This data may be of interest to folks through the lens of remote learning.

New Data from NCES: U.S. Outlying Area Public Schools’ Experiences with COVID-19: October 2022 The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) releases today findings from the October School Pulse Panel survey from a universe collection of public schools in four U.S. Outlying Areas. These SPP data examine staffing, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) School Meal programs, school supply chain issues, learning mode offerings, and quarantine prevalence, as reported by school staff in public schools in the U.S. Outlying Areas (OAs). Staffing in OA Public Schools As of October 2022, 5 percent of all OA public school teaching positions were vacant. The average OA public school had three vacant teaching positions. Seventeen percent of OA public schools had one teaching vacancy and 49 percent had multiple teaching vacancies. The top teaching position with the highest vacancy rate in OA public schools was special education (18 percent). As of October 2022, 7 percent of all OA public school non-teaching staff positions were vacant. The average OA public school had one vacant non-teaching staff position. Fifteen percent of OA public schools had one non-teaching staff vacancy and 28 percent had multiple non-teaching staff vacancies. The top two non-teaching staff positions with the highest vacancy rates in OA public schools were custodial staff (13 percent) and nutrition staff (6 percent). Food Services As of October 2022, 97 percent of OA public schools participated in USDA School Meal programs. Fifty-one percent of OA public schools participating in USDA School Meal programs reported that it was “much easier” to operate USDA School Meal programs during this school year (2022–23) compared to the 2021–22 school year. Ninety percent of OA public schools that participated in USDA School Meal programs reported that more than half of their student body utilized these programs. The three challenges most commonly reported by OA public schools about running their meal programs (whether through the USDA School Meal programs or another meal program) were challenges serving specific types of foods that were planned to be on school meal program menus (21 percent), school food service staffing shortages (19 percent), and increased program costs (17 percent). Forty-two percent of OA public schools that offered meals to students (whether through the USDA School Meal programs or another meal program) reported not having experienced any challenges to operating their school meal programs during the 2022–23 school year. Supply-Chain Issues As of October 2022, 75 percent of OA public schools reported having experienced procurement challenges that appeared to be the result of supply-chain issues during the 2022–23 school year. The most prevalent challenges were in procurement of laptops and other electronic devices (44 percent), office equipment and other appliances (41 percent), and cleaning products (39 percent). The three most commonly reported ways that OA public schools have responded to supply-chain issues were identifying alternate vendors for the same products (42 percent), purchasing products that were alternatives to those originally intended (40 percent), and temporarily operating without adequate equipment (39 percent). Learning Modes and Quarantine Prevalence During October 2022, 100 percent of OA public schools offered in-person learning, 22 percent offered full-time remote learning, and 16 percent offered hybrid learning. The percentage of OA public schools that reported having to quarantine students in October 2022 was 21 percent. This percentage was not measurably different from the 34 percent of OA public schools that quarantined students in September 2022. Eleven percent of OA public schools reported having to quarantine staff members in October 2022, a decrease from the 22 percent of OA public schools that had staff quarantine in September 2022. The data released today can be found at the COVID-19 dashboard at https://ies.ed.gov/schoolsurvey/. The Institute of Education Sciences, a part of the U.S. Department of Education, is the nation’s leading source for rigorous, independent education research, evaluation, statistics, and assessment. IES is celebrating 20 years. Here’s how to get involved.

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