
WELCOME TO THE UNDERSTANDING AMERICA STUDY EDUCATION PROJECT
The Understanding America Study (UAS) Education Project focuses on collecting data from the subset of panel households with at least one preK-12 child and/or at least one postsecondary student. Data collection began in April 2020 through the “Understanding Coronavirus in America Study.”
Below find links to preK-12 and postsecondary education-related publications, data sets, and topline and crosstab reports.
To access data collected from the full panel since March 2020 - focused on the Coronavirus and its effects - see the National Survey Data page for datasets, Documentation tab for questionnaires and codebooks, and Publications tab for all publications in academia, blogs and the media.
PUBLICATIONS
A variety of outlets have published articles about and/or using education data collected through the UAS Understanding Coronavirus in America Study. Please use the links below to explore results and their policy implications.
K-12
- Education Next blog on mask-wearing in schools (November 2020 data)
- Evidence Base article on evidence of COVID-19’s impact on K-12 education and critical areas of intervention (April-October 2020 data)
- Brookings piece on fall 2020 differences between in-person and remote learning experiences (September 30-October 28 2020 data)
- Evidence Project piece on needed supports for remote learners (September 30-October 28 2020 data)
- 74Million piece on decrease in parent support for standardized testing in spring 2021 (September 30-October 28 2020 data)
- Hechinger Op-Ed with recommendations for policy makers about school re-openings (September 30-October 28 2020 data)
- USC blog on parents’ concerns and perspectives on school reopening (June 22-July 24 2020 data)
- EdWeek (exclusive) article on K12 parents’ concerns and preferences (June 22-July 24 2020 data)
- FutureEd blog on parents’ conversations about race with their children (June 22-July 24 2020 data)
- Beyond Policing we must also address Black-White educational disparities (April/May 2020 data)
- Conversation article describing inequitable student access to computers and internet necessary for online learning (April 2020 data)
- EdWeek article (exclusive) article on K12 parents’ concerns from the end of April (April 2020 data)
Postsecondary
- USC Dornsife press release, focused on postsecondary education
- Inside Higher Ed (exclusive) article (top postsecondary trade journal) providing commentary related to results shared in the press release
INDIVIDUAL DATA
The UAS Covid-19 Survey National Sample Longitudinal File (located on the National Survey Data page) provides a cleaned and harmonized data set containing all waves of national tracking survey education data, combining data from all long-form surveys. The variable names have been harmonized, allowing easy longitudinal analysis. The data file includes longitudinal sample weights. Consult the file documentation and variable list/crosswalk for more information. For the vast majority of analyses this will be the file of choice. For cases where you need weights for analysis of a specific wave, we provide individual survey data sets below.
- UAS 274: Wave 20 – long form of the UAS Covid Survey Final Release (December 9, 2020 - January 6, 2021) - Direct download: STATA | CSV (registration and submission of a UAS Covid-19 Proposal form required)
- UAS 272: Wave 19 – long form of the UAS Covid Survey Final Release (November 25 - December 23, 2020) - Direct download: STATA | CSV (registration and submission of a UAS Covid-19 Proposal form required)
- UAS 270: Wave 18 – long form of the UAS Covid Survey Final Release (November 11 - December 9, 2020) - Direct download: STATA | CSV (registration and submission of a UAS Covid-19 Proposal form required)
- UAS 264: Wave 15 – long form of the UAS Covid Survey Final Release (September 30 - October 27, 2020) - Direct download: STATA | CSV (registration and submission of a UAS Covid-19 Proposal form required)
- UAS 250: Wave 8 – long form of the UAS Covid Survey Final Release (June 24 - July 22, 2020) - Direct download: STATA | CSV (registration and submission of a UAS Covid-19 Proposal form required)
- UAS 242: Wave 4 – long form of the UAS Covid Survey Final Release (April 29, 2020 – May 26, 2020) - Direct download: STATA | CSV (registration and submission of a UAS Covid-19 Proposal form required)
- UAS 240: Wave 3 – long form of the UAS Covid Survey Final Release (April 15, 2020 – May 13, 2020) - Direct download: STATA | CSV (registration and submission of a UAS Covid-19 Proposal form required)
- UAS235: Wave 2 – long form of the UAS Covid Survey Final Release (April 1 to April 28, 2020) - Direct download: STATA | CSV (registration and submission of a UAS Covid-19 Proposal form required)
REPORTS
- UAS274 Wave 20 Crosstabs (December 9, 2020 - January 6, 2021)
- UAS274 Wave 20 Methodology and Topline (November 25 - December 23, 2020)
- UAS272 Wave 19 Crosstabs (November 25 - December 23, 2020)
- UAS272 Wave 19 Methodology and Topline (November 25 - December 23, 2020)
- UAS270 Wave 18 Crosstabs (November 11 - December 9, 2020)
- UAS270 Wave 18 Methodology and Topline (November 11 - December 9, 2020)
- UAS264 Wave 15 Education Crosstabs (September 30 - October 27, 2020)
- UAS264 Wave 15 Education Methodology and Topline (September 30 - October 27, 2020)
- UAS250 Wave 8 Education Crosstabs (June 24 - July 22, 2020)
- UAS250 Wave 8 Education Methodology and Topline (June 24 - July 22, 2020)
- UAS242 Wave 4 Crosstabs (April 29 - May26, 2020) (updated June 30, 2020)
- UAS242 Wave 4 Methodology and Topline (April 29 - May26, 2020) (updated June 30, 2020)
- UAS240 Wave 3 Crosstabs (April 15, 2020 – May 12, 2020)
- UAS240 Wave 3 Methodology and Topline (April 15, 2020 – May 12, 2020)
- UAS235 Wave 2 Methodology (April 1, 2020 - April 17, 2020)
Acknowledgement to include in presentations and publications based on CESR UAS education data sets
The project described in this paper relies on data from survey(s) administered by the Understanding America Study (UAS), maintained by the USC Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research (CESR) at the University of Southern California. The collection of the UAS COVID-19 tracking data has received financial support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the National Science Foundation Grant No. 2037179, National Institute on Aging Grant No. U01AG054580, and the University of Southern California.