Early Pandemic Response in California: Identifying the Structural and Instructional Changes in K-12

In March 2020, school districts across California closed their doors, rapidly adapting operations and instruction in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Efforts to understand the immediate impact of the unprecedented closure of schools prompted grave concerns about meeting students' needs, particularly for the most vulnerable. This report details findings from a research study investigating California public school districts' early responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020 after school closures. In this study, the researchers constructed a novel dataset based on publicly available information published on school district websites. District websites are an important indicator of districts' planning, highlighting the extent to which they communicated their activities and, indirectly, their priorities after shelter-in-place orders were issued. As such, this analysis explores the degree of information made available by districts concerning adaptations to policies and practices between March and May 2020. Findings reveal that more information was communicated clearly and consistently around operational changes that would support students' basic needs, with less information available on the specifics of learning and instruction. Analysis also indicates wide variation in district policies and practices with respect to both student supports and learning/instruction; this report considers how these responses differ by locale (urban, suburban, rural, and town), the percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price meals (FRPM) under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), and the proportion of students in a district who are English learners (ELs). Overall, the adaptations made to school operations during the early period after school closures in 2020 reflected an important desire across districts to continue to serve students. [This report was prepared with research support from Jill Huynh and Justin Luu.]