Clarification: On Oct. 16, we changed the project conclusion date to reflect our last verified date for the Woburn school district.
After the coronavirus forced a mass closing of K-12 school buildings in the spring of 2020, district leaders had to decide how to provide instruction for 2020-21. From July to September, Education Week tracked the first-day instructional plans for over 900 of the nation’s 13,000 public school districts.
The collection captures what school reopenings looked like in this most unorthodox year.
This data provides a snapshot of how districts began the 2020-21 school year. We did not track changes after a district’s first day of classes. When the project concluded Sept. 22, the dataset included:
- 907 districts
- The 100 largest districts in the U.S., including Puerto Rico
- The largest district in each state
- At least 5 districts from each state (exceptions are Hawaii, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico)
Some key findings:
- 74% of the 100 largest school districts, chose remote learning only as their back-to-school instructional model, affecting over 9 million students.
- Almost half (49%) of all districts opened with remote learning.
- Hybrid instruction was used in 27% of the school districts.
- Full in-person instruction was available to all students in 24% of the districts.
Was this data useful to you? Let us know how you used it by emailing us at library@educationweek.org.
Looking for state-level information? Education Week is tracking state-level openings and closures due to COVID-19 here: Map: Where Has COVID-19 Closed Schools? Where Are They Open?
Download This District Reopening Data
Data file last updated: Sept. 23, 2020 5 pm ET
Click Here to Download the Data
Data Notes/Methodology
- Key/definitions of reopening plan types:
- Remote learning only—no in-person instruction. May include exceptions for special populations of students.
- Hybrid/Partial—limited, in-person reopening. Examples include less than 5x/week in-person attendance, or having some grades/levels remote and others in-person.
- Full in-person available for all students—full-time, in-person instruction is either the return to school model or an option for all students.
- Undecided
- Reopening date – date listed in district announcement, news report, or district calendar.
- Last verified – The date last checked by Education Week staff.
- This data includes public school districts only.
Clarification: On Oct. 16, we changed the project conclusion date to reflect our last verified date for the Woburn school district.
Contact Information
For media or research inquiries about this table and data, contact library@educationweek.org.
How to Cite This Page
School Districts’ Reopening Plans: A Snapshot (2020, July 15). Education Week. Retrieved Month Day, Year from https://www.edweek.org/leadership/school-districts-reopening-plans-a-snapshot/2020/07
