When schools began to re-open in August, PSTC economist Emily Oster was underwhelmed by the COVID-19 infection data being reported. “A lot of the data collection was really focused on counting cases, and it didn't provide what we saw as enough context for those cases,” she said.

In response, Oster teamed up with education organizations to create the COVID-19 School Response Dashboard for parents and schools to gauge the risk that comes with various school learning models and inform the best infection mitigation strategies. The dashboard, which currently collects anonymous data from over 1000 schools through a bi-weekly survey, is routinely updated as new data becomes available. A simplified and accessible version of this dashboard is available on the landing page.

Pointing to the disparity between private and public schools in their ability to afford the testing and tracing necessary for in-person classes, Oster commented, “I am very concerned about the inequalities that we already have in the education system that are going to be exacerbated by the move to remote schooling.” She added that because low-income kids and children of color are more likely to experience low-quality schooling, “we need to think about how to support those groups. Part of that is figuring out if there is a way to return safely.”

So far, Oster has found a “confirmed infection rate” of about 0.1 percent for students, meaning that one in 1000 students received a positive COVID-19 test result in a two-week period. This rate is twice as high for school staff. She said that using infection rates, rather than total cases, provides more insight into the risk of transmission. 

The dashboard also shows a “confirmed and suspected infection rate” of about 0.6 percent for students and staff, meaning that six in 1000 students and six in 1000 staff either received a positive COVID-19 test result or were suspected to have the virus in a two-week period. While some respondents may have misinterpreted the meaning of “suspected,” Oster believes that the higher rate of suspected cases reflects “a lack of availability of testing.” 

The dashboard also provides the infection rates under specific learning models or policies and lists the prevalence of different mitigation strategies. A second page breaks down the school types, regional densities, percentage of students receiving free or reduced meals, and other metrics about the sources of data collection. Software company Qualtrics completes the analysis of the data. The team is actively working to recruit new schools through word of mouth and through national and state associations such as the School Superintendents Association.

Once enough data has been collected, Oster hopes to analyze how cases in one week affect the number of cases in the following week to determine which mitigation strategies are most effective. She also hopes to differentiate between infections spread from within the school and infections spread from the community outside of the school.