By Gabriel Princewill-
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and the University of Exeter has today released its analysis of learning loss variation across the Home Nations.
The authours of the extensive appraisal described the losses are sizable in all four nations, with a common feature of disadvantaged pupils suffering particularly large losses during two periods of school closures, the durations of which varied across the home nations. Using empirical analysis of secondary microdata, bespoke social mobility surveys and administrative school attendance data reveal the extent learning losses
The report found that pupils in England lost on average 61 days of schooling between March 2020 and April 2021 – as did Northern Ireland, contrasting this with pupils in Scotland who lost 64 days, and Wales, 66 days from a total of 190 days. Differences across the nations were attributed to both variations in learning loss at home, and due to education policy differences (both historical differences in term times and from specific policy choices during the pandemic).
Notably, the researchers pointed to the relatively higher impact of school closures on the education of pupils from poor backgrounds, who received less instructive teaching than their age mates from richer backgrounds.
Parents from affluent backgrounds are known to be usually better educated than their poorer counterparts, and can also afford good quality tuition for their children, enhancing their future prospects in the process. Additionally, the mental well being is much better, impacting their focus and ambition. Such children also have higher aspirations than a majority of those from poorer backgrounds.
The researchers expressed significant concerns about scarring effects that may emerge as a result in the future, adding that the harm that could occur to the future education and social mobility prospects of the Covid generation of school children, is best prevented from re-occurring.
Unprecedented
Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), as part of the UK Research and Innovation’s rapid response to COVID-19, and by HDR-UK as part of the Rapid funded projects, the report states schooling disruption was “unprecedented in its scale” during the period, adding that most pupils in the UK also missed over half of their expected days in the classroom.
The multiple researchers who conducted the detailed research analyzed the maximum number of classroom days lost between March 2020 and March 2021 based on the education policies each nation chose to adopt, taking into account school attendance of children, and the number of hours per week they spend on schoolwork. ”These
are converted into a measure where learning losses are defined as the percentage of normal schooling
hours lost per day when compared with a 6-hour school day for 5 days a week, they said.
Existing research shows that even a few days extra learning loss can have a large impact on education achievement and life outcomes, and these big losses of around 60-65 days are much bigger than those typically studied.
Several studies have confirmed that learning losses suffered during the pandemic are manifested in stark gaps in attainment between children from poorer backgrounds and their more privileged counterparts.
School Opening And Closure Dates
The report analyzed learning loss by assessing school opening and closure dates, documenting official school attendance figures and using data on daily home and classroom learning reported by parents in the Understanding Society study.
In England, the poorest pupils missed out on 34.9 % of their learning, while the richest missed just 24.4 %, they revealed.
”The ‘poor-rich learning gap’ in England was also found to be higher during the first two lockdowns compared with the rest of the UK – with a 13.4 percentage point gap record in England during the first lockdown compared with 11.7 per cent for the rest of the UK.
However, during the spring 2021 closures, England’s school reopening policies meant the poorest pupils in England lost less time than the most affluent pupils around the UK – with 34.9 per cent of time lost compared with 38.6 per cent.
A government report from the Education Policy Institute and Renaissance Learning previously warned learning loss among poorer primary school pupils has undone as much as two thirds of the progress made over the last 10 years in closing the disadvantage gap.
The report warns that these estimates reflect a point in time and are “not representative of losses suffered over the course of a year”.
The Uk government has offered tuition to affected children from disadvantaged backgrounds seriously set back during the heights of the pandemic, but there is sparse information about the implementation of the offer, especially as children from disadvantaged backgrounds are often not knowledgeable enough or motivated enough to pursue offers like this.
Exactly how much children from disadvantaged backgrounds who are normally lacking in enthusiasm with respect to their education have been affected, is difficult to tell with any degree of certainty. Numerous children from poor backgrounds are disruptive in school, insolent to parents at home, and generally constitute more of a nuisance within school premises than they do in any productive way.
However, for those students from poor backgrounds, who are more inclined to attentiveness in class and who assimilate what they are taught, the losses to them are likely to have been enormous. Active efforts to compensate lost time is expected to take the form of summer classes after the term concludes, if the government’s offer for tuition is taking up.