In spring 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic led to an unprecedented and sweeping shift in the landscape of public schooling in the United States. Beginning in March, schools across the country closed their doors and adopted remote learning supports that varied in degree and type. In May 2020, researchers from the RAND Corporation drew on RAND's American Educator Panels (AEP) to both document how schools were navigating these challenging circumstances and examine disparities in the supports schools were able to provide to teachers and students. Several reports based on these surveys provided a nationally representative picture of teaching and learning throughout spring 2020.

In October 2020, RAND researchers once again surveyed principals and teachers through the AEP to gather information about how educators are approaching and experiencing the 2020–2021 school year. This report provides additional information about the sample, survey instrument, and resultant data for the COVID-19 surveys that were administered to principals and teachers during October 2020 via the RAND Corporation's AEP.