Learning-Mode Choice, Student Engagement, and Achievement Growth During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an unanticipated, near-universal shift from in-person to virtual instruction in spring 2020. During the 2020-21 school year, schools began to re-open, and families were faced with decisions regarding the instructional mode for their children. We leverage administrative, survey, and virtual-learning data to examine the determinants of family learning mode choice and associations between virtual education, student engagement, and academic achievement. Family preference for virtual (versus face-to-face) instruction was highly associated with subsequent school-level infection rates and appeared relatively uniform within schools. We find that students assigned to a higher proportion of instructional days in virtual mode experienced higher rates of attendance, but also negative achievement growth compared to students who were assigned a higher proportion of instructional days in face-to-face mode. Insights from this study can be used to better understand family preferences as well as to target and refine virtual learning in a post-COVID-19 society.