Online Student Performance Under Synchronous and Asynchronous Instruction in California Community Colleges

The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in both an increased use of online courses in general and an increased the use of newer forms of online instruction like synchronous instruction. These changes create an urgent need for updated research on how students perform in these courses relative to face-to-face alternatives. Our paper uses data on student course enrollments in the California Community Colleges system from 2015–16 through 2021–22 to explore how the relative performance of students in asynchronous and synchronous courses compared to face-to-face courses has changed over time and how performance differs across various student subgroups (e.g., by race/ethnicity and financial aid use). While there are still performance gaps between online and face-to-face students post-pandemic, those gaps are smaller than they were pre-pandemic. Moreover, as of 2021–22, course passing gaps compared to face-to-face students are smaller for students in synchronous courses than in asynchronous courses. Trends in performance gaps are more pronounced among specific student groups, particularly Hispanic and Black students, highlighting potential equity concerns tied to course modality choices and the need for targeted interventions to address these disparities.