Remote Learning in 2020-21 and Student Attendance Since the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract Student attendance declined during the COVID-19 pandemic and remains lower than pre-pandemic levels. This study examines the role of remote learning in these post-pandemic declines. Difference-in-differences and instrumental variable estimates both show that remote learning in 2020-21 led to persistent declines in post-pandemic attendance, with generally larger negative effects for students exposed to longer periods of remote learning, though this relationship between remote learning duration and post-pandemic attendance was not linear. Compared to students who were never provided with remote-only learning in 2020-21, students provided with remote-only learning for one, two, or three months had no statistically significant decline in attendance post-pandemic; those with remote-only learning for four, five, or six months subsequently missed a few additional days of school; and those with remote-only learning for seven, eight, or nine months missed substantially more. I also find some heterogeneity by race/ethnicity and economic status in 2021-22, but little persistence of subgroup differences. These results clarify the impact of remote learning on post-pandemic attendance declines: substantial and persistent negative effects for students with prolonged remote-only exposure, but only a modest impact on Michigan’s overall post-pandemic attendance, given that the large majority of students experienced relatively short periods of remote-only instruction.