Online Learning: How Do Brick and Mortar Schools Stack up to Virtual Schools? Working Paper 2020-4

Thousands of American schools shuttered their doors during the second half of the 2019-2020 school year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most schools that closed their physical campus switched to online learning to conclude the school year. Brick and mortar schools uninitiated to online learning were tasked with adapting teaching practices to a different modality with almost no training or experience to call upon. While anecdotal accounts indicate that some schools achieved remarkable success in transitioning to distance modalities of learning, many others schools struggled to keep students and teachers engaged in the learning process. There is great urgency in assessing the overall efficacy with which brick and mortar schools executed online learning. Many American schools are beginning the 2020-2021 academic year with virtual or blended models of schooling, while countless others scheduled to open will inevitably transition to virtual or blended learning as public health concerns mount. This working paper compares the online learning experience of students enrolled in brick and mortar schools that transitioned to online learning to the experience of students who were already enrolled in virtual schools when the pandemic began.