Distance learning

Question:
What percentage of elementary and secondary schools offer distance education?

Response:

During the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020, seventy-seven percent of public schools reported moving classes to online distance-learning formats. Distance learning could include self-paced or real-time learning. Private schools reported using this option at a lower rate (73 percent). A higher percentage of private schools reported moving classes to a distance-learning format using paper materials sent home with students (48 percent) than public schools (41 percent) (tables A-1 and A-2).

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (2022). Impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic on Public and Private Elementary and Secondary Education in the United States (Preliminary Data): Results from the 2020-21 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS).

During the 2017–18 school year, about 21 percent of public schools and 13 percent of private schools offered any courses entirely online. Among public schools, a higher percentage of charter schools (30 percent) offered any courses entirely online, compared to traditional public schools (20 percent).

Percentage of schools that offered any courses entirely online: 2017–18
School type and selected school characteristic	Percent of schools that offered any courses entirely online
All public schools	21.0
School classification
Traditional public	20.2
Charter school	30.3
School level
Primary	2.7
Middle	12.7
High	58.9
Combined	61.3
Student enrollment
Less than 100	41.9
100-199	29.8
200-499	15.2
500-749	12.5
750-999	19.4
1,000 or more	45.8

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (2019). Characteristics of Public and Private Elementary and Secondary Schools in the United States: Results From the 2017–18 National Teacher and Principal Survey First Look, Table 3.

Related Tables and Figures:  (Listed by Release Date)

• 2022, Digest of Education Statistics 2021, Table 216.20. Enrollment of public elementary and secondary schools, by school level, type, and charter, magnet, and virtual status: 2009–10 through 2019–20
  
• 2020, Digest of Education Statistics 2019, Table 218.20. Percentage of public school districts with students enrolled in technology-based distance education courses and number of enrollments in such courses, by instructional level and district characteristics: 2002–03, 2004–05, and 2009–10
  
• 2020, NTPS Tables Library. Percentage of private schools with a library media center, percentage with students attending across 12 months, percentage that offered any courses entirely online, and percentage that offered a foreign language immersion program, by affiliation: 2017–18
  
• 2020, NTPS Tables Library. Percentage of public schools with a library media center, percentage with students attending across 12 months, percentage that offered any courses entirely online, and percentage that offered a foreign language immersion program, by state: 2017–18
  
• 2020, NTPS Tables Library. Percentage of schools with a library media center, percentage with students attending across 12 months, percentage that offered any courses entirely online, and % that offered a foreign language immersion program, by school type and selected school characteristics: 2017–18
  
• 2019, NTPS Tables Library. Number and percentage of schools that offered any courses entirely online, and among those schools that offered courses entirely online, the percentage distribution of schools, by number of courses that are offered online and selected school characteristics: 2015–16
  
• 2018, Charter school legislation and number and type of charter schools operating, by state: 2015–16 and 2017–18
  

Other Resources:  (Listed by Release Date)

• 2015, NCES Blog: Virtual schools: Measuring access to elementary and secondary education in online environments
  
• 2013, Dual Credit and Exam-Based Courses in U.S. Public High Schools: 2010–11