Who wants what?: Examining schooling modality survey data by race, income, and education level

Who wants what?: Examining schooling modality survey data by race, income, and education level

Margaret Thornton

Working paper

EdArxiv

2021

Using data from the Understanding America Study conducted by researchers at the University of Southern California, I examined parental preferences in a variety of circumstances in order to better understand parental choices and preferences during a pandemic. The results of this study demonstrate that groups of parents from different backgrounds have very different preferences for their children’s learning modality during the COVID-19 pandemic. The differences in racial backgrounds and educational levels were particularly notable because much of the discourse surrounding schooling in a pandemic has tended to focus on in-person instruction, a minority desire for most groups of parents surveyed.