challenges of education during pandemic

Educational challenges and opportunities of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

Jaime saavedra.

We are living amidst what is potentially one of the greatest threats in our lifetime to global education, a gigantic educational crisis. As of March 28, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic is causing more than 1.6 billion children and youth to be out of school in 161 countries. This is close to 80% of the world’s enrolled students.  We were already experiencing a global leaning crisis, as many students were in school, but were not learning the fundamental skills needed for life. The World Bank’s “ Learning Poverty ” indicator – the % of children who cannot read and understand at age 10 – stood at 53% of children in low- and middle-income countries – before the outbreak started. This pandemic has the potential to worsen these outcomes even more if we do not act fast.

What should we be worried about in this phase of the crisis that might have an immediate impact on children and youth? (1) Losses in learning (2) Increased dropout rates (3) Children missing their most important meal of the day. Moreover, most countries have very unequal education systems, and these negative impacts will be felt disproportionately by poor children. When it rains, it pours for them.    

Learning . Starting the school year late or interrupting it (depending on if they live in the southern or northern hemisphere) completely disrupts the lives of many children, their parents, and teachers. A lot can be done to at least reduce the impact through remote learning strategies. Richer countries are better prepared to move to online learning strategies, although with a lot of effort and challenges for teachers and parents. In middle-income and poorer countries, the situation is very mixed and if we do not act appropriately, the vast inequality of opportunities that exists – egregious and unacceptable to start with – will be amplified. Many children do not have a desk, books, internet connectivity, a laptop at home, or supportive parents. Others do. What we need to avoid – or minimize as much as possible – is for those differences in opportunities to expand and cause the crisis to have an even larger negative effect on poor children’s learning.  

Fortunately, we are seeing a lot of creativity in many countries. Rightly so, many ministries of education are worried that relying exclusively on online strategies will imply reaching only children from better-off families. The appropriate strategy in most countries is to use all possible delivery modes with the infrastructure that exists today. Use online tools to assure that lesson plans, videos, tutorials, and other resources are available for some students and probably, most teachers. But also, podcasts and other resources that require less data usage. Working with telecommunication companies to apply zero-rate policies can also facilitate learning material to be downloaded on a smartphone, which more students are likely to have. 

Radio and TV are also very powerful tools. The advantage we have today, is that through social networks, WhatsApp or SMS, ministries of education can communicate effectively with parents and teachers and provide guidelines, instructions and structure to the learning process, using content delivered by radio or TV. Remote learning is not only about online learning, but about mixed media learning, with the objective of reaching as many students as possible, today.

Staying engaged. Maintaining the engagement of children, particularly young secondary school students is critical. Dropout rates are still very high in many countries, and a long period of disengagement can result in a further increase. Going to school is not only about learning math and science, but also about social relationships and peer-to-peer interactions. It is about learning to be a citizen and developing social skills. That is why it is important to stay connected with the school by any means necessary. For all students, this is also a time to develop socio-emotional skills and learn more about how to contribute to society as a citizen. The role of parents and family, which has always been extremely important, is critical in that task. So, a lot of the help that ministries of education provide, working through mass media, should also go to parents. Radio, TV, SMS messages can all be used to provide tips and advice to them on how to better support their children.

Meals.  In many parts of the world, school feeding programs provide children with their most nutritious meal of the day. They are essential for the cognitive development and well-being. These programs are complex logistical and administrative endeavors. It is not easy, but countries should find the way to provide those meals using the school buildings in an organized fashion, community buildings or networks, or, if needed, distribute directly to the families. If delivering meals or food is not feasible logistically, cash transfer programs should be expanded or implemented to compensate the parents. Planning is needed, but one has to be ready to flexibly adjust plans, as the information we have about the likely paths of the pandemic change day by day, influenced by the uncertainty around which mitigation measures countries are taking. The process of reopening of schools might be gradual, as authorities will want to reduce agglomeration or the possibility of a second wave of the pandemic, which can affect some countries. In that uncertain context, it might be better to make decisions assuming a longer, rather than a shorter scenario. The good news is that many of the improvements, initiatives, and investments that school systems will have to make might have a positive long-lasting effect.

Some countries will be able to increase their teachers’ digital skills. Radio and TV stations will recognize their key role in supporting national education goals – and hopefully, improve the quality of their programming understanding their immense social responsibility. Parents will be more involved in their children’s education process, and ministries of education will have a much clearer understanding of the gaps and challenges (in connectivity, hardware, integration of digital tools in the curriculum, teacher’s readiness) that exist in using technology effectively and act upon that. All of this can strengthen the future education system in a country.

The mission of all education systems is the same. It is to overcome the learning crisis we were already living and respond to the pandemic we are all facing. The challenge today is to reduce as much as possible the negative impact this pandemic will have on learning and schooling and build on this experience to get back on a path of faster improvement in learning. As education systems cope with this crisis, they must also be thinking of how they can recover stronger, with a renewed sense of responsibility of all actors and with a better understanding and sense of urgency of the need to close the gap in opportunities and assuring that all children have the same chances for a quality education.

• The World Region
• COVID-19 (coronavirus)

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Human Development Director for Latin America and the Caribbean at the World Bank

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COVID-19 and education: The lingering effects of unfinished learning

As this most disrupted of school years draws to a close, it is time to take stock of the impact of the pandemic on student learning and well-being. Although the 2020–21 academic year ended on a high note—with rising vaccination rates, outdoor in-person graduations, and access to at least some in-person learning for 98 percent of students—it was as a whole perhaps one of the most challenging for educators and students in our nation’s history. 1 “Burbio’s K-12 school opening tracker,” Burbio, accessed May 31, 2021, cai.burbio.com. By the end of the school year, only 2 percent of students were in virtual-only districts. Many students, however, chose to keep learning virtually in districts that were offering hybrid or fully in-person learning.

Our analysis shows that the impact of the pandemic on K–12 student learning was significant, leaving students on average five months behind in mathematics and four months behind in reading by the end of the school year. The pandemic widened preexisting opportunity and achievement gaps, hitting historically disadvantaged students hardest. In math, students in majority Black schools ended the year with six months of unfinished learning, students in low-income schools with seven. High schoolers have become more likely to drop out of school, and high school seniors, especially those from low-income families, are less likely to go on to postsecondary education. And the crisis had an impact on not just academics but also the broader health and well-being of students, with more than 35 percent of parents very or extremely concerned about their children’s mental health.

The fallout from the pandemic threatens to depress this generation’s prospects and constrict their opportunities far into adulthood. The ripple effects may undermine their chances of attending college and ultimately finding a fulfilling job that enables them to support a family. Our analysis suggests that, unless steps are taken to address unfinished learning, today’s students may earn $49,000 to $61,000 less over their lifetime owing to the impact of the pandemic on their schooling. The impact on the US economy could amount to $128 billion to $188 billion every year as this cohort enters the workforce.

Federal funds are in place to help states and districts respond, though funding is only part of the answer. The deep-rooted challenges in our school systems predate the pandemic and have resisted many reform efforts. States and districts have a critical role to play in marshaling that funding into sustainable programs that improve student outcomes. They can ensure rigorous implementation of evidence-based initiatives, while also piloting and tracking the impact of innovative new approaches. Although it is too early to fully assess the effectiveness of postpandemic solutions to unfinished learning, the scope of action is already clear. The immediate imperative is to not only reopen schools and recover unfinished learning but also reimagine education systems for the long term. Across all of these priorities it will be critical to take a holistic approach, listening to students and parents and designing programs that meet academic and nonacademic needs alike.

What have we learned about unfinished learning?

As the 2020–21 school year began, just 40 percent of K–12 students were in districts that offered any in-person instruction. By the end of the year, more than 98 percent of students had access to some form of in-person learning, from the traditional five days a week to hybrid models. In the interim, districts oscillated among virtual, hybrid, and in-person learning as they balanced the need to keep students and staff safe with the need to provide an effective learning environment. Students faced multiple schedule changes, were assigned new teachers midyear, and struggled with glitchy internet connections and Zoom fatigue. This was a uniquely challenging year for teachers and students, and it is no surprise that it has left its mark—on student learning, and on student well-being.

As we analyze the cost of the pandemic, we use the term “unfinished learning” to capture the reality that students were not given the opportunity this year to complete all the learning they would have completed in a typical year. Some students who have disengaged from school altogether may have slipped backward, losing knowledge or skills they once had. The majority simply learned less than they would have in a typical year, but this is nonetheless important. Students who move on to the next grade unprepared are missing key building blocks of knowledge that are necessary for success, while students who repeat a year are much less likely to complete high school and move on to college. And it’s not just academic knowledge these students may miss out on. They are at risk of finishing school without the skills, behaviors, and mindsets to succeed in college or in the workforce. An accurate assessment of the depth and extent of unfinished learning will best enable districts and states to support students in catching up on the learning they missed and moving past the pandemic and into a successful future.

Students testing in 2021 were about ten points behind in math and nine points behind in reading, compared with matched students in previous years.

Unfinished learning is real—and inequitable

To assess student learning through the pandemic, we analyzed Curriculum Associates’ i-Ready in-school assessment results of more than 1.6 million elementary school students across more than 40 states. 2 The Curriculum Associates in-school sample consisted of 1.6 million K–6 students in mathematics and 1.5 million in reading. The math sample came from all 50 states, but 23 states accounted for 90 percent of the sample. The reading sample came from 46 states, with 21 states accounting for 90 percent of the sample. Florida accounted for 29 percent of the math and 30 percent of the reading sample. In general, states that had reopened schools are overweighted given the in-school nature of the assessment. We compared students’ performance in the spring of 2021 with the performance of similar students prior to the pandemic. 3 Specifically, we compared spring 2021 results to those of historically matched students in the springs of 2019, 2018, and 2017. Students testing in 2021 were about ten points behind in math and nine points behind in reading, compared with matched students in previous years.

To get a sense of the magnitude of these gaps, we translated these differences in scores to a more intuitive measure—months of learning. Although there is no perfect way to make this translation, we can get a sense of how far students are behind by comparing the levels students attained this spring with the growth in learning that usually occurs from one grade level to the next. We found that this cohort of students is five months behind in math and four months behind in reading, compared with where we would expect them to be based on historical data. 4 The conversion into months of learning compares students’ achievement in the spring of one grade level with their performance in the spring of the next grade level, treating this spring-to-spring difference in historical scores as a “year” of learning. It assumes a ten-month school year with a two-month summer vacation. Actual school schedules vary significantly, and i-Ready’s typical growth numbers for a “year” of learning are based on 30 weeks of actual instruction between the fall and the spring rather than on a spring-to-spring calendar-year comparison.

Unfinished learning did not vary significantly across elementary grades. Despite reports that remote learning was more challenging for early elementary students, 5 Marva Hinton, “Why teaching kindergarten online is so very, very hard,” Edutopia, October 21, 2020, edutopia.org. our results suggest the impact was just as meaningful for older elementary students. 6 While our analysis only includes results from students who tested in-school in the spring, many of these students were learning remotely for meaningful portions of the fall and the winter. We can hypothesize that perhaps younger elementary students received more help from parents and older siblings, and that older elementary students were more likely to be struggling alone.

It is also worth remembering that our numbers capture the “average” progress by grade level. Especially in early reading, this average can conceal a wide range of outcomes. Another way of cutting the data looks instead at which students have dropped further behind grade levels. A recent report suggests that more first and second graders have ended this year two or more grade levels below expectations than in any previous year. 7 Academic achievement at the end of the 2020–2021 school year , Curriculum Associates, June 2021, curriculumassociates.com. Given the major strides children at this age typically make in mastering reading, and the critical importance of early reading for later academic success, this is of particular concern.

While all types of students experienced unfinished learning, some groups were disproportionately affected. Students of color and low-income students suffered most. Students in majority-Black schools ended the school year six months behind in both math and reading, while students in majority-white schools ended up just four months behind in math and three months behind in reading. 8 To respect students’ privacy, we cannot isolate the race or income of individual students in our sample, but we can look at school-level demographics. Students in predominantly low-income schools and in urban locations also lost more learning during the pandemic than their peers in high-income rural and suburban schools (Exhibit 1).

In fall 2020, we projected that students could lose as much as five to ten months of learning in mathematics, and about half of that in reading, by the end of the school year. Spring assessment results came in toward the lower end of these projections, suggesting that districts and states were able to improve the quality of remote and hybrid learning through the 2020–21 school year and bring more students back into classrooms.

Indeed, if we look at the data over time, some interesting patterns emerge. 9 The composition of the fall student sample was different from that of the spring sample, because more students returned to in-person assessments in the spring. Some of the increase in unfinished learning from fall to spring could be because the spring assessment included previously virtual students, who may have struggled more during the school year. Even so, the spring data are the best reflection of unfinished learning at the end of the school year. Taking math as an example, as schools closed their buildings in the spring of 2020, students fell behind rapidly, learning almost no new math content over the final few months of the 2019–20 school year. Over the summer, we assume that they experienced the typical “summer slide” in which students lose some of the academic knowledge and skills they had learned the year before. Then they resumed learning through the 2020–21 school year, but at a slower pace than usual, resulting in five months of unfinished learning by the end of the year (Exhibit 2). 10 These lines simplify the pattern of typical learning through the year. In a typical year, students learn more in the fall and less in the spring, and only learn during periods of instruction (the chart includes the well-documented learning loss that happens during the summer, but does not include shorter holidays when students are not in school receiving instruction).

In reading, however, the story is somewhat different. As schools closed their buildings in March 2020, students continued to progress in reading, albeit at a slower pace. During the summer, we assume that students’ reading level stayed roughly flat, as in previous years. The pace of learning increased slightly over the 2020–21 school year, but the difference was not as great as it was in math, resulting in four months of unfinished learning by the end of the school year (Exhibit 3). Put another way, the initial shock in reading was less severe, but the improvements to remote and hybrid learning seem to have had less impact in reading than they did in math.

Before we celebrate the improvements in student trajectories between the initial school shutdowns and the subsequent year of learning, we should remember that these are still sobering numbers. On average, students who took the spring assessments in school are half a year behind in math, and nearly that in reading. For Black and Hispanic students, the losses are not only greater but also piled on top of historical inequities in opportunity and achievement (Exhibit 4).

Furthermore, these results likely represent an optimistic scenario. They reflect outcomes for students who took interim assessments in the spring in a school building 11 Students who took the assessment out of school are not included in our sample because we could not guarantee fidelity and comparability of results, given the change in the testing environment. Out-of-school students represent about a third of the students taking i-Ready assessments in the spring, and we will not have an accurate understanding of the pandemic’s impact on their learning until they return to school buildings, likely in the fall. —and thus exclude students who remained remote throughout the entire school year, and who may have experienced the most disruption to their schooling. 12 Initial results from Texas suggest that districts with mostly virtual instruction experienced more unfinished learning than those with mostly in-person instruction. The percent of students meeting math expectations dropped 32 percent in mostly virtual districts but just 9 percent in mostly in-person ones. See Reese Oxner, “Texas students’ standardized test scores dropped dramatically during the pandemic, especially in math,” Texas Tribune , June 28, 2021, texastribune.org. The Curriculum Associates data cover a broad variety of schools and states across the country, but are not fully representative, being overweighted for rural and southeastern states that were more likely to get students back into the classrooms this year. Finally, these data cover only elementary schools. They are silent on the academic impact of the pandemic for middle and high schoolers. However, data from school districts suggest that, even for older students, the pandemic has had a significant effect on learning. 13 For example, in Salt Lake City, the percentage of middle and high school students failing a class jumped by 60 percent, from 2,500 to 4,000, during the pandemic. To learn about increased failure rates across multiple districts from the Bay Area to New Mexico, Austin, and Hawaii, see Richard Fulton, “Failing Grades,” Inside Higher Ed , March 8, 2021, insidehighered.com.

The harm inflicted by the pandemic goes beyond academics

Students didn’t just lose academic learning during the pandemic. Some lost family members; others had caregivers who lost their jobs and sources of income; and almost all experienced social isolation.

These pressures have taken a toll on students of all ages. In our recent survey of 16,370 parents across every state in America, 35 percent of parents said they were very or extremely concerned about their child’s mental health, with a similar proportion worried about their child’s social and emotional well-being. Roughly 80 percent of parents had some level of concern about their child’s mental health or social and emotional health and development since the pandemic began. Parental concerns about mental health span grade levels but are slightly lower for parents of early elementary school students. 14 While 30.7% percent of all K–2 parents were very or extremely concerned, a peak of 37.6% percent of eighth-grade parents were.

Parents also report increases in clinical mental health conditions among their children, with a five-percentage-point increase in anxiety and a six-percentage-point increase in depression. They also report increases in behaviors such as social withdrawal, self-isolation, lethargy, and irrational fears (Exhibit 5). Despite increased levels of concern among parents, the amount of mental health assessment and testing done for children is 6.1 percent lower than it was in 2019 —the steepest decline in assessment and testing rates of any age group.

Broader student well-being is not independent of academics. Parents whose children have fallen significantly behind academically are one-third more likely to say that they are very or extremely concerned about their children’s mental health. Black and Hispanic parents are seven to nine percentage points more likely than white parents to report higher levels of concern. Unaddressed mental-health challenges will likely have a knock-on effect on academics going forward as well. Research shows that trauma and other mental-health issues can influence children’s attendance, their ability to complete schoolwork in and out of class, and even the way they learn. 15 Satu Larson et al., “Chronic childhood trauma, mental health, academic achievement, and school-based health center mental health services,” Journal of School Health , 2017, 87(9), 675–86, escholarship.org.

In our recent survey of 16,370 parents across every state in America, 35 percent of parents said they were very or extremely concerned about their child’s mental health.

The impact of unfinished learning on diminished student well-being seems to be playing out in the choices that students are making. Some students have already effectively dropped out of formal education entirely. 16 To assess the impact of the pandemic on dropout rates, we have to look beyond official enrollment data, which are only published annually, and which only capture whether a child has enrolled at the beginning of the year, not whether they are engaged and attending school. Chronic absenteeism rates provide clues as to which students are likely to persist in school and which students are at risk of dropping out. Our parent survey suggests that chronic absenteeism for eighth through 12th graders has increased by 12 percentage points, and 42 percent of the students who are new to chronic absenteeism are attending no school at all, according to their parents. Scaled up to the national level, this suggests that 2.3 million to 4.6 million additional eighth- to 12th-grade students were chronically absent from school this year, in addition to the 3.1 million who are chronically absent in nonpandemic years. State and district data on chronic absenteeism are still emerging, but data released so far also suggest a sharp uptick in absenteeism rates nationwide, particularly in higher grades. 17 A review of available state and district data, including data released by 14 states and 11 districts, showed increases in chronic absenteeism of between three and 16 percentage points, with an average of seven percentage points. However, many states changed the definition of absenteeism during the pandemic, so a true like-for-like comparison is difficult to obtain. According to emerging state and district data, increases in chronic absenteeism are highest among populations with historically low rates. This is reflected also in our survey results. Black students, with the highest historical absenteeism rates, saw more modest increases during the pandemic than white or Hispanic students (Exhibit 6).

It remains unclear whether these pandemic-related chronic absentees will drop out at rates similar to those of students who were chronically absent prior to the pandemic. Some students could choose to return to school once in-person options are restored; but some portion of these newly absent students will likely drop out of school altogether. Based on historical links between chronic absenteeism and dropout rates, as well as differentials in absenteeism between fully virtual and fully in-person students, we estimate that an additional 617,000 to 1.2 million eighth–12th graders could drop out of school altogether because of the pandemic if efforts are not made to reengage them in learning next year. 18 The federal definition of chronic absenteeism is missing more than 15 days of school each year. According to the Utah Education Policy Center’s research brief on chronic absenteeism, the overall correlation between one year of chronic absence between eighth and 12th grade and dropping out of school is 0.134. For more, see Utah Education Policy Center, Research brief: Chronic absenteeism , July 2012, uepc.utah.edu. We then apply the differential in chronic absenteeism between fully virtual and fully in-person students to account for virtual students reengaging when in-person education is offered. For students who were not attending school at all, we assumed that 50 to 75 percent would not return to learning. This estimation is partly based on The on-track indicator as a predictor of high school graduation from the UChicago Consortium on School Research, which estimates that up to 75 percent of high school students who are “off track”—either failing or behind in credits—do not graduate in five years. For more, see Elaine Allensworth and John Q. Easton, The on-track indicator as a predictor of high school graduation , UChicago Consortium on School Research, 2005, consortium.uchicago.edu.

Even among students who complete high school, many may not fulfill their dreams of going on to postsecondary education. Our survey suggests that 17 percent of high school seniors who had planned to attend postsecondary education abandoned their plans—most often because they had joined or were planning to join the workforce or because the costs of college were too high. The number is much higher among low-income high school seniors, with 26 percent abandoning their plans. Low-income seniors are more likely to state cost as a reason, with high-income seniors more likely to be planning to reapply the following year or enroll in a gap-year program. This is consistent with National Student Clearinghouse reports that show overall college enrollment declines, with low-income, high-poverty, and high-minority high schools disproportionately affected. 19 Todd Sedmak, “Fall 2020 college enrollment update for the high school graduating class of 2020,” National Student Clearinghouse, March 25, 2021, studentclearinghouse.org; Todd Sedmak, “Spring 2021 college enrollment declines 603,000 to 16.9 million students,” National Student Clearinghouse, June 10, 2021, studentclearinghouse.org.

Unfinished learning has long-term consequences

The cumulative effects of the pandemic could have a long-term impact on an entire generation of students. Education achievement and attainment are linked not only to higher earnings but also to better health, reduced incarceration rates, and greater political participation. 20 See, for example, Michael Grossman, “Education and nonmarket outcomes,” in Handbook of the Economics of Education, Volume 1 , ed. Eric Hanushek and Finis Welch (Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2006), 577–633; Lance Lochner and Enrico Moretti, “The effect of education on crime: Evidence from prison inmates, arrests, and self-reports,” American Economic Review , 2004, Volume 94, Number 1, pp. 155–89; Kevin Milligan, Enrico Moretti, and Philip Oreopoulos, “Does education improve citizenship? Evidence from the United States and the United Kingdom,” Journal of Public Economics , August 2004, Volume 88, Number 9–10, pp. 1667–95; and Education transforms lives , UNESCO, 2013, unesdoc.unesco.org. We estimate that, without immediate and sustained interventions, pandemic-related unfinished learning could reduce lifetime earnings for K–12 students by an average of $49,000 to $61,000. These costs are significant, especially for students who have lost more learning. While white students may see lifetime earnings reduced by 1.4 percent, the reduction could be as much as 2.4 percent for Black students and 2.1 percent for Hispanic students. 21 Projected earnings across children’s lifetimes using current annual incomes for those with at least a high school diploma, discounting the earnings by a premium established in Murnane et al., 2000, which tied cognitive skills and future earnings. See Richard J. Murnane et al., “How important are the cognitive skills of teenagers in predicting subsequent earnings?,” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management , September 2000, Volume 19, Number 4, pp. 547–68.

Lower earnings, lower levels of education attainment, less innovation—all of these lead to decreased economic productivity. By 2040 the majority of this cohort of K–12 students will be in the workforce. We anticipate a potential annual GDP loss of $128 billion to $188 billion from pandemic-related unfinished learning. 22 Using Hanushek and Woessmann 2008 methodology to map national per capita growth associated with decrease in academic achievement, then adding additional impact of pandemic dropouts on GDP. For more, see Eric A. Hanushek and Ludger Woessmann, “The role of cognitive skills in economic development,” Journal of Economic Literature , September 2008, Volume 46, Number 3, pp. 607–68.

This increases by about one-third the existing hits to GDP from achievement gaps that predated COVID-19. Our previous research indicated that the pre-COVID-19 racial achievement gap was equivalent to $426 billion to $705 billion in lost economic potential every year (Exhibit 7). 23 This is the increase in GDP that would result if Black and Hispanic students achieved the same levels of academic performance as white students. For more information on historical opportunity and achievement gaps, please see Emma Dorn, Bryan Hancock, Jimmy Sarakatsannis, and Ellen Viruleg, “ COVID-19 and student learning in the United States: The hurt could last a lifetime ,” June 1, 2020.

What is the path forward for our nation’s students?

There is now significant funding in place to address these critical issues. Through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act); the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA); and the American Rescue Plan (ARP), the federal government has already committed more than $200 billion to K–12 education over the next three years, 24 The CARES Act provided $13 billion to ESSER and $3 billion to the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund; CRRSAA provided $54 billion to ESSER II, $4 billion to Governors (GEER II and EANS); ARP provided $123 billion to ESSER III, $3 billion to Governors (EANS II), and $10 billion to other education programs. For more, see “CCSSO fact sheet: COVID-19 relief funding for K-12 education,” Council of Chief State School Officers, 2021, https://753a0706.flowpaper.com/CCSSOCovidReliefFactSheet/#page=2. a significant increase over the approximately $750 billion spent annually on public schooling. 25 “The condition of education 2021: At a glance,” National Center for Education Statistics, accessed June 30, 2021, nces.ed.gov. The majority of these funds are routed through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER), of which 90 percent flows to districts and 10 percent to state education agencies. These are vast sums of money, particularly in historical context. As part of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the Obama administration committed more than $80 billion toward K–12 schools—at the time the biggest federal infusion of funds to public schools in the nation’s history. 26 “The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: Saving and Creating Jobs and Reforming Education,” US Department of Education, March 7, 2009, ed.gov. Today’s funding more than doubles that previous record and gives districts much more freedom in how they spend the money. 27 Andrew Ujifusa, “What Obama’s stimulus had for education that the coronavirus package doesn’t,” Education Week , March 31, 2020, www.edweek.org.

However, if this funding can mitigate the impact of unfinished learning, it could prevent much larger losses to the US economy. Given that this generation of students will likely spend 35 to 40 years in the workforce, the cumulative impact of COVID-19 unfinished learning over their lifetimes could far exceed the investments that are being made today.

Furthermore, much of today’s federal infusion will likely be spent not only on supporting students in catching up on the unfinished learning of the pandemic but also on tackling deeper historical opportunity and achievement gaps among students of different races and income levels.

As districts consider competing uses of funding, they are juggling multiple priorities over several time horizons. The ARP funding needs to be obligated by September 2023. This restricts how monies can be spent. Districts are balancing the desire to hire new personnel or start new programs with the risk of having to close programs because of lack of sustained funds in the future. Districts are also facing decisions about whether to run programs at the district level or to give more freedom to principals in allocating funds; about the balance between academics and broader student needs; about the extent to which funds should be targeted to students who have struggled most or spread evenly across all students; and about the balance between rolling out existing evidence-based programs and experimenting with innovative approaches.

It is too early to answer all of these questions decisively. However, as districts consider this complex set of decisions, leading practitioners and thinkers have come together to form the Coalition to Advance Future Student Success—and to outline priorities to ensure the effective and equitable use of federal funds. 28 “Framework: The Coalition to Advance Future Student Success,” Council of Chief State School Officers, accessed June 30, 2021, learning.ccsso.org.

These priorities encompass four potential actions for schools:

• Safely reopen schools for in-person learning.
• Reengage students and reenroll them into effective learning environments.
• Support students in recovering unfinished learning and broader needs.
• Recommit and reimagine our education systems for the long term.

Across all of these actions, it is important for districts to understand the changing needs of parents and students as we emerge from the pandemic, and to engage with them to support students to learn and to thrive. The remainder of this article shares insights from our parent survey of more than 16,000 parents on these changing needs and perspectives, and highlights some early actions by states and districts to adapt to meet them.

1. Safely reopen schools for in-person learning

The majority of school districts across the country are planning to offer traditional five-days-a-week in-person instruction in the fall, employing COVID-19-mitigation strategies such as staff and student vaccination drives, ongoing COVID-19 testing, mask mandates, and infrastructure updates. 29 “Map: Where Were Schools Required to Be Open for the 2020-21 School Year?,” Education Week , updated May 2021, edweek.org. The evidence suggests that schools can reopen buildings safely with the right protocols in place, 30 For a summary of the evidence on safely reopening schools, see John Bailey, Is it safe to reopen schools? , CRPE, March 2021, crpe.org. but health preparedness will likely remain critical as buildings reopen. Indeed, by the end of the school year, a significant subset of parents remain concerned about safety in schools, with nearly a third still very or extremely worried about the threat of COVID-19 to their child’s health. Parents also want districts to continue to invest in safety—39 percent say schools should invest in COVID-19 health and safety measures this fall.

2. Reengage and reenroll students in effective learning environments

Opening buildings safely is hard enough, but encouraging students to show up could be even more challenging. Some students will have dropped out of formal schooling entirely, and those who remain in school may be reluctant to return to physical classrooms. Our survey results suggest that 24 percent of parents are still not convinced they will choose in-person instruction for their children this fall. Within Black communities, that rises to 34 percent. But many of these parents are still open to persuasion. Only 4 percent of parents (and 6 percent of Black parents) say their children will definitely not return to fully in-person learning—which is not very different from the percentage of parents who choose to homeschool or pursue other alternative education options in a typical year. For students who choose to remain virtual, schools should make continual efforts to improve virtual learning models, based on lessons from the past year.

For parents who are still on the fence, school districts can work to understand their needs and provide effective learning options. Safety concerns remain the primary reason that parents remain hesitant about returning to the classroom; however, this is not the only driver. Some parents feel that remote learning has been a better learning environment for their child, while others have seen their child’s social-emotional and mental health improve at home.

Still, while remote learning may have worked well for some students, our data suggest that it failed many. In addition to understanding parent needs, districts should reach out to families and build confidence not just in their schools’ safety precautions but also in their learning environment and broader role in the community. Addressing root causes will likely be more effective than punitive measures, and a broad range of tactics may be needed, from outreach and attendance campaigns to student incentives to providing services families need, such as transportation and childcare. 31 Roshon R. Bradley, “A comprehensive approach to improving student attendance,” St. John Fisher College, August 2015, Education Doctoral, Paper 225, fisherpub.sjfc.edu; a 2011 literature review highlights how incentives can effectively be employed to increase attendance rates. Across all of these, a critical component will likely be identifying students who are at risk and ensuring targeted outreach and interventions. 32 Elaine M. Allensworth and John Q. Easton, “What matters for staying on-track and graduating in Chicago Public Schools: A close look at course grades, failures, and attendance in the freshman year,” Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago, July 2007, files.eric.ed.gov.

Chicago Public Schools, in partnership with the University of Chicago, has developed a student prioritization index (SPI) that identifies students at highest risk of unfinished learning and dropping out of school. The index is based on a combination of academic, attendance, socio-emotional, and community vulnerability inputs. The district is reaching out to all students with a back-to-school marketing campaign while targeting more vulnerable students with additional support. Schools are partnering with community-based organizations to carry out home visits, and with parents to staff phone banks. They are offering various paid summer opportunities to reduce the trade-offs students may have to make between summer school and summer jobs, recognizing that many have found paid work during the pandemic. The district will track and monitor the results to learn which tactics work. 33 “Moving Forward Together,” Chicago Public Schools, June 2021, cps.edu.

In Florida’s Miami-Dade schools, each school employee was assigned 30 households to contact personally, starting with a phone call and then showing up for a home visit. Superintendent Alberto Carvalho personally contacted 30 families and persuaded 23 to return to in-person learning. The district is starting the transition to in-person learning by hosting engaging in-person summer learning programs. 34 Hannah Natanson, “Schools use home visits, calls to convince parents to choose in-person classes in fall,” Washington Post , July 7, 2021, washingtonpost.com.

3. Support students in recovering unfinished learning and in broader needs

Even if students reenroll in effective learning environments in the fall, many will be several months behind academically and may struggle to reintegrate into a traditional learning environment. School districts are therefore creating strategies to support students  as they work to make up unfinished learning, and as they work through broader mental health issues and social reintegration. Again, getting parents and students to show up for these programs may be harder than districts expect.

Our research suggests that parents underestimate the unfinished learning caused by the pandemic. In addition, their beliefs about their children’s learning do not reflect racial disparities in unfinished learning. In our survey, 40 percent of parents said their child is on track and 16 percent said their child is progressing faster than in a usual year. Black parents are slightly more likely than white parents to think their child is on track or better, Hispanic parents less so. However, across all races, more than half of parents think their child is doing just fine. Only 14 percent of parents said their child has fallen significantly behind.

Even if programs are offered for free, many parents may not take advantage of them, especially if they are too academically oriented. Only about a quarter of parents said they are very likely to enroll their child in tutoring, after-school, or summer-school programs, for example. Nearly 40 percent said they are very likely to enroll their students in enrichment programs such as art or music. Districts therefore should consider not only offering effective evidence-based programs, such as high-dosage tutoring and vacation academies, but also ensuring that these programs are attractive to students.

In Rhode Island, for example, the state is taking a “Broccoli and Ice Cream” approach to summer school to prepare students for the new school year, combining rigorous reading and math instruction with fun activities provided by community-based partners. Enrichment activities such as sailing, Italian cooking lessons, and Olympic sports are persuading students to participate. 35 From webinar with Angélica Infante-Green, Rhode Island Department of Education, https://www.ewa.org/agenda/ewa-74th-national-seminar-agenda. The state-run summer program is open to students across the state, but the Rhode Island Department of Education has also provided guidance to district-run programs, 36 Learning, Equity & Accelerated Pathways Task Force Report , Rhode Island Department of Education, April 2021, ride.ri.gov. encouraging partnerships with community-based organizations, a dual focus on academics and enrichment, small class sizes, and a strong focus on relationships and social-emotional support.

In Louisiana, the state has provided guidance and support 37 Staffing and scheduling best practices guidance , Louisiana Department of Education, June 3, 2021, louisianabelieves.com. to districts in implementing recovery programs to ensure evidence-based approaches are rolled out state-wide. The guidance includes practical tips on ramping up staffing, and on scheduling high-dosage tutoring and other dedicated acceleration blocks. The state didn’t stop at guidance, but also flooded districts with support and two-way dialogue through webinars, conferences, monthly calls, and regional technical coaching. By scheduling acceleration blocks during the school day, rather than an add-on after school, districts are not dependent on parents signing up for programs.

For students who have experienced trauma, schools will likely need to address the broader fallout from the pandemic. In southwest Virginia, the United Way is partnering with five school systems to establish a trauma-informed schools initiative, providing teachers and staff with training and resources on trauma recovery. 38 Mike Still, “SWVA school districts partner to help students in wake of pandemic,” Kingsport Times News, June 26, 2021, timesnews.net. San Antonio is planning to hire more licensed therapists and social workers to help students and their families, leveraging partnerships with community organizations to place a licensed social worker on every campus. 39 Brooke Crum, “SAISD superintendent: ‘There are no shortcuts’ to tackling COVID-related learning gaps,” San Antonio Report, April 12, 2021, sanantonioreport.org.

4. Recommit and reimagine our education systems for the long term

Opportunity gaps have existed in our school systems for a long time. As schools build back from the pandemic, districts are also recommitting to providing an excellent education to every child. A potential starting point could be redoubling efforts to provide engaging, high-quality grade-level curriculum and instruction delivered by diverse and effective educators in every classroom, supported by effective assessments to inform instruction and support.

Beyond these foundational elements, districts may consider reimagining other aspects of the system. Parents may also be open to nontraditional models. Thirty-three percent of parents said that even when the pandemic is over, the ideal fit for their child would be something other than five days a week in a traditional brick-and-mortar school. Parents are considering hybrid models, remote learning, homeschooling, or learning hubs over the long term. Even if learning resumes mostly in the building, parents are open to the use of new technology to support teaching.

Edgecombe County Public Schools in North Carolina is planning to continue its use of learning hubs this fall to better meet student needs. In the district’s hub-and-spoke model, students will spend half of their time learning core content (the “hub”). For the other half they will engage in enrichment activities aligned to learning standards (the “spokes”). For elementary and middle school students, enrichment activities will involve interest-based projects in science and social studies; for high schoolers, activities could include exploring their passions through targeted English language arts and social studies projects or getting work experience—either paid or volunteer. The district is redeploying staff and leveraging community-based partnerships to enable these smaller-group activities with trusted adults who mirror the demographics of the students. 40 “District- and community-driven learning pods,” Center on Reinventing Public Education, crpe.org.

In Tennessee, the new Advanced Placement (AP) Access for All program will provide students across the state with access to AP courses, virtually. The goal is to eliminate financial barriers and help students take AP courses that aren’t currently offered at their home high school. 41 Amy Cockerham, “TN Department of Education announces ‘AP Access for All program,’” April 28, 2021, WJHL-TV, wjhl.com.

The Dallas Independent School District is rethinking the traditional school year, gathering input from families, teachers, and school staff to ensure that school communities are ready for the plunge. More than 40 schools have opted to add five additional intercession weeks to the year to provide targeted academics and enrichment activities. A smaller group of schools will add 23 days to the school year to increase time for student learning and teacher planning and collaboration. 42 “Time to Learn,” Dallas Independent School District, dallasisd.org.

It is unclear whether all these experiments will succeed, and school districts should monitor them closely to ensure they can scale successful programs and sunset unsuccessful ones. However, we have learned in the pandemic that some of the innovations born of necessity met some families’ needs better. Continued experimentation and fine-tuning could bring the best of traditional and new approaches together.

Thanks to concerted efforts by states and districts, the worst projections for learning outcomes this past year have not materialized for most students. However, students are still far behind where they need to be, especially those from historically marginalized groups. Left unchecked, unfinished learning could have severe consequences for students’ opportunities and prospects. In the long term, it could exact a heavy toll on the economy. It is not too late to mitigate these threats, and funding is now in place. Districts and states now have the opportunity to spend that money effectively to support our nation’s students.

Emma Dorn is a senior expert in McKinsey’s Silicon Valley office; Bryan Hancock and Jimmy Sarakatsannis are partners in the Washington, DC, office; and Ellen Viruleg is a senior adviser based in Providence, Rhode Island.

The authors wish to thank Alice Boucher, Ezra Glenn, Ben Hayes, Cheryl Healey, Chauncey Holder, and Sidney Scott for their contributions to this article.

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Mission: Recovering Education in 2021

THE CONTEXT

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused abrupt and profound changes around the world.  This is the worst shock to education systems in decades, with the longest school closures combined with looming recession.  It will set back progress made on global development goals, particularly those focused on education. The economic crises within countries and globally will likely lead to fiscal austerity, increases in poverty, and fewer resources available for investments in public services from both domestic expenditure and development aid. All of this will lead to a crisis in human development that continues long after disease transmission has ended.

Disruptions to education systems over the past year have already driven substantial losses and inequalities in learning. All the efforts to provide remote instruction are laudable, but this has been a very poor substitute for in-person learning.  Even more concerning, many children, particularly girls, may not return to school even when schools reopen. School closures and the resulting disruptions to school participation and learning are projected to amount to losses valued at $10 trillion in terms of affected children’s future earnings.  Schools also play a critical role around the world in ensuring the delivery of essential health services and nutritious meals, protection, and psycho-social support. Thus, school closures have also imperilled children’s overall wellbeing and development, not just their learning.   

It’s not enough for schools to simply reopen their doors after COVID-19. Students will need tailored and sustained support to help them readjust and catch-up after the pandemic. We must help schools prepare to provide that support and meet the enormous challenges of the months ahead. The time to act is now; the future of an entire generation is at stake.

THE MISSION

Mission objective:  To enable all children to return to school and to a supportive learning environment, which also addresses their health and psychosocial well-being and other needs.

Timeframe : By end 2021.

Scope : All countries should reopen schools for complete or partial in-person instruction and keep them open. The Partners - UNESCO , UNICEF , and the World Bank - will join forces to support countries to take all actions possible to plan, prioritize, and ensure that all learners are back in school; that schools take all measures to reopen safely; that students receive effective remedial learning and comprehensive services to help recover learning losses and improve overall welfare; and their teachers are prepared and supported to meet their learning needs. 

Three priorities:

1.    All children and youth are back in school and receive the tailored services needed to meet their learning, health, psychosocial wellbeing, and other needs. 

Challenges : School closures have put children’s learning, nutrition, mental health, and overall development at risk. Closed schools also make screening and delivery for child protection services more difficult. Some students, particularly girls, are at risk of never returning to school. 

Areas of action : The Partners will support the design and implementation of school reopening strategies that include comprehensive services to support children’s education, health, psycho-social wellbeing, and other needs. 

Targets and indicators

2.    All children receive support to catch up on lost learning.

Challenges : Most children have lost substantial instructional time and may not be ready for curricula that were age- and grade- appropriate prior to the pandemic. They will require remedial instruction to get back on track. The pandemic also revealed a stark digital divide that schools can play a role in addressing by ensuring children have digital skills and access.

Areas of action : The Partners will (i) support the design and implementation of large-scale remedial learning at different levels of education, (ii) launch an open-access, adaptable learning assessment tool that measures learning losses and identifies learners’ needs, and (iii) support the design and implementation of digital transformation plans that include components on both infrastructure and ways to use digital technology to accelerate the development of foundational literacy and numeracy skills. Incorporating digital technologies to teach foundational skills could complement teachers’ efforts in the classroom and better prepare children for future digital instruction.   

While incorporating remedial education, social-emotional learning, and digital technology into curricula by the end of 2021 will be a challenge for most countries, the Partners agree that these are aspirational targets that they should be supporting countries to achieve this year and beyond as education systems start to recover from the current crisis.

3.   All teachers are prepared and supported to address learning losses among their students and to incorporate  digital technology into their teaching.

Challenges : Teachers are in an unprecedented situation in which they must make up for substantial loss of instructional time from the previous school year and teach the current year’s curriculum. They must also protect their own health in school. Teachers will need training, coaching, and other means of support to get this done. They will also need to be prioritized for the COVID-19 vaccination, after frontline personnel and high-risk populations.  School closures also demonstrated that in addition to digital skills, teachers may also need support to adapt their pedagogy to deliver instruction remotely. 

Areas of action : The Partners will advocate for teachers to be prioritized in COVID-19 vaccination campaigns, after frontline personnel and high-risk populations, and provide capacity-development on pedagogies for remedial learning and digital and blended teaching approaches. 

Country level actions and global support

UNESCO, UNICEF, and World Bank are joining forces to support countries to achieve the Mission, leveraging their expertise and actions on the ground to support national efforts and domestic funding.

Country Level Action

1.  Mobilize team to support countries in achieving the three priorities

The Partners will collaborate and act at the country level to support governments in accelerating actions to advance the three priorities.

2.  Advocacy to mobilize domestic resources for the three priorities

The Partners will engage with governments and decision-makers to prioritize education financing and mobilize additional domestic resources.

Global level action

1.  Leverage data to inform decision-making

The Partners will join forces to   conduct surveys; collect data; and set-up a global, regional, and national real-time data-warehouse.  The Partners will collect timely data and analytics that provide access to information on school re-openings, learning losses, drop-outs, and transition from school to work, and will make data available to support decision-making and peer-learning.

2.  Promote knowledge sharing and peer-learning in strengthening education recovery

The Partners will join forces in sharing the breadth of international experience and scaling innovations through structured policy dialogue, knowledge sharing, and peer learning actions.

The time to act on these priorities is now. UNESCO, UNICEF, and the World Bank are partnering to help drive that action.

Last Updated: Mar 30, 2021

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Covid’s impact on education: what new challenges has it created?

For International Day of Education , Dominique Slade , Head of Education Content & Solutions at Cambridge Partnership for Education, considers the challenges more than two years since the start of the Covid pandemic.

This is the second of three posts analysing the impact of Covid on education delivery. Dominique’s first post considered learnings since the start of the pandemic.   

With the growing number of issues facing the world today, including global recession, one of the key challenges for governments and donor agencies will be to allocate budgets for competing priorities, from immediate emergency relief to longer-term investment in the future, including education. 

The Education Finance Watch 2022 , a joint publication by the World Bank, the Global Education Monitoring Report and the UNESCO Institute of Statistics, provides an annual analysis of trends and issues in education financing around the world. It highlights the worrying trend that 40% of low- and lower-middle income countries reduced their spending on education in 2020 following the onset of COVID-19. 

This trend means there is an increased risk that these countries will struggle to implement actions to address learning loss and pre-existing learning poverty. 

By contrast, the trend observed in upper-middle income and high-income countries shows that education remained stable as a share of total government budget and, in 2022, was higher than prior to the pandemic.

The impact of these opposite trends, combined with the decline in aid to education by some major aid contributors – such as the UK, US and KSA – and global donors, clearly highlights that keeping education on top of governments’ and donors’ priorities is going to be a challenge. 

Keeping education on top of governments’ and donors’ priorities is going to be a challenge.

This is reflected in the theme of this year’s International Day of Education: to invest in people, prioritise education , as well as the Transforming Education Summit in September 2022, which focused on generating global debate around the role of education as a common good:

“Education is key to charting the course towards more justice and sustainability... The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated a pre-existing education crisis. Reliance on digital technology for learning has deepened exclusion and gender inequalities. Without remedial action, better support for teachers and increased financing, learning losses and school dropout will continue to rise, reversing progress towards all the Sustainable Development Goals and depriving the youth of a future of dignity and opportunity.”  

Addressing learning inequalities to improve education for all

An important lesson learned from the pandemic is that governments should focus their efforts on reducing inequalities in educational attainment as a priority and realise that this makes sense at all levels – educational, socio-economic and ethical. 

It can be counter-intuitive for governments with a remit of providing quality education for all to be convinced that focusing on the most vulnerable first will drive improvement for all, particularly as providing support for the most vulnerable learners is, by nature, more complex and expensive, therefore it is rarely prioritised in countries with limited and competing resources.

However, as well as the lessons learned from the devastating, unequal impact of the pandemic on different groups of learners and the resulting potential impact on countries’ human capital and overall levels of poverty, educational research also provides evidence that starting education reform by addressing the needs of the most vulnerable groups first makes educational and financial sense, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

Starting education reform by addressing the needs of the most vulnerable groups first makes educational and financial sense.

In 2018, a policy paper entitled ‘ Cost-effectiveness with equity: Raising learning for marginalised girls through CAMFED’s programme in Tanzania ’, published by the REAL Centre (Centre for Research for Equitable Access and Learning, University of Cambridge) and based on CAMFED (Campaign for Female Education) data, concluded that – despite the higher cost to reach the most marginalised children – the impact per dollar spent provided greater value for money in terms of learner outcomes.

The overall conclusion of the research was that, ultimately, ‘inclusive education systems will function for everyone if they function for the most marginalised.’ Getting this message across is likely to be a challenge in times of reduced resources, but with the support and agency of individuals such as Jaime Saavedra, global events such as the International Day of Education and the Transforming Education Summit, and the growing evidence provided in many international reports on the state of education – as mentioned in part one of this series – this message will hopefully gain momentum.  

Understanding the potential and limits of technology

The past two and a half years have provided a truly unique global, real-life experiment in remote education, highlighting both the potential and the limits of technology in addressing access to quality education. 

With school closures in practically every country in the world at the peak of the global pandemic in early 2020, governments had to find solutions to ensure access to education, using a wide range of different solutions incorporating both old (e.g. radio, television) and new technologies (e.g. digital platforms, social media). 

The scale and range of initiatives, implemented over varying periods of time in varying contexts, have provided a unique insight into understanding what works and doesn’t work when trying to implement the use of technology as a substitute to schools at system-level.

The World Bank has carried out one of the most comprehensive analyses of the lessons learned about remote learning during the pandemic, published in two separate and  complementary reports, ‘ Remote Learning During the Global School Lockdown: Multi-Country Lessons ’ and ‘ Remote Learning During COVID-19: Lessons from Today, Principles for Tomorrow ’.

The two reports were developed at different points in the pandemic, with a strong focus on understanding the effectiveness of the different solutions adopted across the world, trying to answer the simple question: did children learn as much as they would have done in school? They also aimed to establish some principles to support policy makers at the point of reopening schools and preparing education systems for the future.

The most important lesson learned from the use of technology in education during the pandemic is that remote learning is a poor substitute for in-person learning and that new technologies, while they can be effective when used by skilled teachers who have access to and an understanding of them, have exacerbated pre-existing inequalities in many instances: ‘What once was a digital divide for some is now a digital chasm for many.’

Looking to the future, one of the main challenges for governments will be to make decisions that ensure the long-term resilience of their education systems, while at the same time  improving their effectiveness, equity and sustainability. This will inevitably involve making complex and expensive decisions around the use of technology, with a minefield of potential risks such as wasting public money and/or increasing inequalities. 

Lessons learned during the pandemic about what has or has not worked in a range of different contexts should help to inform these decisions.  

Rethinking the essential role of schools in the age of new technologies

The increased use of technology in education is the acceleration of a trend that started long before the pandemic, slowly and often reluctantly reflecting the evolution of the use of new technologies in all aspects of society, from the world of work and industry to the world of entertainment. 

While evidence from the pandemic has shown that remote education and the use of technology are poor substitutes for face-to-face education, it is similarly clear that most education systems are looking at new technologies to strengthen their resilience in the face of a potential increase in global challenges in the future.

Most education systems are looking at new technologies to strengthen their resilience in the face of a potential increase in global challenges in the future.

Over 20 years ago, the OECD Centre for Educational Research and Innovation tried to imagine what schooling could look like in the future by developing six scenarios based on global trends in education, such as ‘the expansion of learning markets and the growing role of digital technologies in connecting people, as well as their impact on the personalisation of learning’.

Repeating a similar exercise in 2022, the scenarios are reduced to four:

This useful exercise provides a starting point to reflect on more fundamental questions such as: what is the role of schools in the age of new technologies? How will schools deliver for the future, while at the same time addressing increasing pre-pandemic issues such as learning poverty and learning inequalities? In what way can new technologies contribute to addressing these challenges at school- and system-level?

Carefully considering these questions before embarking on full-scale, potentially disruptive educational reforms will be one of the main challenges for education systems in the future.

In her next post on the impact of Covid on education, Dominique will consider opportunities for the future of education.

If you’d like to discuss how we at Cambridge can help you tackle your unique challenges in education delivery then please contact us.  This blog draws from our report:  Covid's impact on education after more than two years.

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Top 10 risks and opportunities for education in the face of COVID-19

Subscribe to the center for universal education bulletin, rebecca winthrop rebecca winthrop director - center for universal education , senior fellow - global economy and development.

April 10, 2020

March 2020 will forever be known in the education community as the month when almost all the world’s schools shut their doors. On March 1, six governments instituted nationwide school closures due to the deadly coronavirus pandemic, and by the end of the month, 185 countries had closed, affecting 90 percent of the world’s students. The speed of these closures and the rapid move to distance learning has allowed little time for planning or reflection on both the potential risks to safeguard against and the potential opportunities to leverage.

With every crisis comes deep challenges and opportunities for transformation— past education crises have shown that it is possible to build back better. To help me reflect on what some of these challenges and opportunities may be, I recently spoke to Jim Knight , current member of the House of Lords, head of education for Tes Global, and former U.K. schools minister; and to Vicki Phillips , current chief of education at the National Geographic Society and a former U.S. superintendent of schools and state secretary of education. They provide perspectives from inside and outside of government in the U.K. and U.S., though their insights can likely help the many countries worldwide struggling to continue education during the pandemic.

Risks and challenges

#1: Distance learning will reinforce teaching and learning approaches that we know do not work well.

Jim: Many countries are shifting to distance learning approaches, whether through distributing physical packets of materials for students or through using technology to facilitate online learning. And there are real risks because many of these approaches can be very solitary and didactic when you’re just asking students to sit and quietly watch videos, read documents online, or click through presentations—that’s really dull. The worst form of learning is to sit passively and listen, and this may be the form that most students will receive during school closures. It serves no one well, especially those who are the furthest behind.

#2: Educators will be overwhelmed and unsupported to do their jobs well.

Vicki: Teachers had little or no notice about their schools closing and shifting to online learning—this can be challenging for anybody. They’ve shared that they are overwhelmed with all sorts of materials and products, and we are seeing educators begin to push back and request help filtering through all the resources to find those that are quality.

At the same time, teachers are just like the rest of us in that they are experiencing this strange new world as mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. They are trying to deal with their individual lives and take care of their kids and find new ways to make sure that learning continues.

#3: The protection and safety of children will be harder to safeguard.

Jim: In the U.K., we have stringent processes around checking who has access to children during school, in after-school clubs and sports. Schools have safeguard measures in place to ensure that predators toward children, such as pedophiles, can’t access young people. Now, once you move to online learning in a home environment, you can’t safeguard against this. People have to be mindful about the design of online learning so that bad individuals don’t get to children outside of their home.

#4: School closures will widen the equity gaps.

Vicki: Over the last decade or so, progress has been made in the number of students who have access to devices and connectivity, making this move to online learning possible. At the same time, not every child has access to digital devices or internet connectivity at home, and we need to ensure those kids get access to learning resources as well. This means that learning resources need to be available on every kind of device and it means, for kids who don’t have access, we still need to find a way to reach them.

#5: Poor experiences with ed-tech during the pandemic will make it harder to get buy-in later for good use of ed-tech.

Jim: We know that some students who use ed-tech during the pandemic will have a poor experience because they’re not used to it. Some people will say, “During the virus we tried the ed-tech-enabled learning approaches, it was terrible, and look at my test scores.” Yes, this will happen. People’s test scores will be impacted. People will become unhappy because the mental health effects of being isolated will be profound. We must be prepared for that. Those poor experiences are really important to learn what does and doesn’t work.

Opportunities to Leverage

#1: Blended learning approaches will be tried, tested, and increasingly used.

Jim: We know that the more engaging learning styles are ones that are more interactive, and that face-to-face learning is better than 100 percent online learning. We also know blended learning can draw on the best of both worlds and create a better learning experience than one hundred percent face-to-face learning. If, after having done 100 percent online at the end of this, I think it’s quite possible that we can then think about rebalancing the mix between face-to-face and online. Teachers will have started to innovate and experiment with these online tools and may want to continue online pedagogies as a result of all this. That’s really exciting.

#2: Teachers and schools will receive more respect, appreciation, and support for their important role in society.

Vicki: I think it will be easier to understand that schools aren’t just buildings where students go to learn, and that teachers are irreplaceable. There’s something magic about that in-person connection, that bond between teachers and their students. Having that face-to-face connection with learners and being able to support them across their unique skills⁠—that’s very hard to replicate in a distance learning environment. Also, many students access critical resources at school, such as meals, clothing, and mental health support that may not be as widely available at home.

#3: Quality teaching and learning materials will be better curated and more widely used.

Vicki: Educators are looking to other educators as well as trusted sources to help curate high-quality online learning tools. At National Geographic, we’ve curated collections for K-12 learners in our resource library. We’ve created a new landing page that allows educators, parents, and caregivers to access our free materials quickly, and inspire young people. But it’s not just teachers struggling—it’s parents and other caregivers who are trying to bring learning to life. To that end, we’re livestreaming our Explorer Classroom model that connects young people with scientists, researchers, educators, and storytellers. During this transition, we want students and families to have access to that larger world, in addition to their own backyard.

#4: Teacher collaboration will grow and help improve learning.

Jim: As a profession, I hope we come out of this crisis stronger by collaborating and working together. I’m a firm believer in not asking heavily burdened teachers to reinvent the wheel. At my company Tes, we’ve got a big resource-sharing platform for teachers, including coronavirus-related resources. There are other platforms too, such as Teachers Pay Teachers and Khan Academy, where teachers can see what others have done. A teacher could say, “well, rather than record a video with the instructional element I need, I might be able to find someone who has done that really well already.” One of the most important things teachers can do now is draw on what others are doing: Form community online, share the burden, and make things a bit easier.

#5: This crisis will help us come together across boundaries.

Vicki: We would be remiss if we didn’t take away a greater sense of empathy for each other—the idea that we can work through anything together—from this crisis. I think it’s an opportunity for the education sector to unite, forge connections across countries and continents, and truly share what works in a global way. I don’t think, prior to this crisis, that we’ve been able to do this, and we will have missed a big opportunity if we don’t try to do that now.

Jim: We will get through this stronger. I live in a divided country, and from where I sit, it looks like the U.S. is a divided country too. When you go through a big national crisis like this, you come out stronger as a country because you’ve been fighting together, working together.

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UNESCO responds to the global crisis in education due to COVID-19

One of the most ambitious partnerships in UNESCO’s history, the GEC rapidly assembled 150 institutional partners – from multilateral organizations, the private sector, non-profits and civil society, networks and associations, and the media – that offered their expertise to help ensure continuity in education.

Since March 2020, at least 400 million learners and 12 million teachers in 112 countries have benefited from GEC actions. With members now numbering more than 175, the Coalition bases its efforts on three pillars: demand-driven country interventions; the themes of Teachers, Connectivity and Gender Equality; and data, knowledge and advocacy.

Four major campaigns are aimed at equipping 1 million youth to find jobs; providing 1 million teachers with remote learning skills; helping 1 million learners receive remedial learning in STEM; and supporting 5 million girls in 20 countries to fulfil their right to education.

Project outcomes show that GEC intervention is fast, efficient and able to leverage resources not usually available.

It engages new actors – telecommunication companies, the education technology industry, the media – to complement national efforts to ensure continuity of learning. This unique model of collaboration has been mirrored at the national level, with Peru, for instance, creating a local chapter with 42 members across sectors who have already launched 73 initiatives.

Clearly, education today needs all the support it can get. The global disruption caused by COVID-19 is without parallel and effects on learning are severe. According to a December 2021 report from the World Bank, UNESCO and UNICEF, this generation of students risks losing US $17 trillion in lifetime earnings in present value, or about 14 per cent of today’s global GDP, as a result of school closures.

Evidence of the detrimental impacts of school closures offers a harrowing reality: learning losses are substantial, with the most marginalized children and youth often disproportionately affected. Girls are particularly at risk, ‘as they are quickly losing the protection that schools and learning offers to their well-being and life chances.

In 2022, the Coalition has shifted its focus from emergency response to recovery and building resilience. Partners are working to assist countries to reopen schools safely, bring all learners back to school and organize effective remedial learning. Promoting digital transformation is a key priority to bridge gaps and craft new inclusive and equitable solutions.

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Education and COVID-19: challenges and opportunities

September 14, 2020

UNESCO has observed that “Most governments around the world have temporarily closed educational institutions in an attempt to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. These nationwide closures are impacting over 60% of the world’s student population. Several other countries have implemented localized closures impacting millions of additional learners.” Overall, close to 200 countries closed their schools in the spring, thereby interrupting the education of more than 1.5 billion young people. We therefore need to reflect deeply on our education systems in light of this unprecedented crisis.

The COVID-19 pandemic has already had devastating impacts that are likely to have long-term social and economic consequences . The crisis has exacerbated already-widespread educational inequalities due to factors relating to gender, disability, immigration, mother tongue, learning difficulties or other sources of socioeconomic disadvantage. Indeed, 40% of the world’s poorest countries have been unable to support their disadvantaged learners in recent months, and the many adverse consequences of school closures have been particularly severe for disadvantaged children and their families, as well as for all learners with learning difficulties and special needs.

The pandemic has starkly highlighted the fragility of our education systems, even those considered relatively stable . It is therefore crucial that the innovation and creativity stimulated by this crisis be leveraged to make education systems more just, inclusive and resilient. This article is therefore intended to give educational system stakeholders a crisis-inspired glimpse into potential opportunities for improvement in the areas of curricula, students, teachers and educational settings.

Improving curricula

The prolonged closure of schools due to the COVID-19 crisis has transformed stakeholders’ relationships to both schools and learning content. Although some students continued their education, many were deprived of adequate opportunities to do so and often lacked essential services and tools such as technological equipment or learning support services. It therefore became necessary to establish specific priorities and emphasize some subjects more than others in school curricula.

In the absence of both clear operational guidelines and a contingency plan concerning curriculum priorities, education system actors came up with a variety of suggested approaches to maintain educational continuity. Some curricular priorities were proposed concerning the academic skills and knowledge that students, depending on their age and grade-level, needed to maintain in subjects such as languages, mathematics, science and history , with the rest of the curriculum – the arts , for example – being discounted as non-essential. This suggests that clear guidelines need to be established to prepare schools for other potential emergencies involving prolonged closures.

Nonetheless, it is important to bear in mind that many education systems had already revamped their curricula after determining that students were rarely able to adequately transfer the knowledge and skills acquired in school to everyday situations. Indeed, the learning acquired in school was rarely placed in the context of real-life situations, which fuelled the idea that school is boring and outdated. Many international organizations, including the OECD , have called for an effort to make education more “meaningful” through revamped curricula that are more challenging and interesting for students.

In Canada, the Council of Ministers of Education (CMEC) has prioritized global competencies within curricula that can be leveraged in a wide variety of situations. In summary, it is more necessary than ever to support students in the development of fundamental competencies or life skills for the future.

Four trends in curricular reform have been identified in educational systems, namely: (1) a competency-based logic; (2) a socioconstructivist perspective; (3) increased focus on learners; and (4) more emphasis on authentic learning situations. However, there is a significant disconnect between these prescribed curricula and classroom reality.

Prioritizing opportunities for authentic learning

The COVID-19 crisis has raised salient questions about the necessity, importance and usefulness of certain curriculum content. It has highlighted the relevance of certain trends, particularly the authenticity of learning situations. Indeed, apart from academics, educational programs and student assessment, the paramount need that has emerged is to preserve students’ motivation, engagement and interest as well as their connection with school, particularly when schools are closed for long periods of time. This requires varied, flexible and authentic learning activities. In this regard, the authentic learning experiences resulting from the COVID-19 lockdown could be used to contextualize student realities during the pandemic. This represents an opportunity to rethink curricular content and approaches.

Teachers can draw on the UN’s 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a source of inspiration for contextualized and authentic learning situations relating to the major challenges facing humanity.

In this regard, the UNESCO Chair in Curriculum Development suggests that parents use the reality experienced by their children during the pandemic as a starting point for learning activities, especially in writing, mathematics and problem-solving. Such activities could include, for example:

• In mathematics, calculating how far a one-kilometre lockdown radius extends from the student’s home;
• In language courses, using critical thinking to write an argumentative essay on the credibility of a given information source;
• In science, understanding the factors that affect the physical and chemical reaction when baking bread at home.

Training students to draw on various internal and external resources to meet an authentic challenge fosters knowledge transfer by placing students at the centre of their learning . Authenticity in education would therefore be a relevant approach for contextualizing the students’ return to school and the continuation of their school paths in the wake of the upheavals caused by the pandemic crisis.

Maximizing the use of learning outside the classroom

While the extended school closures in spring 2020 has definitely been a huge disruption in the school year, it has also shown that learning can continue through distance education, especially by digital means, without students’ physical presence in schools, even though this entails some challenges. These challenges can affect various aspects of education, including the student-teacher relationship that is so crucial for student success . Even the best technologies cannot completely eliminate this distance between teacher and student. In-class education therefore remains necessary, but this must be placed in perspective and adapted to the current situation. Furthermore, in preparing for the return of students to school, potential difficulties in meeting physical distancing requirements in the classroom, particularly given student numbers and classroom sizes, should be taken into account. Whereas many schools have reduced class sizes or spaced out student desks , others have addressed these difficulties by organizing outside-the-classroom  educational settings, either on school grounds or other outdoor settings . Even in higher education , outdoor classes are being considered as an attractive solution to not only deal with the pandemic but also as a permanent strategy. Indeed, the risk of virus transmission outdoors is considered low , and open spaces facilitate compliance with physical distancing. Outside-the-classroom education is therefore an interesting possibility for facilitating space management and maximizing face-to-face educational activities , while at the same time keeping virus transmission risk to a minimum. Needless to say, indoor classes cannot be completely replaced by their outdoor counterparts but the pandemic has opened up an avenue for exploration, even in the longer term.

In this regard, research tends to demonstrate that outside-the-classroom initiatives and outdoor learning provide added value to the in-classroom learning experience, particularly when these two learning environments are used in a complementary way. The advantages include a more student-centered education and a focus on the students’ own initiatives, both of which foster student engagement and in-depth learning . Outdoor learning is also associated with meaningful and more authentic learning situations since students are more likely to internalize what they experience; educational activities in “the real world” thus foster learning transfer.

In Canada, a case study has also shown that a land-based education model of learning and teaching that includes Indigenous philosophy could also increase student motivation, reduce anxiety and enhance students’ sense of community. The deep connection with the environment that these outdoor learning models foster in students support learning, greater ecological awareness and a deeper appreciation of Indigenous cultures.

Supporting students’ independent learning

Thanks to a variety of distance-education platforms – telephone, radio, television, email and video conferencing – many students have been able to continue their education during the school closure period and maintain their social connection with school. However, many families have experienced challenges in accessing technologies , and numerous parents have experienced difficulties in terms of their abilities and availability to support their children in their learning and in the use of technologies.

The experience of distance education during the pandemic has highlighted the issue of students’ independent learning. Indeed, while students are used to being supervised, guided and strictly scheduled in their school work and in using resources, including technological tools, the school closures have required them, especially those with parents who are less available to help them, to become more independent in their learning.

In this regard, work plans  for making students more independent and responsible could be a useful resource, provided that they are adapted for each student and each subject, and that students are explicitly taught how to use them. Moreover, work plans as an educational tool could benefit student learning under normal circumstances in order to foster the development of independent learning by encouraging students to set their own goals and exercise self-discipline, as well as by giving them some control over the choice of methods and tools used to carry out tasks. On the evaluation front, it would also be relevant for work plans to be integrated with educational approaches that support independent learning, such as project-based or problem-based tasks.

It therefore seems valuable to promote students’ independent learning, particularly given the possibility that a second wave of COVID-19 could disrupt the school year again and the fact that developing learning autonomy entails many advantages that are already widely acknowledged in the educational system. Specifically, greater learner autonomy would help students organize their work better, take more initiative, think more critically, and be more involved, responsible and accountable as well as make them more motivated. The possibility of making the learning environment in schools more flexible in order to enable students to make more choices about their lives and their learning – as was done in an elementary school in the Chinese province of Zhejiang – should therefore be explored. During the lockdown, that school quickly and with some success implemented distance education, thanks to a learner-centered teaching model that was already operating at the school and which was based on the pupils’ ability to seek information and analyze and solve problems in practical and innovative ways. Despite differences in access by pupils’ families to digital resources, solutions were quickly found to reach students and guide them in choosing appropriate goals for independently continuing their learning.

Seizing the opportunity to support and guide students’ independent learning therefore seems an interesting avenue for post-COVID education. However, in order to develop learner autonomy and make students less dependent on adults for their learning, teachers must, paradoxically, skillfully oversee their students , particularly by letting them make choices and take initiative . To do so, teachers must possess certain knowledge and skills that are not necessarily part of their training. In this regard, the crisis has brought to the forefront another important requirement in the training of teachers in the use of technological tools: the need to provide quality teaching through the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) that are likely to motivate students and support their independent learning.

Enhancing teachers’ digital skills

Given that distance education has been primarily based on the use of digital technologies such as email, online courses and document-sharing platforms, the crisis has highlighted the need to develop teachers’ digital literacy. While the use of digital tools is an integral part of the professional skills expected of teachers and many teachers have already been using these tools ( e.g., video ), many teachers still lack the required knowledge, skills and tools to design quality online learning material. Similarly, many students cannot independently use technologies. As a result, teachers during the crisis have had to play the dual role of training students about technologies with technologies.

The crisis has thus highlighted the need to enhance both the initial and continuous training of teachers in the use of technology for teaching. In order to address short-term needs during the school closures while awaiting the eventual development of this type of training, several massive open online courses (MOOCs) on the topics of distance and online education were made available to teachers by institutions such as Coursera , the  University of Pennsylvania and FUN-MOOC . Many universities also quickly mobilized themselves to provide distance education to their students. For example, the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) developed several training modules on its Carrefour technopédagogique platform to help teachers adapt to the lockdown.

While it is clearly necessary for teachers to embrace the various features offered by digital tools, such as audio, video, text, live sessions and interactive games, they also need to be trained in the basic principles of how to effectively use these tools for student engagement and learning. For example, a study has demonstrated that adequate planning of a course that is to be filmed as a video has more impact on learning engagement than producing and editing the video itself, and that planning an online course is quite different from planning a face-to-face one. In other words, the rigorous structuring of ideas at the planning stage has more impact than the “finished product.” Without training in these aspects, quality video material from most teachers is clearly not to be expected.

Face-to-face teaching offers opportunities for student-teacher interaction that are difficult to replicate at a distance , particularly where there is inadequate training for distance education. Thus, although some distance education practices have definitely proven themselves during school closures, the e-learning experience has mostly served to replicate face-to-face teaching with a greater or lesser degree of efficacy.

Perspectives

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted both challenges and opportunities in education. Prioritizing opportunities for authentic education through the curriculum, learning priorities and the learning environments proposed by education experts reveals a future direction for education that could be further explored after students return to school. In terms of school environments, outdoor education is proving to be a potentially viable avenue to facilitate the management of space and physical distancing, in addition to offering promising learning settings. Lastly, prolonged school closures have highlighted training needs for both students and teachers. While students now need to learn how to work more independently, teachers need to receive more training in the effective use of technological tools required for quality teaching.

In light of recent events and the difficulties with distance learning experienced by educational systems, it is also relevant to question the role of teachers vis-à-vis their students and the overall teacher-student relationship. For distance learning, but also after schools reopen, it is imperative that teachers play a supportive role with their students who might have suffered  negative effects from the crisis, such as anxiety and a compromised willingness to learn. That is why it is crucial that a positive teacher-student relationship be established since this facilitates adjustment and adaptation after a traumatizing event like the one we are currently experiencing. The teacher thus becomes a facilitator in the development of the student, both as a member of their community and a member of their society.

Marion Deslandes-Martineau, Patrick Charland, Olivier Arvisais, Valérie Vinuesa

UNESCO Chair in Curriculum Development , Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)

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COVID-19 Is Creating a World Crisis in Education

The Canadian Commission for UNESCO’s offices, located in Ottawa, are on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial. Read the full statement .

Lessons from Teaching and Learning at Stanford During the COVID-19 Pandemic

A Review, 2020–21

We seek to help Stanford collectively learn the lessons of COVID-19 pandemic remote teaching

The disruption to teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, as devastating as it was, also contains germs of opportunity. The Stanford community responded resourcefully, and innovations arose that could enhance education in years to come.

For this review, Stanford Digital Education gathered stories about how the campus supported academic continuity during the period of emergency remote instruction. The people we interviewed — Stanford leaders, faculty, staff, and students — provided diverse perspectives on the challenges they faced and the impact of pandemic measures. 

We hope our review leads to reflection on our shared pandemic experience, struggles, and progress. We believe this effort will serve as the foundation on which Stanford can design its future digital education strategy.

View or download the full report

“As we emerge from the pandemic, the skills and confidence that instructors developed for emergency remote teaching can be translated to more intentionally designed learning experiences.”

Vice Provost for Digital Education Matthew Rascoff

“The pre-pandemic campus experience had leveled the playing field in many ways: students ... had the same access to the internet, libraries, and study spaces. Pandemic learning removed this shared experience and brought once-hidden differences into the light.”

Excerpt from the introduction to the report

5 takeaways from our pandemic research

• Emergency remote instruction marks a shift in Stanford’s identity.
• Staff have a new and vital role in shaping instructional innovation and in building new collaborative networks.
• The move to remote education worsened access for many students, though some saw an improvement.
• The faculty-student relationship changed.
• A culture of empathy grew.

Read more about our five learnings.

Months of research  View the Stanford work we build upon.

Learn about our purpose and methods.  

Stanford stakeholders interviewed See the list of interviewees.

Explore the Stanford pandemic education report

Innovative Pedagogy

Pandemic emergency teaching presented substantial challenges to instructors, but it also generated opportunities for significant transformation of students’ remote learning experiences. Many curricular practices at Stanford were reshaped to promote active, interactive, and experiential education — including more flexible classroom assessments and opportunities for flipped learning.

Support Structures

Many new programs to support student learning have emerged as a result of the shift to emergency remote pandemic teaching, including expanded roles for graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants. Relationships between faculty and technology support staff have been largely strengthened, and there is new awareness of teaching support structures at Stanford overall.

Professional Communities

The pandemic fostered significant growth among professional and online learning communities both within and outside of Stanford. Stanford’s impact on these communities has been far-flung, informing pandemic teaching and learning practices at institutions both nationally and globally.

Supporting the Whole Student

The impact of COVID-19 highlighted inequities among students in higher education. The digital divide contributed to socioemotional distress among vulnerable student populations. A new focus on empathy, support, and student well-being lessened some aspects of these negative impacts.

Future considerations

• How can Stanford continue the culture of academic ingenuity and innovation that shone during the pandemic?
• How do we provide digital education opportunities that enhance equity and access for students?
• Under what circumstances should faculty and academic instructors be able to teach with flexibility, using such instructional modalities as fully online, hybrid, or flipped instruction?
• Should students be afforded alternatives to attending classes in-person and having more options of alternative forms of assessment?
• What should be students’ role in course design?
• Is there a need to maintain and grow professional knowledge-sharing networks and online teaching resources such as the Teaching Commons, the Teach Symposium,  and the Digital Ambassadors program?

First-generation/low-income students reporting that they didn't have a quiet place to study at home

Students reporting feeling overwhelmed often or very often in spring 2020

Students who were very concerned about maintaining friendships and social connections when classes went online

Explore the spring 2020 survey from Stanford's Institutional Research and Decision Support office.

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Challenges and Opportunities Created by the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented challenge with immediate impacts on public and economic health. It has radically changed relationships across the globe. Our personal relationships have been radically altered as we've learned to socially distance ourselves, wear face masks when walking or shopping, smile more with our eyes, and nod or wave our greetings. We're holding Zoom meetings and classes and forming exclusive social “pods” of quarantine buddies and sharing meals virtually.

Our relationship with food is changing too. In a matter of months, COVID-19 has brought about a change in behavior many nutrition educators view as critical to public health and sustainability: cooking. I dearly hope that the current surge in home cooking spells a long-term reversal in the overall decline home cooking that stretches back to 1965. 1

A recent Hunter survey 2 suggests that it may. More than half of the respondents said they were cooking more than before the pandemic. Of particular interest to nutrition educators, three-quarters of respondents claimed they had become more confident in the kitchen, and 51% said they will continue to cook more after the crisis ends. 2 As people around the world have adjusted to COVID-19-driven stay-at-home guidelines, family meals—not just dinner—have become part of the new normal . For some, the shift to family meals may be one of the few good things to come out of the pandemic. 3

Not all changes are positive, however. Sales of processed and “comfort” foods such as potato chips, cookies, popcorn, pretzels, candy 4 have taken off since early March. 5 Scoffing at nutrition standards in the midst of a pandemic is understandable. As nutrition writer Bettina Elias Siegel points out, stress often increases desire of highly palatable, yet unhealthy, food. 6 While crushing stresses of “job insecurity, cramped living spaces, poorer sleep, a dearth of childcare, and lack of assured access to medical care” 6 are new for many Americans, for low-income families they were a way of life well before COVID-19. The opportunity for nutrition education is to advocate for nutrition quality and access to healthy food for all, in the best and worst of times. Now is the time ensure our food safety net is adequate for the purchase of healthy food to cook.

The pandemic is changing our relationship with food well beyond the kitchen. Driven perhaps by increased uncertainty about the food supply, increased reliance on the emergency food system or simply by a need to control something basic to survival, home gardening is on rise at rates not seen since the Great Recession of 2008. Whether on a patch of lawn converted to vegetable beds, in containers on apartment deck, or in window boxes, more of us are growing some of our food. At the time of this writing, local suppliers are reporting seed shortages and consumers are starting their “pandemic gardens.” 7 The timing couldn't be better to integrate garden-based learning with nutrition education programming. 8 Further, SNAP-Ed practitioners can remind recipients their benefit can be used for vegetable seeds.

Reports of breakdowns in conventional food supply chains andCOVID-19 hotspots among frontline food workers particularly in large industrial meat packing plants have exposed food system vulnerabilities, inequities and ethical breaches. 9 The crisis that unfolded in big meat's supply chain shines light on yet another opportunity for nutrition educators to work at policy, systems and environmental change levels to create change.

As the food system policy director at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, Bob Martin, suggests, “This virus is a warning shot, and it provides us with an opportunity to change our food system in ways that are less susceptible to disruption.” 10 As nutrition educators, academics, researchers and advocates we can help bring this change by helping less concentrated, more diverse, locally controlled and resilient food systems emerge and thrive.

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Bridget Long, dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, addresses the impact of the COVID-19 crisis in the field of education.

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Post-pandemic challenges for schools

Harvard Staff Writer

Ed School dean says flexibility, more hours key to avoid learning loss

With the closing of schools, the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed many of the injustices facing schoolchildren across the country, from inadequate internet access to housing instability to food insecurity. The Gazette interviewed Bridget Long, A.M. ’97, Ph.D. ’00, dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Saris Professor of Education and Economics, regarding her views on the impact the public health crisis has had on schools, the lessons learned from the pandemic, and the challenges ahead.

Bridget Long

GAZETTE:   The pandemic exposed many inequities that already existed in the education landscape. Which ones concern you the most?

LONG:   Persistent inequities in education have always been a concern, but with the speed and magnitude of the changes brought on by the pandemic, it underscored several major problems. First of all, we often think about education as being solely an academic enterprise, but our schools really do so much more. Immediately, we saw children and families struggling with basic needs, such as access to food and health care, which our schools provide but all of a sudden were removed. We also shifted our focus, once we had to be in lockdown, to the differences in students’ home environments, whether it was lack of access to technology and the other commitments and demands on their time in terms of family situations, space, basic needs, and so forth. The focus had to shift from leveling the playing field within school or within college to instead what are the differences in inequities inside students’ homes and neighborhoods and the differences in the quality and rigor and supports available to students of different backgrounds. All of this was just exacerbated with the pandemic. There are concerns about learning loss and how that will vary across different income groups, communities, and neighborhoods. But there are also concerns about trauma and the mental health strain of the pandemic and how the strain of racial injustice and political turmoil has also been experienced — no doubt differently by different parts of population. And all of that has impacted students’ well-being and academic performance. The inequities we have long seen have become worse this year.

GAZETTE:   Now that those inequities have been exposed, what can leaders in education do to navigate those issues? Are there any specific lessons learned?

LONG:   Something that many educators already understood is that one size does not fit all. This is why education is so complex and why it has been so challenging to bring about improvements because there’s no silver bullet. The solution depends on the individual, the community, and the classroom.

At first, the public health crisis underscored that we needed to meet students where they are. This has been a long-held lesson among experienced education professionals, but it became even more important. In many respects, it butted up against some of our systems, which tried to come up with across-the-board approaches when instead what we needed was a bit of nimbleness depending on the context of the particular school or classroom and the individual needs of students.

Where you have seen some success and progress is where principals and teachers have been proactive and creative in how they can meet the needs of their students. What’s underneath all of this, regardless of whether we’re face-to-face or on technology, is the importance of people and personal connections. Education is a labor-intensive industry. Technology can help us in many respects to supplement or complement what we do, but the key has always been individual personal connection. Some teachers have been able to connect with their students, whether by phone or on Zoom, or schools, where they put concerted effort into doing outreach in the community to check on families to make sure they had basic needs. Some schools were able to understand what challenges their students were facing and were somewhat flexible and proactive to address those challenges, especially if they already had strong parental engagement. That’s where you have continued to see progress and growth.

“In many respects, this crisis forced the entire field to rethink our teaching in a way that I don’t know has happened before.”

GAZETTE:   You spoke about concerns about learning loss. What can we do to avoid a lost year?

LONG:   One of the difficulties is that the experience has differed tremendously. For some students, their parents have been able to supplement or their schools have been able to react. The hope is that they will not lose much learning time, while other students effectively haven’t been in school for almost a year; they have lost quite a bit of ground. As a teacher, you can imagine your students come back to school, and all of a sudden, students of the same chronological age are actually in very different places, depending on their individual family situation and what accommodations were able to be made. I think there’s a great deal we can do to try to address that. First of all, we have to have some understanding of what gains students have made as well as things they haven’t learned yet. That means taking a moment to see where a student is in their learning. The second thing is to make sure we’re capturing the lessons learned from this pandemic by identifying places where teachers and schools used a combination of technology, outreach, personal instruction, and tutors and mentors, and helped students make progress in their learning. We need to share those lessons more broadly so that other districts can see examples that have worked.

As we look ahead, I think it will take extending learning time to close the gaps. Schools will have to decide whether that is after school, weekends, or summer, and whether or not that’s going to involve the teachers themselves, or if it’s going to be using the best tools that are out there, such as videos and technology platforms that students and families use themselves. There has already been talk by some districts of extending the school year into summer or having summer-camp-type programs to give students additional time to work through some of the material.

The other important piece is partnerships. Schools oftentimes work with members of the community or nonprofit organizations, and that’s a really important layer in our system. After-school programs, enrichment programs, tutors, and mentors are essential, and we really want to continue with that expanded sense of capacity and partnership. It’s going to have an impact on all of us if we lose a generation, or if this generation goes backwards in terms of their learning. It certainly is in all of our best interests to try to contribute to the solution.

GAZETTE:   Many parents gained renewed appreciation of the work teachers do. Do you think the pandemic would lead to a reappraisal of the profession?

LONG:   Certainly, in the beginning, there was so much more appreciation for what teachers do. As parents needed to start doing homeschooling, there was a new understanding of just how difficult teaching is. Imagine having a classroom with different personalities, different strengths and assets, and also different weaknesses, and somehow being nimble enough to continue that class moving forward. As time has gone on, I worry a little bit about the level of contentiousness in some communities as schools haven’t reopened. There is the balancing act between caring for children’s learning and the fact that we have to make sure that the adults are safe and supported. You hear stories of teachers trying to teach from home while they are also homeschooling their own children. I would hope that coming out of this would be an appreciation of the amazing things teachers do in the classroom, as well as also some acknowledgement that these are people who are also living through a devastating pandemic with all the stress and strain that every individual is going through.

One other point is that given that we know that teachers do more than just academics, we need to make sure our teachers are trained to be able to provide social emotional support to students. As some of the students come back into the classroom, we need to acknowledge that they may be dealing with devastating losses, or the frustration of being kept inside, or the violence that is happening in their homes and neighborhoods. It’s very hard to learn if you’re first dealing with those kinds of issues. Our teachers already do so much, and we need to support them more and provide even more training to help them address that wide-ranging set of challenges their students may be facing even before they can get to the learning part.

“Something that many educators already understood is that one size does not fit all. This is why education is so complex and why it has been so challenging to bring about improvements because there’s no silver bullet.”

GAZETTE:   Are there any silver linings in education brought on by the pandemic?

LONG:   The first one is when we all needed to pivot last spring, and especially this fall, many educators took a moment to pause and reflect on their learning goals and priorities. There was a great deal of discussion, both in K‒12 and higher education, to think carefully and deliberately about the ways in which we could make sure our teaching was engaging and active and how we could bring in different voices and perspectives. In many respects, this crisis forced the entire field to rethink our teaching in a way that I don’t know has happened before. The second silver lining is the innovation and creativity. Because there wasn’t necessarily one right answer, you saw a lot of experimentation. We have seen an explosion of different approaches to teaching, and many more people got involved in that process, not just some small 10 percent of the teaching force. We’ve identified new ways of engaging with our students, and we’ve also increased the capacity of our educators to be able to deliver new ways of engagement. From this process, my hope is that we’ll walk away with even more tools and approaches to how we engage our students, so that we can then make choices about what to do face-to-face, how to use technology, and what to do in more of an asynchronous sort of way. But key to this is being able to share those lessons learned with others, how you were able to still maintain connection, how you were better able to teach certain material, and perhaps even build better relationships with parents and families during this process. Just the innovation, experimentation, and growth of instructors in many places has been very positive in so many respects.

GAZETTE:   In which ways do you think the education system should be transformed after this year? How should it be rebuilt?

LONG:   First, we’ve all had to understand that education and schools are not a spot on a map. They are actually communities; they have to include families, nonprofit organizations, and community-based organizations. For a university in particular, it’s not just about coming to campus; it’s actually about the people coming together, and how they are involved in learning from each other. It’s great to push on this reconceptualization and to be clear that education is an exchange of information, of perspective, of content, and making connections, regardless of the age of the student. The crisis has also forced us to go back to some of the fundamentals of what do we need students to learn, and how are we going to accomplish those goals. That has been a very important discussion for education. And the third part is realizing that education is not a one-size-fits-all. The best educators use multiple methods and approaches to be able to connect with their students, to be able to present material, and to provide support. That’s always been the case. How do we meet students where they are? That framing is one that I hope will not go away because all students have the potential to learn, and it’s a matter of how to personalize the learning experience to meet their needs, how we notice and provide supports to help learners who are struggling. That really is at the core of education, and I hope that we will take away that lesson as we look ahead.

GAZETTE:   What do you think the role of higher education should be in this new educational landscape?

LONG: Higher education has an incredibly important role, and in particular given the economic recession. Traditionally, this is when many more people go into higher education to learn new skills, given what’s happening in the labor market. We have yet to see what the long-term impact is going to be, but in the short term, one thing we’ve noticed is that college enrollments are down. That’s very alarming and may have to do with how suddenly and how quickly the pandemic affected society. The first thing that higher education is going to have to think about is increasing proactive outreach — how to connect with potential students and how to help them get into programs that are going to give them skills necessary for this changing economy. Unfortunately, they’ll be doing this in a context where students are going to have greater needs, and where it’s not quite clear if funding from state and local governments is going to be declining. That’s the challenge that higher education will have to face. While it’s an amazing instrument in helping individuals further their skills or retool their skills, we need to make investments and make sure individuals can actually access the training available in our colleges and universities.

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GAZETTE:   What are your hopes for the Biden administration in the area of education?

LONG:   Government has a very important role in education, but it has to be balanced with the importance of local control and the fact that the context of every community is slightly different. Certainly, as we’ve been in the middle of a public health crisis, this has been incredibly challenging for schools. Schools had been trying to continue providing food and health care and connect with their students and, all of a sudden, they had to become experts in public health and buildings. This is something that falls under the purview of the federal government. Having access to the best doctors, the best public health officials, and people who think about buildings, and how to make things safe, the government needs to put that information together to give guidance to schools, principals, and teachers. It’s the government that can say, “Here are the risks, and here are the things you can do to mitigate those risks. Here are the conditions that are necessary for buildings. Here is what we know in terms of preventing spread, and here is what we know about the impact on children of different ages, and how we can protect the adults.” That kind of guidance would be incredibly helpful, as you have all of these individual school districts trying to sort through complex information and what the science says and how it applies to their particular context. Guidance is No. 1.

No. 2 is data. It’s very important having some understanding about where we stand in terms of learning loss, what we need to prioritize, and what areas of the country perhaps need more help than others. The other key component is to gauge what lessons have been learned and share the best practices across all school districts. The idea is to use the federal government as a central information bank with proactive outreach to schools. Government also plays a critical role in funding the research that will document the lessons from this pandemic.

It’s going to be incredibly helpful to have a more active federal government. As we have a better sense about where our students are the most vulnerable, and what are the kinds of high-impact practices that would be most beneficial, it’s going to be critical having the funding to support those kinds of investments because they will most certainly pay off. That possibility, I’m much more optimistic about now.

This interview has been condensed and edited for length and clarity

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Students’ Lack of Focus Is the Top Barrier to Learning, School Leaders Say

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A lack of student attentiveness and focus is causing disruption in public schools across the nation as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic linger, new data says.

Twenty-six percent of public school leaders reported that “a lack of focus or inattention from students” had a “severe negative impact” on learning during the 2023-24 school year, according to new National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) data. This number spiked to 75 percent when school leaders were asked if students’ lack of focus or inattention had either a “moderate” or “severe” negative impact on learning.

When asked in the survey, “to what extent, if any, have the following student behaviors negatively impacted learning at your school this year?,” school leaders indicated that several of the listed student behaviors had a severe negative impact on learning.

Other than a lack of focus or inattention, school leaders selected the following as having a severe negative impact on learning:

• Students being academically unprepared for school (e.g., not doing homework, not bringing necessary supplies) (21 percent)
• Students being disruptive in the classroom (e.g., calling out, talking to others during instruction, getting out of a seat when not allowed, leaving the classroom) (19 percent)
• Students not doing individual work (19 percent)
• Students being physically unprepared for school (e.g., lack of sleep, not eating before school) (18 percent)
• Use of cellphones, computers, and other electronic devices when not permitted (16 percent)

NCES, a statistical and analytical center within the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences, released the data on July 18 as part of the School Pulse Panel , a monthly data collection in response to the pandemic and its impact on public K-12 schools. These conclusions reflect data collected between May 14 and 28 from 1,714 public K-12 schools from every state and Washington, D.C.

The study reveals that as of May, 83 percent of public school leaders say that the pandemic and its lingering effects continue to negatively influence the socioemotional development of students. NCES said analyzing student focus data and the effectiveness of tutoring is key to addressing continued pandemic-induced learning setbacks.

“Schools continue to grapple with the ongoing impact the pandemic had on their students. Understanding the availability of tutoring, along with achievement data from the next 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress release, will provide deeper insights into students’ progress toward learning recovery,” NCES Commissioner Peggy Carr said in a news release.

NAEP national assessments in reading and mathematics are conducted every two years in grades 4 and 8. The last NAEP results in math and reading were released in October 2022 and showed significant drops in student achievement .

NCES data reveals significant challenges in school climate, calls for increased support in public schools

Beyond student focus, this NCES data also polled public school leaders on aspects of school climate from the 2023-24 academic year. According to the data, 45 percent of public schools reported having confiscated a weapon from their students during the year, and 57 percent reported confiscating some type of substance.

The data also revealed the prevalence of cyberbullying, as 30 percent of public schools reported both instances of cyberbullying that happened at and outside of school, happening at least once a week among students.

Twenty percent of survey respondents also indicated that threats of physical attacks or fights between students occurred at least once a week during the 2023-24 school year, and 18 percent said bullying occurred at least once a week.

Additionally, 36 percent of public school leaders surveyed indicated that student acts of disrespect toward teachers or staff members, other than verbal abuse, occurred at least once a week, and 17 percent said the same of students’ verbal abuse of teachers or staff members.

Moving forward, school leaders have indicated that they need increased resources to better support student behavior. In May, 76 percent of the public school leaders polled said they needed “more support for student and/or staff mental health,” 71 percent needed “more training on supporting students’ socioemotional development,” 61 percent needed “more training on classroom management strategies,” and 52 percent said “more teachers and/or staff need to be hired.”

NCES also collected data from schools in the U.S. outlying areas—American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Twenty-eight percent of school leaders in this group reported that a lack of focus or inattention from students had a “severe negative impact” on learning during the 2023-24 school year.

The report also revealed data on tutoring practices within schools. Forty-six percent of public schools reported providing “high-dosage” tutoring during the 2023-24 school year, and 90 percent of these schools rated it as being at least moderately effective in improving student learning outcomes. High-dosage tutoring is defined by NCES as a student receiving one-on-one or small group tutoring three or more times per week, and for at least 30 minutes per session by an educator or trained tutor, among other qualifications.

Education Week has reached out to a representative of NCES for comment on how school districts should respond to this data.

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The Challenges of Remote K–12 Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Differences by Grade Level

• Nancy L Leech University of Colorado Denver
• Sophie Gullett University of Colorado Denver
• Miriam Howland Cummings University of Colorado Denver
• Carolyn A Haug Colorado Department of Education

The transition to remote teaching in K–12 schools during the spring of 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) presented new challenges to teachers across the United States. This survey-based mixed methods study investigates these challenges, as well as differences by grade level, to better understand teachers’ experiences remote teaching. A total of 604 teachers who had completed the survey were included in this study. Findings indicate that some challenges were experienced by teachers across grade levels, with common challenges including student engagement, adjusting curriculum to the remote format, and the loss of the personal connection of teaching. Differences were also found by grade level, with elementary teachers struggling more with varying attitudes of parents regarding remote learning and adjusting their curriculum to an online format, and secondary teachers more often reporting student engagement and a general feeling of being lost or unsupported in their teaching as challenges. These challenges provide important context around the experience of remote teaching, as well as what supports teachers need to continue remote teaching.

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Challenges for School Education During and After the Pandemic

• Challenges for School…

Education is an area that the coronavirus health crisis has seriously impacted. Nearly 168 million children were affected by the closure of their schools. The next Education Summit seeks to analyze how these challenges were faced, how to move forward, and what strategies are implemented in a pandemic and post-pandemic scenario.

photo_camera According to UNICEF, from the beginning of the pandemic until September 2021, the world lost 1.8 trillion hours of face-to-face learning due to lockdowns. (Picture: Pixabay)

At the onset of the pandemic, society was forced to restructure various activities due to the need for social distance, the imposition of quarantines, and mobility restrictions. 

Regarding the upcoming UC Chile International Education Summit 2022 , Paulo Volante , a faculty member of the UC Chile  Faculty of Education , shared his view on the adaptation of schools during this time.

Initial Shock

"The feeling of shutting down and interrupting teaching activities caused the initial shock, which lasted about 30 days, where we didn't know what to do. It was feeling like everything had to stop. It lasted longer in some places, but it was certainly a global phenomenon," said Paulo Volante. He is the academic director of the XI Inter-American Conference on School Management and Leadership.

The Covid-19 pandemic arrived abruptly.

It forced the academic world to deal with the total shutdown of schools, a prolonged situation they had rarely faced before.

According to UNICEF, from the beginning of the pandemic until September 2021, the world lost 1.8 trillion hours of face-to-face learning due to lockdowns. "This is a number that will continue to rise," the agency warned. In total, 168 million children have been affected by this situation.

The COVID-19 and School Closures report , published in March 2021 by UNICEF , found that worldwide, 14 countries missed almost all classroom instruction time due to school closures between March 2020 and February 2021. 

Most of these countries are in Latin America and the Caribbean, and nearly 98 million school-age children were affected. Of the 14 countries, Panama was one of the countries with the highest number of days of full school closures, followed by El Salvador, Bangladesh, and Bolivia.

Schools have not been fully closed in Chile, but changes have been made to use remote, face-to-face, and hybrid learning. The latter is one of the main novelties presented in this atypical scenario and remains in use to date.

The next version of the #UCEducationSummit, held between January 10 and 13, 2022, will address how national and foreign schools faced this and other learning situations, among other topics.

"We have called this version 'A pandemic or post-pandemic outlook,' as we may have to get used to this situation," said Patricio Donoso . He is the Provost for Institutional Management and President of the International Education Summit.

Adaptation and Use of Technologies

After the abrupt closure of schools, they were forced to stop and adapt to resources that had no place in the classroom before. Zoom, Meet, and Teams are some of the most recognized technologies that made it possible to resume classes virtually.

For Professor Volante, this adaptation was a good sign for the national education system. However, as he explained, not all countries had the same educational experience, whether remote or face-to-face.  Countries such as Bolivia and Bangladesh are some examples where, due to the lack of technological progress, they had to adapt to remote classrooms from scratch. 

"We want to learn from these experiences and evidence, so we can see how local and foreign leaders have dealt with this situation," said the professor.

The International Education Summit will feature representatives of the educational community from different parts of the world in two major activities: The XI School Management and Leadership Conference and the XVIII Higher Education Management Conference.

The School Management and Leadership Conference will celebrate its eleventh anniversary on January 10 and 11. 

One of its main focuses will be the need for school leaders during the pandemic.

On the other hand, the Higher Education Management Conference will be held on January 12 and 13, thus reaching its eighteenth version.

The event will be attended by various national and international professionals from the educational world. Additionally, the event has the University of Pennsylvania and the Inter-American Educational Leadership Network (RILE) support.

Improving the Experience and Recognition of Learning Losses

The process of adapting education to fully remote learning led to another challenge for the academic world. The differences in the system became more acute, and the adaptation also required filling in these gaps.

For Paulo Volante, management and leadership are essential tools to face the challenges of education, including those that have arisen due to the pandemic. 

"The challenge for education management is to go beyond a simple diagnosis. But to move forward in the design and implementation of new student-centered systems while accepting the internal differences of the Chilean school system. Hope lies in the progress that has been made and in the solutions that are being found."

A successful case is the curriculum management implemented by the Chilean Ministry of Education , which is called " curriculum prioritization ." 

This project identified the key and essential lessons, allowed to frame and focus the topics to be covered, helping teachers, but above all, helped students because it increased the amount of testing.

This example illustrates the importance of applied management, i.e., going beyond planning and executing. In this sense, school systems will have to seek synergies between what already exists and necessary innovations. 

"Systems are quite marked and stable. That's part of their function. They bring conservation and tradition. On the other hand, they provide an opportunity for change since they are built based on new teachers, students, and a changing community with new tools. They shape other realities that did not exist 11 years ago when an education event such as the Summit was beginning," reflected the Academic Director of the School Management and Leadership Conference. 

The invitation to discuss the educational situation, its needs, problems, and opportunities are open to all people and stakeholders in the field.

To this end, the International Education Summit will feature different activities that encourage dialogue and sharing experiences:

• International Conferences: International experts from Asia, America, and Europe will present the main trends and challenges in school and higher education. 
• Presentations: In this space for collaboration and learning, participants will access videos on demand. Managers and professionals from schools and higher education will share innovative projects and their results, experiences in educational management, leadership practices, inclusion, and academic support, among others.
• Virtual Café: This event will be an opportunity to get to know professionals and managers working in common areas. Through informal topic-based conversations, participants will share reflections and experiences.

The educational world will have to remain vigilant on how to change the environment, either with new quarantines or back-to-school plans. 

"We seek to resolve an issue that has been worrying us for a long time. The ultimate goal is the comprehensive instruction of students," said Andrés Bernasconi. He is Academic Director of the XVIII Higher Education Management Conference.

Please find all the information about the event, its schedule, program, and registrations. 

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Perceptions and Difficulties of Distance Learning Among Beginning Teachers and Kindergarteners During the Covid-19 Pandemic Period

• Raed Zedan Arab Academic College of Education

Exploring the perceptions and challenges faced by beginning teachers and kindergarten teachers in the realm of distance learning reveals critical insights into the evolving landscape of early education in a digital age. The present study explored the challenges and difficulties experienced by beginning teachers and kindergarteners in the context of distance learning. Qualitative research was conducted through semi-structured interviews involving 254 novice teachers and kindergarten educators. The findings revealed a range of difficulties new teachers face in the distance learning environment. These included challenges in conveying educational content, issues with Wi-Fi and internet connectivity, a lack of resources and technological tools, difficulties in engaging students in Zoom meetings, poor communication between teachers and students, insufficient preparation and training for distance teaching, inadequate digital skills, and a lack of experience among parents with the new method of learning. Understanding the challenges and difficulties that novice teachers encounter, particularly during their initial professional years and in exceptional circumstances like the COVID-19 pandemic, is crucial. This understanding not only aids in addressing and surmounting these challenges but also contributes to the enhancement and development of current distance teaching models. Such improvements should consider the specific needs and challenges of new teachers.

L'étude des perceptions et des difficultés rencontrées par les enseignants débutants et les enseignants de maternelle dans le domaine de l'enseignement à distance révèle des informations essentielles sur l'évolution du paysage de l'éducation préscolaire à l'ère numérique. La présente étude a exploré les défis et les difficultés rencontrés par les enseignants débutants et les enseignants de maternelle dans le contexte de l'enseignement à distance. La recherche qualitative a été menée par le biais d'entrevues semi-structurées auxquelles ont participé 254 enseignants débutants et éducateurs de maternelle. Les résultats ont révélé une série de difficultés auxquelles les nouveaux enseignants sont confrontés dans le milieu de l'enseignement à distance. Il s'agit notamment des difficultés à transmettre le contenu éducatif, des problèmes de connexion Wi-Fi et Internet, du manque de ressources et d'outils technologiques, des difficultés à faire participer les élèves aux réunions Zoom, de la mauvaise communication entre les enseignants et les élèves, du manque de préparation et de formation à l'enseignement à distance, des compétences numériques inadéquates et du manque d'expérience des parents en ce qui concerne cette nouvelle méthode d'apprentissage. Il est essentiel de comprendre les défis et les difficultés que rencontrent les enseignants débutants, en particulier au cours de leurs premières années professionnelles et dans des circonstances exceptionnelles telles que la pandémie de COVID-19. Cette compréhension permet non seulement d'aborder et de surmonter ces défis, mais aussi de contribuer à l'amélioration et au développement des modèles actuels d'enseignement à distance. Ces améliorations devraient prendre en compte les besoins et les défis spécifiques des nouveaux enseignants.

Author Biography

Raed zedan, arab academic college of education.

Raed Zedan Ph.D. Senior lecturer and researcher, in the field of education and teaching, expert in teaching science and mathematics, research methods, measurement and assessment. Currently serves as the head of the Authority for Advanced Studies at the Arab Academic College of Education in Haifa. He held the position of head of the Research and Evaluation Authority, and head of the pedagogical training department.

Interested in researching issues in the sociology and psychology of education and teaching, among teachers, students and their parents in multicultural and minority societies, such as: values education and identities perception (religious, ethnic and educational), educational environments (family, classroom and school climate), Self-efficacy, achievement motivation and the relationship with educational achievements and gender differences, Parents involvement, difficulties, occupational stress and copying strategies among beginning teachers.

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Education's Future for English Learners Must Start Now

Education’s future for english learners must start now, as the needs of migrant students underscore gaps in bilingual and english as a new language education, tc experts offer research-based recommendations on what can be done to adequately support students.

• A lack of teachers, misconceptions on language learning and problematic assessment practices are long-standing problems made more urgent by the arrival of new students.
• Inclusive education strategies can boost language acquisition.
• While some solutions can be implemented in classrooms, systemic change is needed.

Since 2022, the New York City public school system has welcomed more than 34,000 migrant children as students. The influx of new students — driven in part by border state governors bussing newly-arrived migrants to cities like New York and Chicago — increased the pressure on an already overtaxed educational system grappling with far too few bilingual teachers, not enough time to connect with parents or students, and outdated assessment practices, among other difficulties. While these issues are not new, solutions are urgently needed as the population of English language learners (ELLs) increases. As of 2021, more than one in ten students were ELLs, an increase of 35 percent since 2000, and that number is expected to grow. According to projections from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), 40 percent of students will be ELLs by 2030 .

Without much-needed support, migrant children — especially children with disabilities — are at risk of being pushed to the sidelines in schools. However, teachers report facing an uphill battle amid the ongoing teacher shortage and the profession’s everyday challenges, which include a lack of resources and an already lacking infrastructure for bilingual education. “This is an opportunity to also diversify our schools,” New York City teacher Rosie Frascella told NPR late last year. “There's a really strong need in the United States for us to be multilingual. Most of the world is multilingual."

Addressing the complex needs of these emergent bilingual students, many of whom endured difficult journeys, will require adaptations on all levels of education, from the classroom to policy.  However, TC experts have research-based recommendations on what will help all students feel recognized and supported in the classroom.

Patricia Martínez Álvarez, Associate Professor of Bilingual/Bicultural Education; Carmen Martínez-Roldán, Associate Professor of Bilingual/Bicultural Education;  María-Paula Ghiso, Professor of Literacy Education; Carol Hammer, Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders; Vivian Lindhardsen, Senior Lecturer of Applied Linguistics & TESOL; and Sarah Creider, Lecturer, Applied Linguistics and TESOL. (Photos: TC Archives) 

Addressing the teacher shortage through robust preparation

For clearer reading.

Home language: The language most commonly spoken by a family at home. Can also be called native language, family language, or first language.

Emergent bilingual:  A student who is learning a second language while continuing to develop their home language skills.

Despite having a right to home language support, if not bilingual instruction , many emergent bilingual students in NYC aren’t receiving the resources they’re legally entitled to due to a longstanding bilingual teacher shortage. The lack of Spanish-speaking bilingual teachers derives from a broader teacher shortage that worsened during the pandemic; however, there is also a shortage of bilingual teachers “who know how to adapt the curriculum to address the particular needs of students in their classrooms,” says Carmen Martínez-Roldán , Associate Professor of Bilingual/Bicultural Education.

While it can’t compensate for fewer teachers, graduate programs that provide educators with the skills to differentiate, or tailor curriculum and instruction to each student’s needs, helps “build a critical sense so that [teachers] can handle unforeseen circumstances,” says Vivian Lindhardsen , Senior Lecturer of Applied Linguistics & TESOL . This flexibility is particularly important for English as a New Language (ENL) teachers, who interface with teachers across all subject areas. Conversely, educators with a rigid practice that focuses purely on following curriculum standards struggle to adapt to the constantly changing needs in their classrooms, which can contribute to higher attrition rates in the field because “they don't feel well-equipped to deal with these unforeseen situations,” says Lindhardsen.

While both these teachers work in tandem to support students learning English, they have distinct job functions and are not interchangeable.

Bilingual Teachers: Are fluent in a language other than English and teach students in both languages, working toward bilingualism and biliteracy. Bilingual teachers expand upon students’ home languages, cultures and traditions by building on existing funds of knowledge. ENL Teachers: Teach in English, knowing another language isn’t required. They work closely with subject area teachers to support students who speak a variety of home languages.

Culturally-responsive programs that focus on a student’s assets, such as those at TC, prepare teachers who are ready to handle unexpected changes in the classroom while meeting educational standards in the face of deep-rooted systemic issues. “Working with students who are new arrivals, with a variety of linguistic backgrounds and helping them navigate the school system and language learning process — that’s what our teachers are prepared to do,” says Sarah Creider , Lecturer, Applied Linguistics and TESOL.

(Photo: iStock) 

Emergent bilingual students need long-term, inclusive support

Bilingual programs for K-12 are roughly split into early-exit and late-exit, which provide up to three and seven years of instruction , respectively. However, it takes at least four years of supported instruction for a student to attain academic fluency in a second language, meaning that students in early-exit programs are at a disadvantage compared to their monolingual peers.

This gap is worsened for children with disabilities who are often placed in early-exit programs due to a prevalent, mistaken belief that learning in two languages would be overwhelming. And due to poorly designed assessments, such as tests for an emergent bilingual that are only offered in English, it’s likely that many children are misdiagnosed with a learning disability.

“We know that there are consequences,” says Patricia Martínez Álvarez , Associate Professor of Bilingual/Bicultural Education , “They might be in a more linguistically restrictive environment because of the disability category. They might not have as easy access to advanced placement courses. We see that there are less positive learning [experiences].”

Funds of knowledge:  The pre-existing knowledge and cultural practices that students bring to the classroom. They are informed by lived experiences.

Beyond advocating for improved assessments, recognizing the rich funds of knowledge that students bring to the classroom is an important step to support their bilingual students. “It's not a stance of remediating migrant students,” says María Paula Ghiso , Professor of Literacy Education, “but [rather] thinking about how the knowledge and experiences of migrant students in our classrooms enrich all our student populations.”  

Research by Ghiso and Martínez Álvarez demonstrates that some students feel disconnected from Anglo-centric curriculum, which the researchers rectified by encouraging students to bring their communities and backgrounds into the classroom through photographs of their neighborhoods and interviews with elders. “It’s so affirming because students know they have a place in school and something to anchor their learning to,” says Ghiso.

Continuing professional development is key for teachers

Research by Carol Scheffner Hammer , Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders , showcases the various misconceptions Head Start teachers hold toward language learning. Researchers found that many teachers incorrectly believed that children, especially children with disabilities, couldn’t learn multiple languages; that children are “sponges” that can soak in a new language without much effort; and that speaking only English improves acquisition. Hammer corrected these misconceptions, stating that all children can learn two languages and that parents should be encouraged to speak their home language to children, as support of children’s home language promotes their development of English. To counteract these mistaken beliefs, Hammer and her colleagues developed ExCell , a year-long professional development program that provides in service teachers with an evidence-based approach to language and literacy instruction.

Additional research by Hammer demonstrated that restricting support for students’ home languages, and emphasizing English-only approaches, atrophies those language skills. “We’re taking away a resource kids have that we could [instead] build up,” she says. 

Creating a welcoming space for students and families is essential

Even though educators are grappling with issues beyond their control, their ability to create a welcoming space for families and students can be profoundly impactful for all students, especially those who may feel isolated in their communities. “That sense of belonging to a learning community, that feeling of being smart that the teachers helped me develop, these things stayed with me forever and I am sure they made me stronger as a student and as a young person,” says Martínez-Roldán when discussing the long-term impacts of inclusive learning.

For Hammer, who has seen first-hand that families from diverse cultures can be ignored by educators, it’s critical for the school as a whole, from principals to support staff, to be a culturally- and linguistically-responsive space. This is achieved, in part, through deeper and more expansive parent-teacher relationships. “Teachers' [and administrators’] efforts will be better supported if parents are seen and treated as partners in their children's education,” says Martínez-Roldán.

In a classroom setting, Hammer identifies working in small groups when possible, having routine language teaching protocols, using thematic instruction to scaffold new knowledge on existing knowledge, and utilizing multimodal instruction as proven methods that educators can use to support language acquisition.

Meanwhile, to combat language supremacy — the belief that one language is more valuable than another — Ghiso recommends encouraging students to become teachers, a central aspect of John Dewey’s educational philosophy. “Having students be ethnographers of the languages in their communities and teach others is a great way, within the classroom space, to value their cultural and linguistic legacies,” she says.

Above all, interventions in schools must focus on realistically meeting the needs of families which often requires partnerships with the communities. “We have these dreams in education, but we have to make them work in schools,” says Martínez Álvarez. 

— Sherri Gardner

Tags: K-12 Education Inclusive Education K-12 Education Latina/o Teacher Preparation

Programs: Applied Linguistics Bilingual/Bicultural Education Communication Sciences and Disorders TESOL: Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages

Departments: Arts & Humanities Biobehavioral Sciences Curriculum & Teaching

Published Wednesday, Jul 24, 2024

Teachers College Newsroom

Address: Institutional Advancement 193-197 Grace Dodge Hall

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