After-School Programs

NCES Data Show More Than Half K–12 Schools Offer After-School Help, but A Large Percentage Require Minimal COVID-19 Prevention

• By Kate Lucariello
• 11/17/22

A National Center for Education Statistics School Pulse Panel K–12 survey done in September 2022 of 1,010 public schools showed that over 56% offered intensive summer school or after-school programs during the 2022-23 school year, but measures to prevent COVID-19 have stayed the same or decreased since the 2021-22 school year.

The School Pulse Panel, an arm of NCES whose mission is to show the impact of the pandemic on K–12 public schools, released its ninth experimental data report showing that 48% of schools offering after school academic assistance or learning enrichment programs are providing “high dosage tutoring,” meaning one-on-one help or help in very small groups. The report also showed that 85% of schools have no Covid vaccination requirements for staff to be in the building, and 99% have none for students. But of the schools offering such programs, only 33% have installed or used high-efficiency (HEPA) air filtration systems during the 2022-23 school year to help prevent the spread of the virus.

The data also showed that, compared to the 2021-22 school year, while student and staff mask requirements are roughly the same, daily Covid symptom screening for students and staff has decreased respectively from 16% and 20% in 2021-22 to 4% and 5% in 2022-23. Also, Covid testing has decreased by nearly half, while in-person learning has nearly doubled. Eighty percent of schools do require staff and students to stay home or stay out of the building if they have tested positive for Covid, but only about 33% require those who display Covid-like symptoms or who have potentially been exposed to the virus to do so. Finally, the percentage of schools having to quarantine staff and students because of Covid remains about the same from the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years so far.

The report can be found on NCES’ School Pulse Panel page. The National Center for Education Statistics, a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, is the statistical center of the U.S. Department of Education and the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education in the U.S. and other nations. Visit this page to subscribe to NCES News Flash for email notifications of new data releases.