Mechanisms of Stratification in In-Person Instruction in the Wake of COVID-19

In this mixed-methods study, we ask why participation in in-person instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic varied by race/ethnicity and SES. We consider three possible mechanisms—stratified access to in-person instruction, stratified risks related to in-person instruction, and stratified parental availability to support remote learning. We use data from a national online survey fielded through Ipsos in December 2020 with a probability sample of 2,016 US parents with at least one child under 18. We analyze both closed-ended and open-ended questions regarding parents’ decisions about school-age children’s participation in in-person instruction during the 2020-2021 school year. After accounting for differences in access, risk, and parental availability, we found no significant racial/ethnic or SES differences in parents’ likelihood of choosing in-person instruction. Instead, access, risk, and parental availability were strongly predictive of these decisions. Our qualitative analyses further clarified how access, risk, and parental availability influenced families’ decisions regarding in-person school. Families with limited availability tended to choose in-person instruction because of the challenges of combining remote learning with full-time employment. Meanwhile, families who had high-risk family members and lived in communities with high rates of viral transmission tended to choose remote or homeschooling, particularly if they also had a family member who could provide support at home. We discuss the implications of these findings for efforts to understand and address the inequalities in students’ and families’ outcomes in the wake of COVID-19, concluding that families’ decisions were driven largely by pandemic and pre-pandemic inequalities in families’ lives.

Threats to Parental and Romantic Attachment Figures' Availability and Adult Attachment Insecurity

This study tested hypotheses based on the theoretical idea that threats to parental availability would have a direct effect on later adult attachment insecurity and that this relationship would be partially, but not fully, mediated by threats to the availability of a romantic partner. Participants were 1,063 individuals in a married or unmarried romantic relationship. Individuals completed a questionnaire on threats to attachment figures' availability and completed another questionnaire about attachment insecurity (avoidance and anxiety) approximately 1 year later. In both models, the greater the threats to attachment figures' (parents' or current partners') availability, the greater the attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety. Consistent with theorizing in the literature, the impact of remembered threats to parental availability on adult attachment avoidance and anxiety, although not eliminated, was greatly reduced by the inclusion of current partner's availability in the model.