on communities of color, or if communities had higher rates of health and safety concerns for in-person instruction among families of color, as seen in other areas, like New York City.

3. Districts with the lowest rates of internet access mostly opened fully in-person or with in-person/distanced instruction options. Some districts chose in-person instruction due to limited internet access within their communities, combined with back ordered devices, which put additional strain on school districts to meet students’ technological needs. 

4. Few district reopening plans provided details of educational services for vulnerable student populations, like English language learners or students in transition (e.g., without a permanent home). Though these groups of students may comprise a small proportion of school districts overall, not publicly providing plans can place additional strain on students and families to access needed support services. 

1. Uncertainty: In the first six months of COVID, it was unclear how long the public health issue would impact our lives and schooling. The information we had about COVID was developing, inconsistent at times, and incomplete. In project planning, we discussed the data we wanted to collect to analyze current conditions as well as the data that would be useful to examine long-term trends of the impact of COVID and how policy decisions impacted future outcomes.

2. Timing & resources: There were concerns about shifting Center resources to primarily focus on COVID-19 related research. Timing was a paramount concern; Leadership wanted to get research out quickly to remain relevant to our audiences. In scoping the project, we did a preliminary scan of district plans, collecting data on mask requirements and reopening instructional delivery methods. Our initial results provided proof of concept in policy variation across the state and generated interest in the project through blog posts and an op-ed.

3. New research method: Content analysis was a new method for the Center. We all learned – sometimes through trial and error – and adapted to a new method of data collection. 

4. Coverage: Due to pressures of timing and resource allocation, it was not feasible to collect data from each of Missouri’s 550+ school districts. In a tradeoff between student and school district coverage, we elected a sampling methodology that provided coverage of plans for approximately two-thirds of the Missouri K-12 student population. However, because we sampled the largest districts (to get more student coverage), many small districts were not included in the study, resulting in an under-representation of rural districts and rural COVID experiences that were also seen nationally. 

Overall, this project provided context for state-collected data that were not often accessed by the public. We also provided a publicly available dataset available for researchers, policy makers, and community members to access, supplementing existing (national) COVID-19 data collections (see CRPE), with additional data points. The project resulted in one report, three policy briefs, two op-eds, three blog posts, one dataset, and one newsletter. 

• Report

  • Missouri COVID-19 Reopening Profile. Lead author. 

• Policy Briefs

  • Provided feedback to graduate, undergraduate, and postdoctoral authors in use of data, analysis & interpretations. 

  • The Pandemic Digital Divide in Missouri: Rural Students Most Likely to Lack Full Access to Technology 

  • Supporting Students with Disabilities During the Pandemic: Rural Districts Least Likely to Provide Information 

  • How did Missouri Support English Language Learners During the COVID-19 Pandemic?

• Op-Eds

  • Missouri can do more to safely keep schools open during COVID surge. Lead author on statewide school COVID policies, school district reopening plan trends, and examples of health and safety measures from collected data. 

  • No easy way to reopen schools in a pandemic. Lead author. 

• Blog Posts

  • Regional Collaborations for Education and COVID. Sole author. 

  • A Breakdown of Missouri School District Reopening Plans.  Lead author. 

  • As Concern for Reopening Grows, How Many Missouri Students are in COVID-19 Hotspots? Supporting author. 

• Dataset & Technical Documentation

  • Missouri Fall 2020 District Reopening Plans During COVID-19. Led team of 10 in conducting content analysis and collecting data from reopening plans from a sample of Missouri schools and school districts. Cleaned data, identified and reconciled data inconsistencies, wrote technical documentation and FAQs, and created publicly accessible dataset.

• Newsletter

  • COVID-19 and Schools in Missouri. Authored sections on reducing transmission in schools and structural barriers.