Wisconsin Schools With Longer Period of Virtual/Hybrid Learning During the Pandemic See Varying Graduation Rates

Thursday, July 13th, 2023 -- 10:01 AM

(By Gaby Vinick, Wisconsin Public Radio) Wisconsin schools that had a longer period of virtual or hybrid learning during the pandemic saw graduation rates rise among wealthier students and fall among those at an economic disadvantage, a new study found.

According to Gaby Vinick with Wisconsin Public Radio, the study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, published in the journal Educational Researcher, analyzed data from 429 public high schools in the state during the 2020-21 school year and two years before then.

It found that between September 2020 to May 2021, a full school year, virtual or hybrid learning increased the socioeconomic gaps in high school graduation rates by nearly 5 percent. Students are considered economically disadvantaged if they are from a household eligible for free or reduced-price meals under the National School Lunch Program.

Ran Liu, a UW-Madison education professor and author of the study, called the finding that affluent students' graduation rates increased surprising. But she said disparities in access to resources is likely part of the explanation.

And it's possible that future events, not just a pandemic, could cause new disruptions. "We need to understand that in-person schooling may have merits that cannot be replaced by virtual and hybrid learning mode," Liu said.

The study relied on data from the COVID-19 School Data Hub, which collects data on K-12 public schools across the country. The high school completion rate data came from the Wisconsin Information System for Education, or WISE, a government database.

Those two datasets were merged together. "Overall, the study provides more evidence of this unequal impact of the pandemic," Liu said. "We are providing more evidence showing that online and hybrid learning modes might have more complex consequences than we thought. We need to be very, very cautious."

In the early days of the pandemic, schools were closed along with most businesses in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus. Scientists also knew little at that time about how the virus spread or its severity to different groups.

But later in 2020, the decision to close schools had become a subject of debate, and Wisconsin's school districts took a wide range of approaches, some remaining entirely virtual, some opening entirely in-person and some offering a hybrid approach.

The state Department of Public Instruction declined to comment. A representative of the Madison Metropolitan School District also declined to comment; school districts in Racine and Kenosha did not respond to requests for comment.

The study is consistent with reports that pandemic learning disruptions complicated student performance. In Wisconsin, proficiency in reading and math among eighth grade students fell to its lowest levels recorded in 25 years.

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