Online learning presentation statistics begin with a clear baseline: before the coronavirus pandemic, 28.7% of public K–12 schools in the United States normally offered courses entirely online. The state figures below come from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS) 2020–21. They describe school offerings, not the share of students who enrolled online and not the quality or format of individual presentations.
Contents
- National baseline
- Highest state percentages
- Lowest state percentages
- Complete state comparison
- Regional patterns in the figures
- What the measure does and does not show
National baseline
The NCES NTPS 2020–21 estimate for the United States was 28.7% of public K–12 schools normally offering any courses entirely online before the coronavirus pandemic. This is the central comparison point for the state results. A school counted in this measure offered at least one course in a fully online format as part of its normal pre-pandemic offering.
The wording matters for anyone interpreting presentation or communication statistics. The measure is about whether a school normally offered any entirely online courses. It does not report how many courses each school offered, how often students used them, whether classes included live presentations, or whether students gave presentations online. It also does not measure emergency remote instruction during the pandemic.
The state results show substantial variation around the national figure. Alaska was at 51.0%, while Connecticut was at 13.9%. Those are percentages of public K–12 schools in the respective state or district reported by NCES for the same survey period. The figures should therefore be read as a distribution of school-level availability, not as a ranking of student achievement or a ranking of online teaching quality.
Highest state percentages
Alaska had the highest reported percentage in the supplied state figures, at 51.0% of public K–12 schools. Oklahoma followed at 50.2%, and Arkansas was at 49.2%. Alabama reported 44.3%, while West Virginia reported 39.9%.
The next group included Nevada at 36.5%, Mississippi at 35.6%, North Carolina at 35.3%, Michigan at 34.6%, and Louisiana and Montana, each at 34.4%. Texas was at 32.4%, Missouri at 32.3%, Oregon at 31.5%, and Wyoming at 30.8%.
These values indicate that fully online courses were a normal offering in a relatively large share of schools in several states before the pandemic. They do not establish why the percentages were higher. The NCES label attached to the figures identifies the survey and period, but the supplied results do not include explanatory variables such as geography, school size, local policy, broadband access, staffing, or course demand.
| State or area | Public K–12 schools normally offering any entirely online courses |
|---|---|
| Alaska | 51.0% |
| Oklahoma | 50.2% |
| Arkansas | 49.2% |
| Alabama | 44.3% |
| West Virginia | 39.9% |
| Nevada | 36.5% |
| Mississippi | 35.6% |
| North Carolina | 35.3% |
| Michigan | 34.6% |
| Louisiana | 34.4% |
| Montana | 34.4% |
The compact comparison makes one point especially clear: the highest reported percentages were not clustered at a single value. The figures range from just under half of schools in Arkansas to just over half in Alaska, with a separate group in the mid-30% range. Because the dataset provides percentages rather than school counts, it does not support converting these values into numbers of schools.
Lowest state percentages
Connecticut had the lowest reported percentage, at 13.9% of public K–12 schools. New Hampshire was at 14.8%, the District of Columbia at 15.1%, New Jersey at 15.6%, and Maine at 16.2%. Minnesota reported 18.5%, while Kansas was at 20.0%.
Other figures below the national 28.7% level included Illinois at 20.8%, Rhode Island at 21.0%, Delaware and Vermont at 21.8%, Maryland at 22.1%, Massachusetts at 22.2%, Utah at 22.4%, and North Dakota at 24.3%. Colorado was at 24.4%, and California was at 26.0%.
The lowest values should not be interpreted as evidence that schools in those places lacked online learning altogether. The measure asks whether schools normally offered any courses entirely online. A school could have used digital tools, learning platforms, recorded lessons, or online presentation activities without meeting the particular condition represented by this percentage.
The figures also do not show whether a lower percentage reflected fewer online courses, a different definition of normal offerings in local practice, or another factor. The supplied NCES results provide the percentages and the survey label, but no causal explanation. Keeping that limitation visible prevents a school-offering statistic from being turned into an unsupported claim about teachers, students, or technology access.
Complete state comparison
The full set of state and district percentages is below. Every figure is labeled NCES NTPS 2020–21 and refers to the share of public K–12 schools that normally offered any courses entirely online before the coronavirus pandemic.
| State or area | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Alabama | 44.3% |
| Alaska | 51.0% |
| Arizona | 30.2% |
| Arkansas | 49.2% |
| California | 26.0% |
| Colorado | 24.4% |
| Connecticut | 13.9% |
| Delaware | 21.8% |
| District of Columbia | 15.1% |
| Florida | 30.0% |
| Georgia | 27.7% |
| Hawaii | 26.8% |
| Idaho | 29.2% |
| Illinois | 20.8% |
| Indiana | 27.6% |
| Iowa | 30.3% |
| Kansas | 20.0% |
| Kentucky | 28.1% |
| Louisiana | 34.4% |
| Maine | 16.2% |
| Maryland | 22.1% |
| Massachusetts | 22.2% |
| Michigan | 34.6% |
| Minnesota | 18.5% |
| Mississippi | 35.6% |
| Missouri | 32.3% |
| Montana | 34.4% |
| Nebraska | 28.6% |
| Nevada | 36.5% |
| New Hampshire | 14.8% |
| New Jersey | 15.6% |
| New Mexico | 26.8% |
| New York | 23.7% |
| North Carolina | 35.3% |
| North Dakota | 24.3% |
| Ohio | 30.5% |
| Oklahoma | 50.2% |
| Oregon | 31.5% |
| Pennsylvania | 27.8% |
| Rhode Island | 21.0% |
| South Carolina | 30.3% |
| South Dakota | 29.9% |
| Tennessee | 30.5% |
| Texas | 32.4% |
| Utah | 22.4% |
| Vermont | 21.8% |
| Virginia | 28.7% |
| Washington | 30.1% |
| West Virginia | 39.9% |
| Wisconsin | 28.8% |
| Wyoming | 30.8% |
The table includes the District of Columbia because it appears in the NCES results as a reported area. Its percentage was 15.1%, which is below the national estimate of 28.7%. It should be compared as the area reported by the survey, without assuming that a district-level figure is directly interchangeable with a state-level figure in every analysis.
Regional patterns in the figures
The supplied percentages show that online course availability varied across the country. Some states in the western and central parts of the country recorded high values, including Alaska at 51.0%, Oklahoma at 50.2%, Arkansas at 49.2%, Nevada at 36.5%, Montana at 34.4%, Oregon at 31.5%, and Wyoming at 30.8%. Other states in those broad areas were lower, including Colorado at 24.4%, Utah at 22.4%, and California at 26.0%.
The same uneven pattern appears elsewhere. In the South, Alabama was at 44.3%, while Mississippi was at 35.6%, North Carolina at 35.3%, Louisiana at 34.4%, Texas at 32.4%, Florida at 30.0%, and Georgia at 27.7%. In the Midwest, Michigan was at 34.6% and Missouri at 32.3%, while Minnesota was at 18.5%, Kansas at 20.0%, and Illinois at 20.8%.
The Northeast also contains a wide spread. New York was at 23.7%, Massachusetts at 22.2%, Maryland at 22.1%, Rhode Island at 21.0%, Maine at 16.2%, New Jersey at 15.6%, New Hampshire at 14.8%, and Connecticut at 13.9%. These comparisons describe the reported percentages; they do not establish a regional cause.
For readers preparing online presentations, this distinction is useful. A statewide percentage can describe how common a school offering was, but it cannot tell a presenter what platform, assignment type, audience, or delivery method a particular school used. Local context still matters when interpreting any presentation-related practice.
What the measure does and does not show
The NCES NTPS 2020–21 measure is a pre-pandemic baseline. It asks about what public K–12 schools normally offered before the coronavirus pandemic, so it should not be presented as a current estimate of online learning. It is also not a forecast. No future projection is included in the supplied results.
The measure captures any entirely online course offering. “Any” means the percentage does not distinguish between a school with one such course and a school with many. “Entirely online” describes the course format in the survey measure; it does not automatically describe a hybrid class, an online presentation, or a student’s total learning experience.
The results likewise do not quantify student participation, completion, presentation frequency, speaking confidence, grades, or learning outcomes. They cannot support claims that one state’s students were more effective presenters than another state’s students. They can support a narrower statement: the share of public K–12 schools reporting a normal offering of at least one entirely online course differed across states in the NCES NTPS 2020–21 results.
When citing these statistics, keep the source label and measurement period attached to the claim: NCES NTPS 2020–21. Keep the geography explicit as well. For example, “Alaska: 51.0% of public K–12 schools” is more precise than saying “online learning reached 51.0%.” The first wording identifies the population and measure; the second could be mistaken for a student participation rate.
For presentation planning, the figures are best used as context. They show that entirely online course offerings were already established to different degrees before the pandemic, with the United States estimate at 28.7% and state results ranging from 13.9% in Connecticut to 51.0% in Alaska. They do not answer questions the survey measure was not designed to answer, including how schools taught presentations online or how students performed when presenting remotely.