More than twice as many rural school districts than urban districts in the United States had returned to in-person learning by February after shutting buildings during the pandemic, a report published Tuesday by the RAND Corp. found.
Some 42% of rural school districts offered fully in-person instruction by the end of that month, compared with only 17% of urban districts, the data showed.
Conversely, 29% of urban districts offered fully remote instruction at that time, compared with 10% of rural districts and 18% of suburban districts, the researchers said.
More than one-third of districts that offered any remote instruction had shortened the school day, and one-fourth had reduced instructional minutes, while few of the schools that relied primarily on in-person learning had done so, according to the researchers.
The findings are based on a survey of 434 school district leaders across the country, submitted by 400 superintendents of public systems and 34 leaders of charter schools, they said.
"This survey shows how the choice of remote instruction has ramifications that extend beyond longstanding concerns about the lower quality of remote instruction," report co-author Heather Schwartz said in a press release.
"Rural districts -- which were primarily fully in-person or hybrid -- did not decrease instructional minutes as often as urban districts,” said Schwartz, director of the pre-K to 12 educational systems program at RAND, a nonprofit research organization.
Many districts across the country closed schools in March 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic began to spread in the United States, following advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
With the start of the 2020-21 academic school year, districts and private schools nationally have taken different approaches, with some opening schools completely and others relying on online learning or a hybrid setup.
In February, the CDC issued new guidance for school openings, based largely on data that suggested young children are at low risk for being infected with the coronavirus while in class, provided that students and teachers wear face coverings and some level of social distancing is in place.
RAND researchers surveyed the district leaders, who are members of the American School District Panel, between Jan. 21 and March 5.