Education Dept. Launches First Federal Effort To Track School Reopening

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School children wearing facemasks walk outside Condit Elementary School near Houston in December. The U.S. Department of Education announced Friday that it will begin collecting data on the status of in-person learning during the pandemic.





François Picard/AFP via Getty Images



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François Picard/AFP via Getty Images



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The previous U.S. education secretary, Betsy DeVos, had said in October, «I’m not sure there’s a role at the department to collect and compile data on how the pandemic has impacted schools. In the absence of federal data collection efforts, private organizations have stepped in, including an organization called Burbio, which scrapes a selection of school websites, and the Center on Reinventing Public Education.

Mark Schneider directs the Institute of Education Sciences, which includes the National Center for Education Statistics. He says this survey is long overdue. «It’s really important that we have a much better sense of what’s going on here. There’s a ton of stuff missing. «



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The Department of Education didn’t state whether the new data collection will include data on coronavirus cases associated with schools, or safety procedures schools are following. Schneider says that may be handled going forward in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.