Who’s going back to school?

New federal data highlights disparities. LA Johnson/NPR The U.S. Education Department has [released the first]( in a series of school surveys intended to provide a national view of learning during the pandemic. It reveals that the percentage of students who are still attending school virtually may be higher than previously understood. As of January and early February of this year, 43% of elementary students and 48% of middle school students in the survey remained fully remote. And the survey found large differences by race: 68% of Asian, 58% of Black and 56% of Hispanic fourth graders were learning entirely remotely, while just 27% of white students were. Conversely, nearly half of white fourth-graders were learning full-time in person, compared with just 15% of Asian, 28% of Black and 33% of Hispanic fourth-graders. The remainder had hybrid schedules. This disparity may be partly driven by where students live. City schools, the survey found, are less likely than rural schools to offer full-time, in-person classes. Full-time, in-person schooling dominated in the South and the Midwest, and was much less common in the West and Northeast. The racial and ethnic gaps may also be driven in part by which families are choosing to stay remote, even where some in-person learning is offered. Three out of 4 districts around the country were offering some in-person learning as of January, the report says, with full-time, in person learning more common than hybrid schedules. [Read More Here]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- On to the news… Rutgers University will require students who are enrolling for the 2021 fall semester to show they've received a COVID-19 vaccine. The New Jersey state school says the requirement will help it make "a full return to our pre-pandemic normal" on campus for the next school year. "Proof of vaccination will be required for all students planning to attend this fall," Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway and other university leaders said Thursday in a statement about the new requirement. [Read more here.]( —[Bill Chappell]( NPR Reporter & Editor [New data]( from the U.S. Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey revealed a significant increase in the number of households where students were homeschooled. When the survey began the week of April 23-May 5, 2020, 5.4% of U.S. households with school-aged children reported homeschooling. By the fall, that number had spiked: 11.1% of households with school-age children reported homeschooling in the Sept. 30-Oct. 12 survey. The Census Bureau says that figure is twice the number of households that were homeschooling at the start of the 2019-2020 school year. [Read more here.]( — [Laurel Wamsley]( NPR Reporter During his first news conference, President Biden said Thursday that his administration is on track to keep a [promise he made]( to the nation's parents and caregivers: to reopen the majority of elementary and middle schools for full-time, in-person learning within his first 100 days in office. [Newly released federal data]( suggest the president may indeed be on track — but that reopening the nation's schools doesn't mean all students will quickly return to classrooms. [Read more here.]( — [Cory Turner]( NPR Ed Correspondent & Senior Editor And before you go, something to make you smile. LA Johnson/NPR When schools shuttered their doors this time last year, teachers were handed an unprecedented request: educate students in entirely new ways amid the backdrop of a global health crisis. And we’re making a comic every week until school’s out to highlight what that’s been like for teachers. The kickoff comic follows the experiences of Jessica Peacock, a sixth grade math teacher from Raleigh, N.C. Peacock felt like she was “teaching in an aquarium” until she started reimagining what success looked for students in a pandemic. [Read more here.]( This comic was adapted from interviews with the teacher conducted by Eda Uzunlar and LA Johnson. See you next week. --------------------------------------------------------------- Stream your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. --------------------------------------------------------------- What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: [npred@npr.org](mailto:npred@npr.org?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback) Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can [sign up here](. Looking for more great content? [Check out all of our newsletter offerings]( — including Music, Politics, Code Switch and more! [Facebook]( [Twitter]( You received this message because you're subscribed to Education emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy]( [NPR logo]