In our December 2020 survey wave, we included a series of questions aimed at assessing the state of opinion regarding these topics. Some key findings are:
● Two thirds of respondents are at least somewhat concerned about the quality of the education they (if they are students) or their children (if they are parents) are receiving during the pandemic. This is true across partisan, racial, and income groups.
● A majority of parents of K-12 students indicate that their children learned less than they would have without the pandemic, including pluralities of primary school (grades K-5) parents and majorities of parents of middle (grades 6-8) and high (grades 9-12) school-age children. This also includes, at minimum, substantial pluralities, and in most instances, majorities, across all demographic groups across all grade levels.
● We find some evidence of a socio-economic divide, with wealthy Americans more likely than other income groups to believe their high school-age children are learning less during the pandemic than other income groups. But this pattern does not extend to younger children.