COVID-19 and Educational Equity in Rural Pennsylvania School Districts

The Center for Rural Pennsylvania released the report, “Analyzing the Effects of COVID-19 on Educational Equity in Rural Pennsylvania School Districts.” The report is co-authored by Center Director, Kai A. Schafft, and Graduate Student Rural Center Affiliates Annie Maselli, Katharine Dulaney, Laura E. Pirkle Howd, and Betsy Boggs, as well as Faculty Affiliates, Matthew Gardner Kelly, and Erica Frankenberg. David A. Gamson, and Ashley N. Patterson also contributed to the report. This study used a mixed methods approach combining state-level institutional secondary data and local interview, case study, and school district data. Even before COVID-19, public schools in rural Pennsylvania were confronted with a range of serious challenges including. The report finds that the COVID-19 pandemic has served to deepen multiple forms of inequities and challenges including persistent poverty, funding disparities, lack of broadband access, and declining enrollments. These have posed pressing challenges for the creation of timely and effective policy. Although districts have devised creative ways to address the social-emotional and physical health needs of students and families, a majority of rural districts reported that they don't currently have the resources to meet their students’ growing demand for mental health services. Rural districts have experienced higher rates of teacher attrition and greater enrollment losses than urban districts; these losses have strained already overburdened staff and budgets.