The Department of Education is asking for emergency approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to collect data on schools as part of the NAEP 2021 School Survey. This survey is essential to understanding the impact of COVID-19 on students and teachers, including how they are learning—whether remotely, in-person, or through a mix of both. The information will be broken down by student characteristics like race, disability, and income status. The public can share their thoughts on this data collection until March 19, 2021.
Simple Explanation
The Department of Education wants to check how schools are teaching kids during COVID-19 times—like if they are learning at home or in school—by asking this through a big survey. They want to do it quickly, so they're asking for special permission to skip some usual rules, but some people are worried it might not follow all the privacy and fairness rules.