Good Teacher Magazine 2021, Issue 1

Issue 1 2021

"The best teachers are those who show you where to look,... but don't tell you what to see."

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Good Teacher Magazine Issue 1 2021

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Hi�ng high-ability: Targe�ng teaching strategies for high-ability students

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Sophis�cated Picture Books for Able Readers

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Gracious Hearted Teachers

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Discs Extracted from An�que Porcelain Become Delicate Jewelry

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Mā mua ka kite a muri, mā muri ka ora a mua

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When The Wind Blew

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Teamwork over trys? Parents reveal the real reasons for encouraging kids into sports

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If You Don’t Secretly Enjoy These 12 Odd Things, Are You Even A Teacher?

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Ways for Teachers to stay organised

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Nutri�onal deficiencies that jeopardise the health of female athletes

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Vic-first project calls �me on junk food vouchers in kids’ sport

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Schools - where crea�vity goes to die

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Ar�st Creates Architectural Drawings Using Pen and Ink

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A�er-school programs have been abandoned or overworked

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New study says Gi�ed Programs provide li�le to no academic boost,

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FOCUS ON RESOURCES: The Sustainable Period Project Wrap Up

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Simple leadership isn't simple

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Reducing Social Unrest – A Model For Increasing Sanity In A World Gone Insane

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Rainbow youth s�ll facing s�gma and stress, but posi�ve signs: new findings

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Poor children are being ‘failed by the system’ ...

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20-year Oxford study follows 12,000 Young Lives in developing world

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Ver�cal Dwellings Nestle into Floa�ng Miniature Landscapes

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Hey Parents, Let’s Try Less Fixing & More Listening

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Research & Evidence Use in Australian Schools (Survey Summary)

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Lost in the Etherworld

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Pandemic Had A Major Impact On Children’s Experiences And Rights

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The state of school education: One year into the COVID pandemic (OECD Report)

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Front Cover: ‘Auckland Harbour from Devonport’ Photograph: barisa designs® Back Cover Felted wool anumal by Moscow-based ar�st Nastasya Shuljak

Quote: Alexandra K.Trenfor

Good Teacher Magazine would like to acknowledge the unknown designers and cra�speople interna�onally for the some of the images and art in the magazine, every care has been taken to iden�fy and acknowledge writers/ar�sts/photographers... however this is not always successful... most were collated from a wide range of internet sources.

Is uploaded on the first week of each New Zealand school term.to: h�ps://www.goodteacher.co.nz The magazine is interna�onally freely available online.

NOTE: The opinions expressed in Good Teacher Magazine are not necessarily those of Ed-Media Publica�ons or the editorial team.

Ed-media publica�ons...

Independent publishers of quality educa�on media.

Adver�sing Enquiries: info@goodteacher.co.nz Submi�ng material for publica�on: barb@goodteacher.co.nz Mail:

ed-media publica�ons PO Box 5531 Mount Maunganui 3150

Layout and Design: barisa designs® ISSN: 1175-5911

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Good Teacher Magazine Issue 1 2021

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Dr Genevieve Thraves, Dr Joanna Anderson, Associate Professor Jennifer Charteris and Professor Sue Gregory (University of New England)

Do you some�mes wonder how you can address the needs of those students in your class who have highability?

Following are ten pedagogical prac�ces (elaborated from a Victoria Department of Educa�on and Training, 2020, resource) to help you be�er assist high-ability students in their learning.

This guide expands on well-known teaching strategies to include sugges�ons for your classroom prac�ce.

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STRATEGY 1: SETTING GOALS Work in partnership with high-ability students to set goals where possible. This can help them maximise opportuni�es for learner agency and self-regula�on. Lessons need to have clear learning inten�ons with goals that clarify what success looks like.

knowledge quickly, respond to this quicker pace by providing them with more challenging and engaging ac�vi�es. �

Support high-ability students to maintain engagement by ‘compac�ng’ curriculum.

This involves condensing, modifying, and streamlining the regular curriculum to reduce repe��on of material that highability students have already achieved.

Compac�ng curriculum provides �me for accelera�on and enrichment for these students who would otherwise just be repea�ng what they already can do.

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Where applicable, reduce the �me spent on introductory ac�vi�es or drill-andprac�ce ac�vi�es so that the pace of learning can be increased for high-ability students.

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Explain your pedagogical approach to high-ability students so that they understand the purpose behind teaching prac�ces. For example, relevance of learning inten�ons, approaches to acquisi�on of new knowledge, planned opportuni�es for prac�ce, ques�oning techniques and assessment formats.

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Be open to altering pedagogical approaches based on conversa�ons with high-ability students about what works best for them in suppor�ng their learning.

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Spontaneously adjust instruc�on during lessons to increase the learning opportuni�es for high-ability students and help them move on if they have achieved understanding.

You can plan learning ac�vi�es with highability learners, and this co-constructed approach ensures that students are clear about what is required of them.

Sugges�ons for goal se�ng �

Plan lessons at the high-ability student’s point of need.

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Know what comes next in the progression of learning so that lessons are pitched at the correct level for high-ability students.

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If standardised assessments at the highability student’s age level do not provide an accurate reflec�on of their capabili�es, use above level tests to gain informa�on to set realis�c goals.

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Ensure that learning goals are dynamic, where they are revisited regularly and adjusted accordingly.

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Set goals where high-ability students apply their knowledge and skills to the world beyond the classroom.

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Support high-ability students to be data literate so they understand their own data and use it to personalise and revise their learning goals, based on their strengths and areas for improvement.

STRATEGY 2: STRUCTURING LESSONS Sound lesson structures reinforce rou�nes and scaffold learning through specific steps/ ac�vi�es. You can plan sequences of teaching and learning ac�vi�es that compact curriculum and accelerate learning to s�mulate and maintain engagement.

Sugges�ons for structuring lessons �

Scaffold learning in ways that affords accelera�on. As high-ability students o�en acquire new concepts and

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STRATEGY 3: EXPLICIT TEACHING Explicit teaching prac�ces ensure that highability students are clear about how to approach their learning, what is required to achieve, and why the learning is relevant.

In partnership with the high-ability students, you can share learning inten�ons and success criteria. You can check in with high-ability students that they understand the task and how to go about it. Find ways to support peer and self-assessment.

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Sugges�ons for explicit teaching �

Co-construct learning inten�ons with the student so that learning goals reflect highability students’ aspira�ons.

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Partner with high-ability students to codesign their learning inten�ons and success criteria.

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Generate bespoke success criteria that permits breadth and depth in the learning of high-ability students.

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Monitor high-ability students’ progress and provide descrip�ve feedback as needed.

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Check-in on high-ability students’ understandings before encouraging them to apply their learning in real world contexts to solve complex problems.

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If using the three-step model of ‘I do’, ‘We do’, ‘You do’, find ways to ensure that high-ability students can accelerate at a suitable pace. This will ensure they are not held back with the rest of the class if they are capable of prac�sing the task independently sooner than their peers.

STRATEGY 4: WORKED EXAMPLES Use worked examples that demonstrate the steps required to complete a task or solve a problem. By scaffolding the learning, worked examples support skill acquisi�on and reduce a student’s cogni�ve load. You can present a worked example and explain each step. Later, high-ability students can use worked examples during independent prac�ce, and to review and embed new knowledge.

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Use different worked examples for highability students to acknowledge their advanced knowledge of the topic or subject ma�er.

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Use forma�ve assessment to monitor high-ability students’ understanding in order to progressively incorporate addi�onal stretch in each new example.

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Omit some steps in worked examples to foster high-ability student problem solving and meta-cogni�on (self-ques�oning).

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Embed worked examples deliberately and systema�cally in differen�ated lesson and unit structures.

STRATEGY 5: COLLABORATIVE LEARNING Collabora�ve learning happens when students work in small groups and everyone par�cipates in a learning task. Placing students with high-abili�es together in like-ability groups has been shown to posi�vely impact their learning gains. Structure the collabora�on so that high-ability students have their social, emo�onal and academic needs targeted and they are not just expected to work with others.

Collabora�ve learning is engaging when highability students are challenged with cogni�vely demanding and meaningful tasks. Grouping high-ability students together can allow for appropriately targeted and accelerated instruc�on which can reflect the pace at which many of these students prefer to learn.

Sugges�ons for collabora�ve learning �

Sugges�ons for worked examples �

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Provide worked examples and opportuni�es for guided prac�ce, and allow students to source their own examples where possible. Check that there is a shared understanding of what is required.

Support high-ability students to recognise that the focus is on their understanding of the process required to complete the task rather than finishing quickly.

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High-ability students can work together to design challenging and differen�ated individual or group tasks to achieve iden�fied learning goals.

Create opportuni�es for like-ability students to interact with one another.

Provide collabora�ve learning opportuni�es that provide academic and social-emo�onal benefits for high-ability students.

Remain flexible in grouping high-ability students so that groups change in response to learning profiles across curriculum areas.

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Ensure that there are clear academic or social reasons for grouping high-ability students.

Find opportuni�es for high-ability students to collaborate in applying their curriculum knowledge to real-world problems.

STRATEGY 6: MULTIPLE EXPOSURES Mul�ple exposures gives high-ability students mul�ple opportuni�es to encounter, engage with, and elaborate on new knowledge and skills. Deep learning happens over �me through mul�ple, spaced interac�ons with new knowledge and concepts.

It is important to remember that students who have high-ability may achieve transi�ons in their learning more rapidly than their peers, and in a self-ini�ated and more focused way.

Sugges�ons for mul�ple exposures �

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Use forma�ve assessment to ensure that students are not presented with concepts they already know or are expected to work on skills that they already possess.

Ensure high-ability students access �mely feedback (peer feedback, teacher feedback) so that students do not repeat mistakes mul�ple �mes and can move on quickly.

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Make links between the mul�ple exposures and high-ability students’ learning goals.

Plan units of work that clearly iden�fy new knowledge and skills that will benefit from mul�ple exposures, and ensure some of the exposures reflect real world tasks and contexts.

Use a range of learning and assessment tasks that vary high-ability students’ interac�ons with the knowledge and/or skills, and support their transfer of learning.

Use mul�ple exposures deliberately to support high-ability knowledge acquisi�on and transfer of knowledge to a range of authen�c contexts to gain deep understanding.

STRATEGY 7: QUESTIONING Ques�oning is a powerful tool that effec�ve teachers regularly use for a range of purposes. You can encourage high-ability students to learn, s�mulate their interest and curiosity, and enable them to make links to prior knowledge and their lived experience.

Effec�ve ques�oning yields immediate feedback on high-ability students’ understandings, supports informal and forma�ve assessment, and captures feedback on effec�veness of teaching strategies.

Sugges�ons for ques�oning

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Use ques�oning to make progressively more challenging cogni�ve demands of students.

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Create condi�ons so that high-ability students themselves ask higher order ques�ons where they speculate and hypothesise.

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Encourage high-ability students to use ques�oning to elicit the ideas of peers, respec�ng each other’s views.

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Support high-ability students to see how different types of ques�ons are used to iden�fy and clarify informa�on and also extend understanding during dialogue.

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Use ques�ons to engage high-ability students in dialogue, con�nuously extending their thinking and refining their understandings.

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Ask ques�ons that challenge the viewpoints of high-ability students so that they see that knowledge is contestable and there can be mul�ple perspec�ves.

Metacogni�on extends to self-regula�on, or managing one's own mo�va�on toward learning. Metacogni�ve ac�vi�es can include planning how to approach learning tasks, evalua�ng progress, and monitoring comprehension.

Sugges�ons for metacogni�ve strategies �

Encourage high-ability students to find out what they do and do not know so that they can address a gap in their own knowledge.

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Support students to transfer the strategies they know to unfamiliar complex problems and contexts.

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Engage students with problems where there is not a clear star�ng point and they need to process informa�on to make decisions.

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Challenge students with ac�vi�es where they need to define paths of ac�on for solving problems that are not outlined in advance.

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Assist students to understand the forces that can undermine their problem-solving process, such as self-doubt and low selfefficacy.

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Foster self-regula�on where students are involved in planning learning goals, monitoring their leaning progress, deciding on strategies to help them learn, and iden�fying ways of evalua�ng their own learning.

STRATEGY 8: FEEDBACK Feedback informs a student and/or teacher about the student’s performance rela�ve to learning goals. Teachers and peers can provide formal or informal feedback. It can be oral or wri�en, forma�ve or summa�ve.

You can help high-ability students to improve performance.

Sugges�ons for feedback •

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Provide specific guidance to high-ability students that challenges them to review, reflect on and refine their understandings at various points in a learning sequence.

Organise a variety of audiences to provide feedback to high-ability students.

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Ensure high-ability students have access to feedback informa�on that is precise, �mely, specific, accurate, and ac�onable.

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Support self-regula�on through encouraging high-ability students to purposely seek feedback as learners.

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Use high-ability student assessment data as a source of feedback on the effec�veness of teaching prac�ce.

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Help high-ability students to see how they can use ques�oning to provide peer feedback where they build on and challenge one anothers ideas.

STRATEGY 9: METACOGNITIVE STRATEGIES The use of metacogni�ve strategies to empower students with self-knowledge and self-awareness, so that they can self-appraise and reflect in order to judge their own ability and knowledge.

STRATEGY 10: DIFFERENTIATED TEACHING Differen�ated teaching are methods that you can use to extend the knowledge and skills of every student in your class. For high-ability students this is an opportunity to add breadth and depth, and shi� the pace of the learning.

You can li� the performance of high-ability students through planning lessons that incorporate adjustments for content, process, and product.

Sugges�ons for differen�ated teaching �

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Analyse dis-aggregated high-ability student assessment data to explicitly Good Teacher Magazine Issue 1 2021

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inform curriculum planning and teaching prac�ce.

and scaffold learning so these students achieve high level goals

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Use the scope and sequence curriculum documents to find out what content and skills are taught at the level above where the class is working to accurately target high-ability students’ needs.

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Engage students in higher order thinking that adds complexity and challenge to the learning.

We are very interested in hearing about the experiences you have had in your school, and in conduc�ng research in the area of high-ability. If you would like to contact us and/or gain access to further ar�cles about addressing the needs of high-ability students, please contact Dr Genevieve Thraves.

Email: gthraves@une.edu.au

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Shi� the focus from pace and coverage to depth in conceptual understandings.

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Encourage high-ability students who learn new material quickly to use their full repertoire of thinking skills when engaging with concepts.

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‘Teach-up’ in order to offer a high quality, rich curriculum to high-ability students

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Reference Victoria Department of Educa�on and Training (2020). High impact teaching strategies (HITS). Retrieved from h�ps://www.educa�on.vic.gov.au/ school/teachers/teachingresources/ prac�ce/improve/Pages/hits.aspx

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Many of today’s picture books contain powerful messages that apply to today’s world and can be used to s�mulate cri�cal thinking, reflec�on and discussion.

Books can make you feel valued by providing a mirror, or introduce you to alterna�ves by offering windows on diverse views.

My conten�on is that sophis�cated picture books can provide us with curriculum etcetera for our gi�ed students.

E… Empathy T… Tolerance C… Connec�on E Empathy and sensi�vity in gi�ed go hand in hand with emo�onal intensity, and stories about characters dealing with anxiety and compassion help the student with excep�onal ability in reading and working with text informa�on to make sense of the world.

With higher ability comes greater awareness and understanding of the bigger picture behind the text. It is not always easy to find stories that provide young gi�ed readers with lots of opportunity for further research, but I can hear�ly recommend Emily Grave�’s book ‘Li�le Mouse’s Big Book of Fears ‘ because it

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not only gives the reader a chance to reflect on his/her own fears but provides wonderful ‘big words’ to find out more about and relates to experiences that a child is likely to encounter.

Do you know what these phobias are? Read Li�le Mouse's book and find out!

Rupophobia. Entomophobia. Teratophobia.

Clinophobia. Aichmophobia. Isolophobia And no, I didnt know all of them either! :-)

T Tolerance Tolerance can be defined as an interest in and concern for ideas, opinions, prac�ces and viewpoints that are different from our own and books can definitely help to increase awareness and serve as mo�va�on for change. . In a world where it has become increasingly harder to find agreement on decisions about the future, it is necessary to generate as many alterna�ves as possible and to look at how these decisions will affect others.

The ability to switch over and look at things in a different way is termed ‘insight.’ De Bono defines it as a shi� of emphasis from proving the logical ‘rightness’ of your own point of view, and therefore the logical ‘wrongness’ of the other person’s, based on the ques�onable assump�on that you are both looking at the same thing. Looking at things from other points of view may even cause us to refine our own ideas.

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Elaine Le Sueur MNZM

C Connected yet disconnected In her research into the friendships of profoundly gi�ed children, Miraca Gross notes that gi�ed children look for friends to develop close and trus�ng friendships at ages where their age mates are looking for play partners.

Their advanced intellect may result in difficul�es where there is li�le or no access to like-minded peers. Some react by having imaginary playmates, while others may need help to prac�ce social skills.

Books can offer insights to help young students to support the message that everyone is unique in their own way and no ma�er how different you are there are others in the world like you. It helps for parents and teachers of gi�ed children to have an understanding of age related issues to do with friendship because students who are opera�ng at a level in advance of their chronological age will have progressed beyond their age mates but may not have the maturity to recognise what it is that is se�ng them apart and making it difficult to create connec�ons. Adults need to be prepared to offer a sympathe�c ear but not try to solve these problems in order to build resilience and a tolerance for frustra�on.

Before the age of 4 a child is egocentric.

Between 4 and 7 they become more coopera�ve in play and prepared to a greater or lesser degree to share belongings.

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The book ‘Feelings’ by Aliki is useful for helping young children understand about the feelings they may have associated with interac�ng with others. It has lots of li�le vigne�es in cartoon form.

Between the ages of 6 and 8 children begin to realise that being a friend is having similar interests and they share likes and dislikes.

Older primary age students (8-10) focus on helping each other to foster friendship.

Between the ages of 11 and 15, most students understand that there needs to be an element of give and take in any friendship and they start to build affec�on and support for each other.

At ages 16+ friends look for commitments to each other based on trust and acceptance.

The way in which many gi�ed students cope with these differences is to gravitate towards older students who are like minded peers, and to build on similar interests. One way to foster Good Teacher Magazine Issue 1 2021

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this at school level is to allow opportuni�es for students to get together on a voluntary basis to discuss philosophical ques�ons. Tiffany Poirier’s book ‘Q is for Ques�on’ provides a whole alphabet of idea starters and ideas for follow up.

complains that he has read everything in the school library, and he may be right! Our gi�ed students have a lot to be thankful for with the increase and ease of technological access.

Would you like some help with readymade sophis�cated picture book units for your students?

My Teacherspayteachers store has plenty to choose from to keep your students engaged and using their cri�cal thinking skills.

There you have it.

h�ps://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/ Thinking-Challenges

Gi�ed readers have a unique ability to perceive rela�onships and solve problems.

Search Custom categories : Sophis�cated Picture Books, Bundles, Mysteries...

As a pre-schooler I had a family of pegs and would tell stories about their difficul�es with life in a peg box. I was thrilled when I found the story of the Borrowers when I got to school.

... Or just browse.

Gi�ed readers demonstrate keen observa�onal skills and a unique child’s view of the world.

Conversa�on with a two year old…

Do trees look the same under the ground as they do on top of the ground? The tree in my book has roots that look like branches.

They are able to grasp abstract ideas quickly but their conclusions might be more in keeping with their experience of the world.

Conversa�on with a two year old…

Do babies have blood inside them?

Yes Well, how come you can’t see their veins? You can see my veins. And you can see your veins. Do they get more blue when you get old? Yes. That must be it, because babies are new. And I’m not new because I’m not a baby any more. And you can see your veins easily because you are old!

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These days I sell original resources online through: h�ps://teacherspayteachers.com/ Store/Thinking-Challenges I would love you to visit and follow my store to be updated as new resources are added Index

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The gracious heart

The “gracious heart” in ac�on:

On a daily basis, a teacher with a “gracious heart” undertakes to behave in a way, which may be �ny and meaningless to them, but may be an exci�ng or memorable break for students in the o�en tedious rou�nes and business of school life.

At ski camp, one boy kept falling over. Mr. L. took his hand so he didn’t fall so o�en. When he did fall, Mr. L fell with him.

These teachers say nice words, ask simple ques�ons and perform magnanimous small deeds, for those people without posi�on, over whom he or she has charge. A “gracious hearted” teacher is upli�ing because they allow for others to feel valued and recognized.

Their ac�ons cost li�le and mean a lot.

He no�ced one boy who normally sat in the front and was si�ng in the back and he asked some of us quietly what was wrong. We told him the boy’s cat had died. Mr. G talked to him a�er class and it seemed to cheer him up a bit.

Just joking around, he photocopied my head and said to me, ‘You might want to post it on your website so Hollywood can discover you’.

He gave us li�le smiley s�cker faces when we got the ques�on right.

The teacher always seemed to know what we were doing outside of school and asked us about how it went.

I was really angry this one day. I had a big fight with my mum in the morning. Mr. R didn’t get in my face about it. He waited �ll later in the period, when everyone was working, and he quietly came over to me. He whispered, “Are you OK? You seem upset. If you want to go for a walkabout, that’s OK.” I said I was OK and I did a li�le of my work.

As we le� class, he gave a small smile and said to me, “on the bad days, I wait for the good days.”

The teacher collected ‘junk’ that was ge�ng thrown out by other teachers. The teacher

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John Hellner

gave us the ‘junk’ for prizes for doing things in class. I got an old junky so�ball glove once for a poster I made. The teacher autographed it with a felt pen. Weird. I s�ll have it.

Mrs. S saw me wai�ng outside the school for my dad to pick me up. Dad was delayed. It was ge�ng dark a�er soccer prac�ce. She stayed there with me �ll my dad came.

Mr. M ran a voluntary remedial maths session and only 3 of us showed up. He said, ‘you guys rock’ and gave us a Crunchie Bar. Samantha was feeling down because her friend was leaving our school. For the next few days, the teacher had a quick word with Samantha as she le� class at the end of the period. Just to ask how she was going and if she was in contact with her friend. Pre�y soon Sam was OK again.

I used to visit the library all the �me. The librarian started giving me all the new books for the library, so I could be the first to look at, or read them if I wanted. They were s�ll wrapped up.

Ms F called home to tell my mother I did well in the Regional Science Fair, even though I didn’t place.

One teacher remembered all our birthdays.

Gave us a lollipop.

We used to have ‘cake days’ on Friday in Mrs. B’s class. We took turns and it didn’t have to be a cake. She even had a spare cake if someone forgot.

One boy was sick for quite a �me and the teacher had us fold up a big piece of poster paper for a get-well card and got some of the good art students to decorate it. We all signed.

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Mr P was walking pass and he stopped to play four squares with us, just for a laugh. He was too old to be any good. Just for fun.

Miss H walked with me on the playground and said she was worried that I looked so thin. I said I was OK. She thought I might try ea�ng eggs for protein.

I showed my work to the class and the teacher said it had a nice layout and good impact. A couple of days later, she saw me before class as I came in the room and men�oned my poster again and said, “you know, the more I think about that poster, the more I like it.”

Even a�er all that �me, she remembered. “…human rights begin in small places, close to home…” – Eleanor Roosevelt I talked to some students about the “gracious hearted” teacher. They acknowledged the examples I offered.

I said, “Eleanor Roosevelt once said, ‘You can judge the character of a person by how they treat those who can do nothing for them.”

I waited for an affirma�ve and pensive response. One student said, “Who is Eleanor Roosevelt?” The other said, “We have a girl named Eleanor in our class.” Not too pensive.

“Jeez, that’s interes�ng,” I graciously said, “Tell me what Eleanor is like?” They said Eleanor was pre�y smart and nice too. We walked on a bit and talked some more about “what makes a person ‘nice’.”

Ironically, most parents are “gracious hearts” day in and day out, but get nowhere near the respect and good will that teachers get for doing less.

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Discs Extracted from An�que Po From her studio in Amsterdam, GésineHackenberg punches perfectly round discs from Del�ware and an�que ceramic dishes. The ornate, pearl-like forms are then strung together into necklaces or secured into metal bands for rings and earrings.

Juxtaposing the old and new, the completed wearables are posi�oned alongside the original dinnerware to draw connec�ons between the domes�c objects and personal adornments that are ubiquitous in everyday life.

Because the ceramic material is incredibly fragile, Hackenberg works manually with custom tools. She’s developed a precise understanding of the drilling speeds and pressure necessary to remove each disc without crea�ng too many chips or cracks. If the material is damaged throughout the temperamental extrac�on process, the en�re piece is unusable.

Hackenberg’s body of work spans a range of upcycled jewelry design.

The ongoing collec�on—which Hackenberg says was inspired by her grandmother’s pearl necklaces and massive cabinet of porcelain dishes, evidences what the designer sees as “a certain kinship” between what’s worn on the body and the pieces that decorate and sustain a living space.

She says: What one keeps and owns, often contains an emotional meaning next to its practical function or worth. Possessions, especially personal treasures, define and represent their owner. Jewelry is in particular an outward sign of values that are deeply rooted in the wearer, of what people cherish, in what they believe, and what they desire.

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orcelain Become Delicate Jewelry

All images © Gésine Hackenberg

Grace Ebert

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Mā mua ka kite a muri,

Those who lead give sight to those who follow Children’s emo�onal wellbeing is not a new discussion within New Zealand’s teaching circuit.

In 2021, it is well acknowledged that a teacher’s role lies well beyond the tradi�onal scope of numeracy and literacy.

Fostering children’s’ social - emo�onal wellbeing lying at the core of daily interac�ons between teacher, pupil and peers.

Recogni�on that a child’s wellbeing is impacted by their en�re ecosystem, including the school community, is far advanced from when I was a Kiwi kid.

As a psychologist, observing the emphasis on promo�ng the wellbeing of our children is of course pleasing to see. However the inherent complexity this adds to the role; alongside the knowledge, �me, energy and personal capacity required of teacher’s is not lost on me. Before COVID-19, behavioural knock-on’s from societal issues such as poverty, family violence and lack of housing were present in the classroom. The disrup�on and level of unexpected change over the last 12 months (e.g. lockdowns, unexpected parental job loss, family separa�on from support, homeschooling etc) has no doubt only increased the needs of our children and the demands on our educa�on system.

One element cri�cal for posi�ve wellbeing is emo�on regula�on. Emo�ons are one of the most important and profound aspects of the human experience. They signal what is important to us, mo�vate our ac�ons, strengthen our rela�onships and enrich our everyday lives. Yet, how well we relate to 22

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other people and navigate our social world depends on our ability to understand and regulate our emo�ons. In laymen’s terms, can we: 1. recognise what emo�on we are experiencing 2.

understand why we are experiencing that emo�on

3.

use strategies to modulate that emo�onal expression (e.g. dial it up or dial it down).

Emo�on regula�on is a key milestone in child development and impacts their family, peer, academic performance, long-term mental health and ability to thrive in a complex world.

As indicated by the opening whakatauki in this ar�cle, an important avenue for developing emo�on regula�on in childhood is through the behavioural role-modelling of adults encompassing that child. Teachers therefore being high on that list alongside parents. The term used in the psychological literature for this teaching pathway is co-regula�on. During frequent interac�ons the adult recognises and iden�fies the child's emo�onal expressions, and then helps guide the child towards effec�ve strategies to modulate their emo�onal distress. Support, coaching and modelling are all part of the co-regula�on process.

Key Tips to help children foster Emo�on Regula�on 1.

How to support a child to recognise what emo�on they are experiencing a.

Teach your classroom about different emo�ons. Few children are able to differen�ate between emo�ons without being taught first. This is an important first phase of strengthening children’s ability to understand Index

, mā muri ka ora a mua

w, those who follow give life to those who lead feelings and emo�ons in themselves and others. For example, ask children ‘What does sadness feel like? How do you know when other people are sad?’ b.

Employ descrip�ve language to describe their experience (“I can see you are feeling angry. Your cheeks have gone all red and you are clenching your fists”).

c.

U�lise an emo�ons chart. From a very young age (e.g. newborns) children have the ability to recognise facial expressions associated with different emo�ons. Using the pictures, ask a child to point to which emo�on they are feeling.

3.

It is important that children learn a range of effec�ve emo�on regula�on strategies, so they can employ the most effec�ve strategy for them in any given situa�on. There is no cookie cu�er, one size fits all, solu�on to emo�on regula�on. We need a full toolbox of strategies that we can flexibly choose from. a. Brainstorm with your classroom and come up with effec�ve strategies they can engage when facing common strong emo�ons. I would suggest you start with the following list: i. Anger ii. Sadness iii. Worry iv. Frustra�on v. Disappointment vi. Loneliness b. Create a visual way of promp�ng the children to recognise these strategies (wall posters, idea jars etc)

2. How to help a child understand why they are experiencing that emo�on a.

The key here is to be a naïve enquirer, and to have this conversa�on when the child is calm enough to meaningfully engage. Ask informed, age-appropriate ques�ons to help the child begin exploring why their emo�on may have arisen. Examples of ques�ons include: i. Describe for me what was going on before you felt (…)? ii. When that happened how did it make you feel? iii. Rate your (feeling) on a scale of 1 to 10 iv. How did your body feel? (e.g sore tummy, jumpy etc)? v. What did you do when you were feeling (…) ?

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How to help a child iden�fy effec�ve ways to respond to their emo�on

c.

4.

Role model effec�ve strategies in your everyday teaching. (E.g. I am feeling really disappointed that we aren’t able to do our PE ac�vity today because it’s raining, I’m going to take a big breath from my belly to help me calm. Then let’s brainstorm what we can do instead!

Priori�se your own wellbeing

Effec�ve co-regula�on requires significant mental and emo�onal capacity for the adult involved, and so it is therefore important you are able to priori�se and foster your own wellbeing. a. Check in on your wellbeing regularly (on a scale of 1-10, what is my capacity today?)

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b.

Build wellbeing habits and rou�nes, as this increases the likelihood of regular prac�ce

c.

Create a forum for teachers to support each other. A designated �me where teachers can share their experiences of suppor�ng their classroom’s wellbeing (what’s worked well, not worked well, how are you looking a�er yourself etc).

d.

Wind Blew, my first children’s book, was wri�en with the aim of suppor�ng adults (parents and teachers) to develop their children’s emo�on regula�on skills. This book has been cra�ed for children and

adults to read together, and provides tools to increase emo�onal literacy (the first step of emo�on regula�on: recognise what emo�on we are experiencing) and many prac�cal strategies to dial down unpleasant emo�ons (the third step of emo�on regula�on : use strategies to modulate that emo�onal expression).

With notes for grown-ups and strategy instruc�ons at the back of the book, I hope this will become a well loved resource for you for years to come.

Written by Jacqui Maguire.

Jacqui Maguire is a registered clinical psychologist. Her main passion is science communica�on; providing prac�cal psychological theory and strategies to op�mise personal wellbeing, work, and rela�onships.

She is one of New Zealand’s prominent mental health and wellbeing thought leaders, is a sought-a�er keynote speaker, and is the founder of the #1 ranking Mind Brew podcast, where she has interviewed some of the world’s leading psychologists.

Jacqui is mum to Órla, who features in When the Wind Blew, Jacqui’s first book. www.jacquimaguire.co.nz

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When The Wind Blew A book for li�le people with big feelings ISBN: 978-0-473-55479-8 RRP: NZ $24.99 When The Wind Blew is a deligh�ully wri�en, though�ul and useful book.

And not just for li�le people, I could well see the parents and caregivers who were reading it with their li�le ones also benefi�ng from the rhythm and flow of the book whose construc�on leads you through living with, understanding, and working with emo�ons which might be unexpected. All this is accompanied by Charlo�e Schryvers beau�ful illustra�ons.

While ini�ally reading it I was easily led to the current COVID-19 (Corona virus)situa�on... I assumed it was obliquely referring to that (with a Rona Wind), and while it is not directly men�oned the feelings and emo�onal needs the reader is led through, o�en greater than we are aware of were all sensi�vely introduced and solu�ons offered.

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The book and its sen�ments fit many situa�ons. When considering further the Christchurch earthquake came to mind...

Again the book would have been a blessing to have on hand. The more I considered the contents and the way When the Wind Blew was wri�en the more examples of situa�ons when it would have been highly useful came to mind.

A great book for both school and home it doesn’t beli�le children and the fact they have their own emo�ons, concerns and worries which they may feel unable to express or deal with. The illustra�ons and layout offer the poten�al for the reader to pause and have an addi�onal conversa�on around what has just been read.

An absolute bonus is the ‘Notes for Grown Ups’ and ‘How to Prac�se Orla’s Superpowers’ at the back of the book. A lovely first book from Jacqui Maguire, here’s hoping she has more in the pipeline!

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Teamwork over trys? Parents r encouraging kids into sports MILO launches Pitch Your Club Compe��on to help grassroots sports clubs reach their goals this winter, as its revealed parents s�ll use skills they learned on the field as children According to data released today, just 31% of parents consider mastering a chosen sport as a main mo�vator for encouraging their child to play in a sports team.

Instead, Kiwi parents have revealed that learning so� skills (67%), taking part in physical exercise (60%) and mee�ng new friends (57%) are the top reasons for encouraging kids to take part.

The research, commissioned by MILO as part of its ongoing commitment to children’s sport, also found that a whopping 94% of parents believe that being a member of a sports club can teach children valuable so� skills.

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reveal the real reasons for

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Teachers are a quirky bunch, perhaps the result of having a job akin to herding feral cats.

Some of us like things a certain way, and not only in our classroom. We o�en have unique hobbies that perplex our students, as well as our friends and family.

If you’re a teacher and derive insane amounts of pleasure out of any of these things, either at school or in your spare �me, you are not alone!

1. Making sea�ng charts and rearranging furniture Whether in the living room or the classroom, there’s just something invigora�ng about reconfigured sea�ng. New room, new me!

2. Organizing like a Mo-Fo I’ve yet to meet a pile o’ stuff I didn’t want to organize. I’m talking color-coding, alphabe�zing, sor�ng and sizing! Unkempt spice racks and disorderly bookshelves don’t stand a chance around me.

Here are some things teachers like doing for fun.

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Stephanie Jankowski

3. Labeling ALL the things

8. Turning others’ trash into treasure

One may think labeling is a form of organizing, but one would be wrong. Labeling is another term teachers use for foreplay. You wanna see us get excited? Two words: Label. Maker.

Teachers are bosses at hoarding and repurposing stuff. We know one can never have too many empty coffee cans—tell everyone in your family to save theirs! And watch the mad dash to the colleague who’s ge�ng rid of an old, rusty filing cabinet—we will fight to the death for that thing! There is no shame in our second-hand game.

4. Telling cheesy teacher jokes just to get the eye rolls from your students I’d like to make a mo�on for teacher jokes to become part of the curriculum. If you’ve never said, “Parallel lines have so much in common.

What a shame they’ll never meet,” are you even teaching math?

5. Loitering in office supply stores We all know there’s no be�er feeling than ge�ng brand new supplies! New Expo markers! Notebooks with crisp covers and stark white pages! OMG new books! Go ahead, sniff the pages. You know you wanna.

And when we’re not filling up our Amazon carts, you’ll find us saliva�ng in the s�cker aisle and weeping at the dollar bins.

6. Shu�ng yourself off from the rest of the world and hiberna�ng on days off As far as introverted – and even many extroverted – teachers are concerned, Fridays aren’t for Happy Hour and socializing. By the end of the week, we’re so mentally exhausted and done with people-ing that the only place you’ll find us is on our couch ea�ng Ramen noodles with our fingers.

7. Pu�ng inspira�onal quotes everywhere on everything Whether wallpapering the classroom, covering our doors, or plastered on our favorite casual Friday t-shirt, teachers love us some inspira�onal quotes. “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” Bet you have that on a mug somewhere, too.

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9. Adding something to our to-do list just so we can cross it off Did you add something to your list just so you could cross it off? Of course you did! Why? BECAUSE IT FEELS GOOOOD. 10. Lamina�ng ALL the things Lamina�ng gives me life. Posters, passes, photos! Banners, book covers, bookmarks!

Charts, cards, cer�ficates! *breathes into paper bag* ANCHOR CHARTS! *faints* 11. Sharpening pencils. Yes, seriously.

You can’t deny the mind-numbing sa�sfac�on of sharpening an en�re fresh box of pencils.

12. Addressing other adults like they’re children If there’s a good one-liner that works at school, teachers will use it everywhere. If you’ve never told your spouse, “Do it nice or do it twice,” then you’re a be�er partner than I am!

Sure, some of what we find entertaining, relaxing, or enjoyable may confuse nonteachers, but that’s okay. We’re teachers— we’re used to others not understanding what we actually do!

What other weird things do teachers do for fun? Come join us in the #teacherlife community!

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The life of a teacher is many things. It’s a chao�c whirlwind that’s at �mes rewarding, but at other �mes just a headache wai�ng to happen. But if there’s one word that could perfectly sum up what it means to be a teacher, it might be “unpredictable.”

A teacher’s job changes frequently — some�mes even from one hour to the next. They work insane hours both in and out of school, put up with everything their students can throw at them and must be able to roll with the punches in a way that’s required of few other professionals.

So how can the busy teacher make their crazy and chao�c life a li�le more manageable? As it happens, the key to managing it all is a li�le organiza�on.

Organiza�on means doing things like color-coding notes and folders with neatly labelled s�cky tabs. It means storing things in correctly labelled cubbies. And it means having a to-do list, so you never forget a mee�ng or a task again.

This type of organiza�on is crucial to both your mental health and success in the crazy profession of teaching. That’s why today, we’re going to go through some basic �ps on how to stay organized as a teacher. These �ps will not only help you get organized, but also help you stay that way.

By learning how to be a li�le more organized, we hope you can also learn to be less stressed and anxious, as well as more produc�ve and more eager to cross items off your to-do list.

Why Organiza�on Is Important You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who wanted to argue organiza�on is a bad thing.

You might find people who say organiza�on isn’t really their style, and that they work be�er in chaos. You might also hear people say organiza�on makes them feel too confined. But even among these people, you will rarely find someone who ac�vely argues organiza�on is a nega�ve.

We all agree being organized and put-together is a desirable goal. But why is that? Why do we all inherently agree having things in order is a posi�ve? There might be many possible answers to that, but the simplest one is this.

Life — especially when you’re a teacher — is always going to throw the unexpected at you.

You might think your day is going to go one way, when suddenly it starts heading in completely the opposite direc�on.

If you haven’t taken �me to organize, you might find yourself in a flurried panic as you desperately try to figure out how to cope with this new direc�on. If, on the other hand, everything in your classroom and your life is in its proper place, you are much be�er equipped to stop, take a deep breath and confidently head off in this new direc�on.

Organiza�on in your own sphere helps you cope with the disorganiza�on you will always encounter in your job. You can’t predict what crazy shenanigans your students will get up to today, but if you can predict exactly where you le� that file of graded papers, you’re off to a pre�y good start.

Based on all this evidence, we can see organiza�on is important for professionals in any career, but especially for teachers who deal with massive amounts of chaos and unpredictability in their daily lives.

Ready?

Then let’s get started.

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How Not Being Organized Can Affect You Nega�vely We men�oned why organiza�on is important, but let’s consider the flip side of that ques�on.

How will being disorganized nega�vely affect you?

1.You’ll Waste More Time Disorganiza�on is a �me-waster. Imagine if every �me you needed to find a specific paper or note, you had to spend five minutes looking for it. Five minutes might not sound like much, but if you need to find 10 papers throughout the day, suddenly you’ve wasted almost an hour. If, on the other hand, everything is right where it should be, you’re suddenly ahead of schedule.

2.You’ll Be More Stressed In almost every case, being behind schedule means being stressed. Our brains and bodies feel the pressure of being behind in our work, and stress is the natural reac�on. Chronic stress is not only bad for our mental and emo�onal health, but it’s also bad for the work we do. Work we do under the pressures of stress is almost always of a lower quality than the tasks we take on when we’re in a healthy mental place.

3.You’ll Lose Relaxa�on Time It’s no secret teachers work crazy hours. Long a�er the students have gone home, they’re o�en s�ll at school — grading papers, planning lessons and preparing materials for next week’s classes. If the teacher is unorganized, these long hours become even longer. And every extra hour you spend at school planning is a lost hour of relaxa�on �me at home.

teacher, part of your job is to model good behavior for your students. An impeccably organized desk makes a statement about the kind of person you are, the kind of classroom you run and the kind of behavior you expect from them. If, on the other hand, your desk looks like it was just hit by a hurricane, this also sends a message. It tells the students their teacher isn’t organized, and they can be disorganized as well. While ul�mately, you can’t control how organized your students choose or choose not to be, you can send them a message about what you expect from them.

How to Stay Organized as a Teacher Now that we’ve covered why organiza�on is important, it’s �me to get prac�cal. In no par�cular order, here are our favorite �ps for being an organized teacher.

1.S�ck to One Unified Organiza�on System Are you that person who is always pu�ng things in a “smart place,” only to immediately forget where that place was? If so, you might benefit from this �p.

Many �mes, we feel the urge to start organizing and cleaning, but we aren’t systema�c enough about it. We create one todo list on paper, another on our phone and s�ll another on our computer. Or we make

4.You’ll Set a Poor Example Organiza�on in the classroom is also about se�ng a good example for your students. As a Index

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one box of random junk in the kitchen, another in the basement and another in the bedroom. Nothing is ever where it’s supposed to be because your “organizing system” is almost more disorganized than having no system at all.

Time to step back, take a breath and do some real planning here. Make one to-do list and s�ck with it. Decide what format is best for you. Do you find the mo�ons of wri�ng something down help you remember it be�er? Try a physical list. Do you value portability and the ease of having your list with you at all �mes? Put it on your phone. Or do you like the ease of edi�ng, wri�ng, copying and pas�ng that comes with a real keyboard? Just put the list on your computer.

It doesn’t ma�er which format you choose if it works for you. Do you like to have a place where you put random junk you don’t know what else to do with? Consolidate your random junk stashes so you only have one.

This way, when something goes missing and you want to check for it, you just have one place to check.

While these are two examples, you can carry the idea of having one single system throughout your en�re organiza�onal scheme.

Simplify and consolidate, and you’ll find organiza�on becomes much more convenient and easier to maintain.

2.Use a Different Folder for Every Day of the Month Everyone feels in�midated when they look at the mound of work they have to do in a single month. It’s impossible not to. One of the most effec�ve ways to make it feel less in�mida�ng and more manageable is to break it down by day. Even if you have 300 things to do every month, that’s only about 10 things every day.

And staring at 10 things every day is way more manageable than staring at a mountain of 300 things every day.

To make this system work, we recommend se�ng up a filing cabinet and filling it with 31 folders, all labeled according to which day of the month they represent. Then use these 32

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folders to store worksheets, templates, copies of tests, prepared materials and anything else you know you’re going to need on that par�cular day. This way, everything is exactly where it needs to be when you need it. You’ll never waste �me trying to find those test copies again. You can also use this filing system to file things other than student materials.

Assuming the filing cabinet is private and only you can access it, why not also store things like bills, upcoming events and reminders to yourself on the day when they’re relevant?

You can even make to-do lists ahead of �me to file on their respec�ve days. It might even be something as simple as scribbling a note to yourself on a Post-It and dropping it into the file of the day on which you’ll need to remember that thing.

3.Color-Code Your Student’s Files Color-coding is one of the best visual aids there is. At the beginning of the year, pick a color for every student in your classroom. If you have an extremely large classroom, you may struggle to find enough colors for everyone, but don’t be afraid to use different shades of a color to represent different students. A�er all, lime green and dark forest green are different enough that you will have a hard �me confusing them. Label each colored folder with the student’s name. Then, for the rest of the year, file all the student’s work and informa�on in this colored folder.

Most likely, you’ll end up needing mul�ple folders, but the principle stays the same. Every �me you see any sky-blue folder, you’ll know at a glance what student it belongs to.

4.Talk to Your Students About Organiza�on Of course, no ma�er how much effort you put into organizing your classroom and workspace, it’s difficult to make any real headway if the kids aren’t on board. That’s why it’s a good rule of thumb to involve your students in your organiza�onal efforts.

At the beginning of the year, why not try talking about the importance of organiza�on Index

and how it relates to things like �me management, stress and mental health? Ask them if they have any ideas about how they’d like to organize the classroom. At the end of the day, any real decisions will be yours, but it’s important to ask for input from the students. They’re much more likely to par�cipate and help keep the room clean if it feels like it was their idea, or at least if it’s something they agreed to.

5.Stay on Top of Cleaning and Organiza�on We’ve all been there. It’s only Tuesday, but your desk and teaching space are already a mess. You don’t have �me to worry about it, so you tell yourself you’ll clean up by the end of the week. But every day, your space gets messier and messier and you feel yourself falling further behind and ge�ng more panicked and stressed. Take our word for it.

As much it might be a struggle at the �me, it’s always best to stay on top of your organiza�on. Don’t set something aside, saying, “I’ll file that later.” You won’t want to later. File it now. The more things you set Index

aside with promises to take care of it “later,” the more these things will pile up and the less you’ll want to take care of them. The simplest method to organiza�on is to just do it as you go along. Don’t put it off and don’t let messes pile up. You’ll be less stressed and more produc�ve for it.

6.Invest in Some Organiza�onal Supplies Nothing makes you feel the organiza�onal spirit more than inves�ng in some prac�cal boxes, cubbies and storage bins. And let’s face it, it’s tough to get organized if you don’t have the right equipment.

So head out to your local Target, Walmart or Homegoods store and pick out some organizers. As you shop, think about what will be most helpful to you. You might want to color-code them based on what you’ll be using them for. Or you might want to be wary of what size containers you buy, given the space you have to work with. Maybe you have very limited space, so you want to buy containers that easily stack. Whatever you choose to stock your classroom and space with, you’ll be Good Teacher Magazine Issue 1 2021

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much more eager to get started using it if it’s a�rac�ve, fun and something you picked out yourself. So buy something that inspires you to get organized.

7.Labels Are Your Friend When it comes to organizing, there’s nothing be�er than a big, easy-to-read label. These labels will also help you remember what’s inside every box, file and cubby without having to open it to see. It’s also good for the students. They’ll be less likely to make a mess as they search for supplies if the crayons, scissors and tape and paper are all in clearly labeled containers.

How to Get Back on Track A�er Being Disorganized As much as we’d all like to think we could be organized all the �me, it doesn’t always work that way. We’ve all had days, weeks and months where we let things slip. First, we let

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one thing go, then another, and before we know it, we’re drowning in piles of disorganized work.

Recovering from such a situa�on is going to take �me. We recommend blocking out an a�ernoon, or even an en�re day. Use this �me to clean up the clu�er, sort through your papers and files and put things where they belong. You’ll be able to gauge how much �me you need based on how long it’s been since you let your organiza�on slide.

If it’s been a very long �me since you’ve had any kind of organiza�on, we recommend taking it slowly. If you try to introduce a whirlwind of changes into your daily ac�vi�es, you’re going to be overwhelmed and in�midated. Before you know it, you’re likely to slip back into your old habits. Instead, try changing a few things at a �me. Maybe your first step is pu�ng your desk supplies in neat containers and giving each student a dedicated file folder.

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Once you get used to these few changes and they become habit, introduce a few more.

Li�le by li�le, take steps to become an organized teacher.

What About Day Planners?

Day planners are o�en a topic of heated debate. Some people love them and claim they don’t know how they’d get through their day without one. Others vehemently oppose them, and claim they’re nothing more than a nuisance that isn’t helpful anyway.

There is no right or wrong answer to this debate. The only thing that ma�ers is what works for you. If you’ve never tried a planner of any kind, now might be a good �me to give one a try. Use one for a few weeks or months and see how you like it. Do you find yourself constantly relying on and checking it to see what your engagements and to-do items for the week are? If so, maybe day planners are a good way for you to go.

On the other hand, maybe a�er a few weeks, you look back at your day planner and realize that you have only entered three things in.

And even a�er wri�ng these things, you never Index

looked back at them during the week they were supposed to happen. If so, there’s no need to worry. Day planners just might not be a good fit for you. There’s nothing wrong with disliking day planners. There are plenty of other tools and methods that might work for you instead. Maybe you’d do be�er with a desk calendar. Maybe you’d prefer a Post-It note method where you s�ck Post-Its to your desk, using them to represent the days of the week and wri�ng your tasks on them. Or maybe you just want to open a Microso� Word document, make a list of all the upcoming days and fill them in with all the tasks you need to do on those days. It’s not about having the fanciest or the pre�est method.

The most important thing is finding a method that works for you. If that’s using a planner, OK. If not, no worries.

Try Using a Planner Today Now that you’re armed with these organized teacher �ps, the next step is to begin pu�ng them into prac�ce. As a first step, why not try out a planner and see if they’re right for you and your organiza�onal style?

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Adap�ng the diet of female athletes to their needs is essen�al for protec�ng their health and performance.

The few studies specific to women in this area reveal that many sports trainers and experts are not aware of the recommenda�ons.

Ea�ng food rich in iron, consuming more calcium and monitoring levels of vitamin D are some of the recommenda�ons for female athletes deduced from a study performed within the framework of the Master's Degree in Food for Physical Exercise and Sport of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) by scien�sts of the UOC, the Universidad Internacional Isabel I de Cas�lla, the Universidad de Murcia and the Universidad de Granada.

The study was published recently in the open access scien�fic journal, ArchivosLa�noamericanosdeNutrición(AL AN).

Based on a meta-analysis of 42 scien�fic ar�cles published between 2012 and 2020, research reveals that some problems, such as energy deficit or deficiency of some micronutrients, are common among female athletes, which not only impacts their performance but also jeopardizes their health.

"Sports are becoming increasingly popular, and therefore it is necessary to provide advice for both professional sportswomen and those who prac�ce sport as a hobby", said Anna Bach-Faig, a researcher with Index

the Foodlab group and director of the Master's Degree in Food for Physical Exercise and Sport of the UOC. "Not only to improve performance but also to preserve health."

Female Athlete Triad syndrome Health problems to which sportswomen appear to be most suscep�ble include osteoporosis, amenorrhea and low energy availability, three ailments that, when they occur concurrently, are known in scien�fic literature as Female Athlete Triad syndrome. According to the study, this is one of the most frequent ailments derived from inadequate nutri�on in female athletes.

However, despite its prevalence, many athle�c trainers, physicians and sports coaches are s�ll not aware of it.

"Un�l now there has been very li�le research into the specific needs of women who prac�ce sport", explained Miguel Mariscal-Arcas, who is the lead author of the ar�cle, a UOC course instructor and researcher at the Universidad de Granada, "But women's physiology and body composi�on is different and therefore it is necessary to iden�fy these needs and raise awareness about them."

For example, the greater need for iron is associated with menstrua�on, and calcium and vitamin D are essen�al to prevent the onset of osteoporosis, a disease to which women are more suscep�ble.

Other nutrients that have been iden�fied as problema�c for female athletes, due to the higher quan��es they need compared to the general popula�on, are magnesium, folic acid, vitamin B12 and proteins. Of these, magnesium appears to be the cause for most concern, as the nutrient that most o�en Good Teacher Magazine Issue 1 2021

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presents deficits; and proteins are the nutrients that present least risk of deficiency, as all studies reveal that protein intake by female athletes exceeds the recommended amount, which can in turn lead to problems.

As for low energy, also very common in female athletes, this affects performance to a large extent, as well as health. It is therefore essen�al to understand the energe�c needs of female athletes according to the sport they prac�ce, its characteris�cs and the season in which they prac�ce it.

"Iden�fying and correc�ng these deficits turns out to be key for both improving performance and preven�ng risks to the health of women who prac�ce sport", remarked Bach-Faig, who, together with the researcher Laura Esquius de la Zarza, has published another book dedicated to this subject, Personalización y nuevas tendencias en alimentación depor�va (Personaliza�on and new tendencies in sports nutri�on). “Reviews like this study make it possible to a�ain a more general perspec�ve of the situa�on”.

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Reference ar�cle: Mireya Vázquez Franco, Nuria Giménez-Blasi, José Antonio Latorre, Manuel Mar�nez-Bebia, Anna Bach, Fá�ma Olea-Serrano, Miguel Mariscal-Arcas Actualización sobre deficiencias nutricionales en la mujer depor�sta a par�r de la literatura cien�fica (Update on nutri�onal deficiencies in female athletes based on the scien�fic literature) Archivos La�noamericanos de Nutrición. Volume 70, No. 3, Year 2020. h�p://www.alanrevista.org/ediciones/ 2020/3/art-5/ UOC R&I Development and open knowledge serve as strategic pillars for the UOC's teaching, research and innova�on. More informa�on: research.uoc.edu. #25yearsUOC The researcher: Anna Bach-Faig Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences and researcher at the Foodlab group.

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2 in 3 parents say junior sports rewards should be healthy: new survey VicHealth is joining forces with 5 local councils in a bid to phase out unhealthy food vouchers in kids’ sport.

In a Victorian first, the Healthy Sports Reward ini�a�ve will see some junior clubs in the Frankston, Bendigo, Yarra Ranges, Shepparton and Nillumbik council areas replace vouchers for fast food and takeaway with healthy ac�vi�es, like free or discounted access to a local pool or tennis court.

This much-needed project comes as new VicHealth and Deakin University research shows 2 in 3 parents think kids’ sports rewards should be healthy.

Among the 500 Victorian parents surveyed, half (51%) said their children had received a voucher from a large fast-food company at their sports club, and 42% had received one for a local fast-food outlet.

Minister for Health Mar�n Foley said it’s important that junior sports clubs promote health and wellbeing among children in their

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community.

“It’s fantas�c to see VicHealth, local councils and spor�ng clubs working together to create healthier spor�ng environments for Victorian children.

“This posi�ve ini�a�ve will give grassroots clubs and families the chance to celebrate children's spor�ng achievements in an ac�ve and healthy way.”

VicHealth CEO Dr Sandro Demaio said we must stamp out unhealthy vouchers to put the health and wellbeing of Victorian children above junk food company profits.

“Rewarding children with vouchers for fast food during sport builds powerful brand associa�ons at a young age and contribute to poor health, now and into adulthood,” Dr Demaio said.

“Families are telling us they want healthier rewards for their children. We’re excited to partner with local Victorian councils to work towards making healthy and fun rewards the norm in junior sport.”

Deakin University Associate Professor Kathryn Backholer said while unhealthy food vouchers are rife in kids’ sport, most Victorian

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parents want to see that changed.

“Vouchers for fast food in sport exploit children’s vulnerabili�es by crea�ng posi�ve norms around the consump�on of unhealthy food. Fast food companies use vouchers to draw families into their restaurants, making them a lot of money at the expense of children’s health,” Ms Backholer said.

“All children should be able to enjoy sport free from unhealthy food and drink adver�sing.

The Healthy Sport Rewards project is a posi�ve step towards that goal.”

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Half of the parents would prefer their children did not receive voucher

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40% reported the voucher use prompted a first �me visit to the fast food/takeaway business

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65% of families ended up spending more than the voucher amount when redeeming it

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In 38% of cases, the voucher was used by the child, 34% by the family, and only 19% were not used at all.

Case study: As junior winter sports like football and basketball kick off, Frankston mum of 3 Tammy Aitken says rewards for healthy ac�vi�es would be a welcome change.

“I work hard to encourage my kids to fuel their bodies in a healthy way. When they get vouchers for fast food and takeaway a�er playing sport, it goes against everything I try to teach them. Of course, if one of my kids gets a voucher, the others want to eat that food too.

I would love to see sports clubs give out rewards for healthy, fun ac�vi�es.”

About Healthy Sports Rewards: VicHealth is commi�ed to spor�ng clubs being places that are ac�ve, healthy and socially connected. The Healthy Sports Rewards project is just one part of this. To get involved:

The VicHealth and Deakin University survey of parents also found: �

Half of all parents surveyed had a child who had received an unhealthy food voucher in sport.

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Among those who received a voucher: Index

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Parents: Become an ac�ve part of Parents’ Voice, an online movement of parents who are interested in improving the food and ac�vity environments of Australian children.

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Sports clubs: contact your local council about how they can support your club to shi� to healthier rewards.

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Local councils: contact VicHealth via our website to learn more: vichealth.vic.gov.au/ about/contact-us

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Photo iStock

Opinion: These are post-normal �mes: nothing will be "normal" again.

Replan�ng crea�vity in schools could be what we need to survive, writes Peter O'Connor.

In post-normal �mes we need crea�vity and imagina�on, says Peter O'Connor.

The world order has stumbled under the devasta�ng global impact of Covid-19, resul�ng in the most serious assault to the economic, public health and social order of the planet in recent history. In 2021,we have truly come to understand that we are living beyond what was once normal and that there is no sense we might ever return to what we had before.

At the Centre for Arts and Social Transforma�on at the University of Auckland we have been researching how these new �mes demand new ways of thinking, of planning, of imagining. We recognise that much government policy and thinking is buried in premises of a world that no longer exists.

In our recently released report, Replan�ng Crea�vity in Post-Normal Times, we argue that crea�vity is the greatest hope for humanity’s survival. We suggest it is perhaps the only tool, 42

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which takes us from simple reasoned analysis to higher synthesis. While imagina�on is intangible, it creates and shapes our reality affec�ng our behaviour and expecta�ons. We know that we need to imagine our way out of the post-normal �mes.

The term post-normal first emerged in 1993 as philosophers Silvio Funtowicz and Jerome Ravetz were searching for a way to understand unpredictability in science. Writer and scholar Ziauddin Sardar suggests we now live in post normal �mes characterised by constant chaos, contradic�on and crisis. He argues our �mes are shaped by dated and increasingly irrelevant and dying orthodoxies, new ones yet to be born.

Myths which sustained na�onal iden��es are increasingly frayed and useless. There is no sense of either returning to a past that reassures some, or a belief in futures that have any possibility for meaningful change. Postnormal �mes place stress and strain on every fabric of our moral, social, poli�cal, economic and cultural lives.

The dangers of constant climate crisis, of the contradic�ons of rampaging inequality and its impact on the social order are truly existen�al.

Poli�cal responses to the post-normal can be found in the growth interna�onally of rightIndex

wing na�onalisms that cry out for the return to the normal of white privilege, of making countries great again. The post-normal can be seen in the rejec�on of history and science by many and the growth of conspiracy as a way to explain the predicament of our �me.

Our report focuses on the failure of schooling to shi� and change to meet the challenges of post-normal �mes. Despite everything that has changed, the Ministry of Educa�on con�nues with a futures focused curriculum, resis�ng calls to address inequity, and resolutely refusing to allow the imagina�on and crea�vity into classrooms. The report argues that a system conceived in the industrial revolu�on needs more than refreshing. As the threats to democracy, to social cohesion and economic survival grow daily, schools con�nue to be places where crea�vity goes to die.

The misguided and now tragically dated no�on si�ng behind the Ministry of Educa�on’s approach to learning that is centred around individual achievement risks crea�ng classes of people disconnected from a sense that they can be ac�ve par�cipants in their own lives.

We believe the dangers of such an approach during post-normal �mes is obvious as right wing ideologies find fer�le ground in collapsing economies.

We know Labour market economists in at least two separate research studies find that almost half the jobs that currently exist are likely to be eliminated within a decade or so. By the �me a five-year-old in school today turns 16, half of the jobs we are preparing that child for won’t be there according to this growing body of research. This speaks way beyond the contribu�on of the arts and cultural sector to the economy.

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Deloi�e’s 2019 report on the future of work is a direct challenge to schooling systems that remain entrenched in the past. Deloi�e’s argument is that we moved from valuing work of the hands, then to work of the head and now to work of the heart. Their report argues that the future of work is human. They suggest that, as robo�cs and ar�ficial intelligence change the nature of work, augmen�ng both work of the hands and work of the head (for example, comple�ng excel spreadsheets and making calcula�ons), humans will increasingly need to a�end to non-rou�ne work of the head (genera�ng insights) and work of the heart (collabora�ng with diverse teams to make complex decisions).

Historically, schools, universi�es and workplaces have mainly focused on developing and rewarding technical skills (for example, data analysis). Therefore, the supply for so� skills is being outstripped by the growing demand. We would argue that ‘the so� skills’ referred to above are inappropriately labelled as they are skills that are hard to learn, hard to prac�ce and increasingly the most tradeable skills for individuals and na�onal economies.

There is nothing so� about collabora�on, nor of managing human interac�on in complex situa�ons. Learning these skills should be rou�ne, commonplace and prac�sed frequently in our schools.

Post-normal �mes means we can no longer rely on the tried and the tested, as the best evidence tells us li�le of how we can navigate the ambigui�es of living marooned between the past and the future. Replan�ng crea�vity in schools might be the most important thing we can do to survive the darkness of today.

Professor Peter O’Connor is from the University of Auckland and is Director of the Centre for Arts and Social Transforma�on.

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Ar�st Creates Architectural Drawings Using Pen and Ink… They Look As If They’re Illuminated With Real Lights Ukrainian ar�st and urban sketcher Nikita Busyak (aka ci�es and sketches) has found a way to make his pen and ink sketches glow with life. His realis�c drawings mostly revolve around architecture and feature various buildings and cityscapes and are made by using mechanical pen and ink.

Recently, however, Nikita has added extra effects to his illustra�ons with stunning results. With each of his new architectural drawings, he started to digitally manipulate the windows of the buildings so that it would seem as if they glow with golden light, making it seem as if the drawing is filled with the darkness of the evening or night.

A�er comple�ng the final sketch, Busyak uses digital so�ware to add ar�ficial ligh�ng to his drawings. This digital “glow” imitates an unknown fluorescent light source. The Ukrainian ar�st makes clever use of the placement of the glare, as well as the colour that gives the illusion of the lit-up windows in his drawings. These crea�ve choices seem to add another layer to Nikita's already fantas�c sketches. The mystery of the glow makes these illustra�ons pop off the page.

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Students in Girlstart’s A�erschool At Home program work on a parachute project over Zoom.

Others went remote and s�ll others became full-day childcare programs.

None had much guidance or support.

When the pandemic forced Aus�n-based Girlstart to go remote, the priority for Tamara Hudgins, its execu�ve director, was finding a way to maintain that hands-on experience for the girls in her program, the majority of whom come from low-income households and likely have few other op�ons for this kind of academic enrichment.

“Learning via the screen is a real challenge, for the adults as well as children,” Hudgins said.

Her solu�on was to create physical kits containing all the supplies the girls would need. Before the start of every program, each girl receives, either by mail or drop-off, an en�re semester’s worth of materials that correspond to the girls’ weekly ac�vi�es, whether they are working on a DNA

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All Photos Credit: Girlstart

Many a�er-school programs, which provide both enrichment and childcare, have gone out of business.

“I like building stuff,” said 11-year-old Isabella Mar�nez, describing the appeal of her science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) a�er-school program, Girlstart. “In school we don’t really do a lot of projects, mostly reading. I like [a�er school] because it’s more hands-on. It’s being more crea�ve.”

phenotype project or exploring the principles of aerodynamics.

“We built a rocket launch,” Isabella said. “That was really fun.”

Going remote but delivering physical materials is one solu�on to a problem that has plagued a�er-school providers across the country — how to con�nue providing their enrichment and child care solu�ons during a pandemic.

“The school districts are focusing on the school walls and the people inside those walls and (a�er-school providers) are outside that.”

Jodi Grant, A�erschool Alliance “For low-income kids it’s really hard for programs to run in person,” said Jodi Grant, execu�ve director of A�erschool Alliance, a nonprofit advocacy group. “It costs a lot more to run a program now because you have to have all of the Covid interven�ons, the PPE and you need to have smaller groups of kids.”

When the pandemic hit, providing those supervised social experiences became impossible. A�er-school programs across the country were hit with the twin catastrophes of plumme�ng enrolment and the loss of their physical space. Many simply went out of business. Others, with the funding to do so, went online. S�ll others were le� with the overwhelming task of providing emergency childcare that they were not set up to offer.

And a year into the pandemic, federal financial support has only now begun to arrive in the form of public educa�on dollars set aside for enrichment.

The lack of systemic support at city and state levels has come at a great cost. According to a November survey by A�erschool Alliance, the number of students with access to a�er-

In a pre-pandemic A�erschool Alliance survey, almost 60 percent of parents reported that their children were receiving STEM instruc�on at least two days a week in an a�er-school program. An overwhelming majority of those surveyed said that a�er-school programs helped their children to build social skills, gain confidence and make responsible decisions.

“One of our biggest fears in the field is that it’s not just the academics [affected by the pandemic],” Grant said. “Socially isola�ng kids for what’s going on a year now is a horrific thing to do to them. We’re seeing increased anxiety, increased mental illness, increased depression. It is absolutely clear to us that if kids can be with other kids and caring adults in person, that’s huge.”

A Girlstart student opens her ac�vity kit for the first week of the group’s Summer Camp At Home program.

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school programs had been cut in half since the start of the pandemic. Of those who do take part in such programs, children from more affluent families are more likely to be enrolled in programs that are opera�ng in-person than are their lower-income peers, whose par�cipa�on tends to be limited to online models.

For Hudgins, who runs Girlstart, the pandemic meant she and her team had to re-think how to expand access to the sciences for underrepresented popula�ons. “[Pre-pandemic] we had 90-plus a�er-school programs that met at partner schools. We were reaching 2,750 to 2,900 girls each week,” she said. With schools no longer allowing third-party a�er-school programs in their buildings due to safety protocols, Hudgins went virtual. She launched Girlstart At Home in April 2020, beginning with weekly Zoom mee�ngs aimed at maintaining rela�onships with girls already in their program.

Hudgins treated that early endeavor like a pilot program, using it to see what worked and what didn’t. The experience was invaluable for fine-tuning what became her online summer camp and then the model — dubbed A�erschool At Home — now in use during the school semester. But she knew that designing a program was one thing; ensuring access to it was something else.

“One hundred percent of the schools we are reaching are Title I schools,” she said.

“Seventy-five percent of the girls we serve qualify for free and reduced-price lunch; 40 percent of them speak another language at home. We’re all about equity.”

many students who had been provided laptops by their school districts had to turn them in when the spring semester ended. She had to provide laptops, tablets and even mobile hotspots to a number of her kids just so they could par�cipate. Luckily, she had the funding to make this possible, with government contribu�ons coming from sources like NASA in addi�on to substan�al support from philanthropic founda�ons like the Overdeck Family Founda�on. (The Overdeck Founda�on is one of many supporters of The Hechinger Report.)

Hudgins determined that equity also meant stocking the at-home kits with household items that more affluent families take for granted. “We’re providing general office supplies because we don’t want to make any assump�ons about what a family has at home, whether it’s a pencil sharpener or LED lights,” Hudgins said in late January. “To a certain degree, we’re now in the fulfilment business.

We have 2,000 boxes going out this week.”

More general a�er-school child care providers faced a challenge that was en�rely different from Hudgins’. Many, especially those with their own facili�es, encountered a sudden shi� to full-day child care — a difficult transi�on, even for larger organiza�ons.

“We have kids that have a�en�on disorders or severe family situa�ons that we only used to see for five hours and now we’re caring for them for 12 hours a day,” said Sarah Bolyard, president and CEO of the YMCA of Kanawha Valley in West Virginia.

The pandemic has highlighted dispari�es in online access. When Hudgins started the virtual summer camp, she found that A Girlstart counselor preps ac�vity kits to send to students for their A�erschool At Home program.

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“We have kids that have a�en�on disorders or severe family situa�ons that we only used to see for five hours and now we’re caring for them for 12 hours a day.”

Sarah Bolyard, YMCA of Kanawha Valley Closed during the state-mandated shutdown of non-essen�al services, the YMCA of Kanawha Valley had to become licensed as an emergency childcare facility to reopen, adhering to regula�ons including the minimum number of square feet of usable space per child and how long children must spend washing their hands. Once students were allowed back into the building, the hardest part was managing each child’s remote learning.

“Naviga�ng virtual learning has been very challenging,” Bolyard said. “The kids are all on different [school] schedules. If you’ve got kids who are supposed to be on a classroom conference at 9 a.m., you cannot have them mixed with kids who don’t have one un�l 10.”

Bolyard said that to keep track of it all, she and her staff have become masters of Excel spreadsheets.

Like many a�er-school providers, Bolyard has seen the pandemic’s drama�c effect on her program’s budget. Even as they’ve offered more hours of care, fewer families have been able to afford their services.

“We went from a $5 million-a-year budget down to less than $3 million,” she said. The only thing allowing them to stay afloat, she said, is a statewide reimbursement program that covers childcare expenses for frontline workers. Without this program, which is only renewed on a month-to-month basis, “we could lose a majority of our kids,” she said.

For a majority of single-site, a�er-school providers, staying open was simply not a feasible op�on.

When Carmelo Piazza, aka Carmelo the Science Fellow, closed his 20-year-old a�erschool science program in Brooklyn, New York, last April the decision was as obvious as it was painful.

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For their Summer Camp At Home program, Girlstart provided a kit with all of the project supplies their students needed.

“We shut down, per state guidance, right before our spring session was going to start,” he said. “At that point no families had even paid yet.” While enrolment income plummeted to zero, Piazza s�ll had to cover rent for his storefront space; a sum he had watched increase from $3,000 a month two decades ago to $9,000 in 2020. The city’s public schools had already shi�ed to virtual learning, which dampened interest in taking his program online.

“Being on the computer with remote learning all day and then doing it for a�er-school would mean that kids aged 6 and 7 would have to be on a computer almost 10 hours a day,” he said.

“None of our parents were asking for a virtual model.”

For Sherri Hellman, who for the past 25 years has run Crea�ve Arts Studio, an a�er-school dance program near downtown Brooklyn, the lifeline to remaining open came from her landlord, who agreed to reduce the rent on her dance studio.

“That was a lifesaver,” she emphasized. “If it wasn’t for that I would have lost my whole business.” S�ll, it’s been a struggle to stay afloat. “We used to have 300 families a week and now it’s down to 40.”

Despite the risks, she decided to restart inperson classes once state restric�ons allowed her to reopen.

“Dance and movement is all about connec�ng; being able to see each other, being able to see the shapes and being able to deal with Good Teacher Magazine Issue 1 2021

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energy,” she said. “You can’t really feel those things online the way you can when the children are next to you.”

Located in a neighborhood that began gentrifying more than a decade ago, Hellman has long struggled to maintain as much diversity in her classes as she would like. And the pandemic has only exacerbated the gap between families who have access to her classes and those that don’t.

“It’s become a luxury to do in-person a�er school at the moment for families,” she said.

“Affluent people can afford it.”

“To a certain degree, we’re now in the fulfilment business. We have 2,000 boxes going out this week.”

Tana Hudgins, Girlstart Programs already aimed at families who paid out-of-pocket didn’t have to wait around for slow-to-come public dollars to cover the

added costs of pandemic opera�ons; well-todo families with children were less likely to have high-risk older rela�ves at home; and those with white collar jobs were more likely to keep both the jobs and the disposable income needed to cover a�er-school programs.

Kisha Edwards-Gandsy, co-founder of the World Explorers a�er-school program, found the dispari�es also meant many families able to afford her fees le� town. Edwards-Gandsy had been following the Covid outbreak back when the virus was limited to Asia. She began implemen�ng safety protocols in her Brooklyn center, which also houses a preschool, as early as January 2020.

“When a lot of people were not taking it seriously, we had basically sourced informa�on from Taiwan,” she said. “We started taking temperature checks, keeping classrooms separate, and not allowing parents inside our building.”

None of that seemed to ma�er when the city closed in-person a�er-school programs in March. Her center wouldn’t open its doors again un�l the end of June. And by then, large numbers of the middle- and upper-class families she served had fled the city.

“Enrolment was like half of what it was before,” she said. “There was a mass pilgrimage out of Brooklyn. So many families le� for New Jersey and upstate New York.”

When the shutdown was announced, Edwards-Gandsy made the difficult decision not to refund tui�on, but to offer a credit that families could redeem, with no expira�on date. This allowed her to retain most of her Brooklyn staff and pivot to a virtual preschool model. But her true lifeline came from an unexpected place: A child enjoys free �me at the Museum School a�er-school program in Greenville, South Carolina. Credit: World Explorers Group

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Greenville, South Carolina. A former parent, with �es to a children’s museum in Greenville, suggested Edwards-Gandsy move south and use the museum space for in-person programming. She did.

By July, Edwards-Gandsy had nego�ated a revenue-sharing arrangement with the museum and relocated to Greenville while her business partner stayed to manage their Brooklyn program. Edwards-Gandsy hired local staff in Greenville and opened the Museum School with a summer camp offering arts, math and science ac�vi�es inside the museum.

When Greenville’s schools reopened in August on a hybrid schedule of both in-person and remote learning, Edwards-Gandsy had to pivot once again, offering not just a�er-school services, but a full-day program where children could conduct their remote schooling in a safe environment under adult supervision.

That was as an a�rac�ve proposi�on for many Greenville families. “[Museum School] was a game changer,” said Adrienne Burris, who enrolled her 6-year-old son, Isaiah, in the fall of 2020. “My son has Adrienne Burris and her son, Isaiah, smile for the camera. Credit: Ben Burris

some special behavioral needs. Just being me and him alone together in the house for so many months when school was all-remote, was a real struggle.”

Burris said she felt like she couldn’t meet all of her son’s needs herself and that they both needed some space. “Being able to send him somewhere providers] are outside that,” she said. “I’m hopeful that we can break that down and really start thinking about our whole community as an that was safe and he was excited to go to, giving us that distance, made it so that when we were together at home, we got along so much be�er.”

Grant, from the A�erschool Alliance, sees major obstacles to ge�ng where she’d like the country to be in providing adequate and equitable a�er-school access. She said it’s frustra�ng that the concerns of a�er-school and child care providers are not being heard in the same way as other businesses. And she would like to see coordina�on with government ins�tu�ons and businesses to provide opportuni�es for a�er-school providers in spaces like libraries, parks, community centers or even empty office buildings. But the biggest hurdle, she said, is that the pandemic has meant that school districts are preoccupied with adap�ng their own systems to serve unprecedented needs.

“The school districts are focusing on the school walls and the people inside those walls and [a�erschool area of learning.”

This story about a�erschool programs was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organiza�on focused on inequality and innova�on in educa�on.

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Na�onal study finds Black students and low-income children don’t reap the small gains achieved by white, Asian and highincome children.

Gi�ed educa�on is o�en a flash point in school desegrega�on debates; in large ci�es, these programs o�en operate as an essen�ally separate school system, dominated by white and Asian children.

Though gi�ed programs touch only 3.3 million school children, about 7 percent of the U.S. student popula�on, it’s disturbing that Black and Hispanic children are rarely chosen for them.

Some progressives have proposed elimina�ng gi�ed programs altogether. Others are seeking ways to increase the number of Black and

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Hispanic students. Only 4 percent of Black children and 5 percent of Hispanic children are in gi�ed programs compared with 8 percent of white and 13 percent of Asian children, according to the most recent federal figures.

Against this poli�cal backdrop, a new study raises big ques�ons about whether gi�ed educa�on benefits the kids who are lucky enough to be in it. Researchers analyzed the records of about 1,300 students, drawn from a na�onally representa�ve sample of children across the country, who started kindergarten in 2010 and par�cipated in a gi�ed program for at least one year during their elementary school years through fi�h grade.

In school systems that offer gi�ed programs, children generally begin their schooling in a regular kindergarten classroom with children

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Jill Barshay of mixed abili�es. Some are labeled as gi�ed during that first kindergarten year. Others get assigned as late as fi�h grade. Researchers compared student performance before and a�er par�cipa�ng in a gi�ed program.

Students’ reading scores were only slightly higher a�er receiving gi�ed instruc�on, moving from 78th to 80th percen�le in reading on a na�onal yards�ck. The boost to math achievement from gi�ed instruc�on was much smaller, about a third of that size. No improvements were detected in how engaged or mo�vated students were in school a�er joining a gi�ed program. For example, teachers reported no difference in how hard students worked, how much they par�cipated in discussions or how much they paid a�en�on and listened in class.

Black students didn’t experience even the small reading gains that their white peers did in gi�ed programs, showing zero difference a�er receiving gi�ed services, on average.

Similarly, low-income students of all races tended not to reap the academic gains that their wealthier peers did. Asian children, by contrast, posted larger gains in math a�er joining a gi�ed program.

“What was most concerning to me was that even this small benefit wasn’t equally distributed across all students subgroups,” said Christopher Redding, an assistant professor at the University of Florida and one of the study’s co-authors. “It seems like Black students benefit less than white students and that high income students benefit the most.”

The study, “Do Students in Gi�ed Programs Perform Be�er? Linking Gi�ed Program Par�cipants to Achievement and Nonachievement Outcomes,” is slated to be published in May 2021 in the journal of Educa�onal Evalua�on and Policy Analysis.

Redding and his co-author, Jason A. Grissom at Index

Vanderbilt University, presented their study in April 2021 at a session of the annual mee�ng of the American Educa�onal Research Associa�on.

This federal data was only recently made available to researchers and it’s the first �me that we’re ge�ng a comprehensive na�onal picture of how well kids are doing in gi�ed programs from kindergarten through fi�h grade. Previous research, most of it limited to specific states and school districts, has been mixed. Some studies have shown sluggish learning growth for gi�ed students. However, high achieving students tend to improve less than average or below average students whether they’re in gi�ed or regular classrooms.

A well-designed 2011 study of one city found no evidence that students in the gi�ed program outperformed those just below the cutoff for gi�edness by the �me they reached seventh grade. It also found that high achieving students who won a seat in a lo�ery to a�end a popular magnet school did be�er in science but not in math or English compared to similar students who lost the lo�ery.

A 2016 study of a school district in Florida found no benefit for white students but large benefits for Black and Hispanic students who were assigned to separate gi�ed classrooms.

This na�onal study found the opposite, that white students reaped benefits from gi�ed programs that children of color did not. The Florida study wasn’t wrong but this na�onal study shows that different schools administer gi�ed services differently and can get different results.

What to make of these small-to-nil benefits across the na�on depends on your perspec�ve. Advocates of gi�ed educa�on might see promise in the fact that high Good Teacher Magazine Issue 1 2021

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achieving students saw any gains at all from gi�ed programs. In many schools children might receive only a few hours a week of extra instruc�on. Students are pulled out of their regular classroom or a teacher is sent into their classroom to work with advanced students in small groups. One might rightly wonder if “gi�ed” students would see a larger boost if they received more hours of advanced instruc�on.

Unfortunately, the federal data that the researchers relied upon didn’t document the type of gi�ed instruc�on or how many hours each student received. So the researchers weren’t able to see if higher dosage — or separate full-day classrooms for gi�ed students — generated be�er learning outcomes for high achievers.

Virginia Roach, execu�ve director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth, which operates programs for high achieving students, commended the study in an email.

She said the disappoin�ng results are a sign that teachers need be�er training to teach gi�ed students differently. She added that pressures to increase the number of students

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who pass annual state tests discourage teachers from focusing on advanced students and giving them an “op�mal” challenge.

A startling finding from the study is that most students in gi�ed programs are only slightly above average in achievement, far from anyone’s idea of a genius. The average “gi�ed” student across the na�on ranked between the 75th and 80th percen�les in math and reading, according to the na�onal yards�ck tests used by the researchers. The process for deciding which students get assigned to gi�ed programs varies a lot by state and school district but clearly the iden�fica�on process is broken if it’s not targe�ng students who are several grade levels ahead of their peers and in need of more challenging material.

Perhaps it should be no surprise that students aren’t achieving more in gi�ed classrooms when most educators admit they don’t even try to teach advanced material in them. A 2019 survey of teachers in gi�ed programs found they primarily focused on “enrichment ac�vi�es,” such as crea�ve, fun projects and cri�cal thinking exercises and discussions, keeping children on grade-level material,

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rather than moving them ahead to advanced academic content.

The research consensus, by contrast, argues for propelling high achieving children ahead.

“This accelera�on ques�on is a really important one,” said Redding, arguing that researchers need to re-examine ideas for excep�onally advanced kids, from star�ng kindergarten early and skipping a grade to giving advanced instruc�on in a par�cular subject. “We need to learn whether other approaches would be more beneficial for suppor�ng gi�ed students versus some sort of a pullout or enrichment model,” said Redding.

It’s possible that standardized achievement tests and teacher surveys on student engagement are unable to measure the benefits of a gi�ed educa�on. Perhaps placement in a gi�ed program raises a child’s

self-esteem and confidence and the results don’t emerge un�l decades later in the form of PhDs, poems and patents.

But based on the measures we have now and the current state of affairs of these programs, it appears that gi�ed educa�on isn’t much of a gi� to students.

This story about gi�ed programs was wri�en

by Jill Barshay and produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organiza�on focused on inequality and innova�on in educa�on.

Jill Barshay is an ex teacher, staff writer and editor who writes the weekly “Proof Points” column about educa�on research and data.

Comment for discussion: This could be considered a somewhat misleading ar�cle as it does not define what is meant by “gi�ed educa�on” or “gi�edness”. And this is the crux of the problem when discussing gi�ed educa�on really anywhere in the world. We must define our terms to have this conversa�on.

Gi�ed educa�on does not and cannot create gi�ed students. Gi�ed educa�on merely educates gi�ed students given their unique needs.

“Gi�edness” is a catch-all term for some combina�on of high IQ, developmental asynchronicity (being significantly ahead and significantly behind in different areas at the same �me), delayed matura�on of execu�ve func�oning (o�en 4-6 years later than age peers) and unique socialisa�on needs created by these other factors.

Symptoms of unmet educa�onal needs in gi�ed children include underachievement, disengagement, behaviours that can be mistaken for ADD, ASD, anxiety and depression. Gi�ed students can also have disabili�es, including specific disabili�es and even cogni�ve disabili�es that will mask gi�edness.

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If we a�empt to detect or measure gi�edness via achievement, we will overlook students with these challenges.

Achievement measures are also already biased against students of colour, low-income students, students who are immigrants and Englishlanguage learners and students experiencing homeless or frequent moves. Achievement and cogni�ve tests also o�en have biases against girls. Therefore, if we use “achievement” to evaluate gi�edness and gi�ed educa�on, we bring all these same biases to bear. The result is an ar�cle like this, full of conflated and unclear claims that should be used to inform policy only at our peril.

Gi�edness is not achievement. High-achieving students are not necessarily gi�ed. Measuring achievement does not measure gi�edness, and because gi�ed students o�en underachieve when their needs are not met, measuring achievement probably isn’t useful to measure whether the needs of gi�ed students are being met, at all.

Gi�edness is a neurodifference.

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In 2017 three sisters decided to make it their mission to bridge the resource gap in New Zealand and Australian high schools and lead the way when it comes to educa�ng our tweens and teens about sustainable period products.

The waste generated from the 1.5 million menstrua�ng people in New Zealand adds up to a phenomenal amount of landfill, and the Sustainable Period Project in Australia and New Zealand was the first step towards changing people’s mindsets about disposable sanitary items and ul�mately encouraging them to make more sustainable choices.

The aim was simple: Provide resources to allow Kiwi teens to learn about ALL the period op�ons available and help them make informed choices about ditching the disposables and reaching for reusables.

“The problem is that landfills are filling up fast and we need a more sustainable way of dealing with our periods” said Susan “People are s�ll hearing about Menstrual Cups and Period underwear for the first �me through social media or word-of-mouth; however we need to educate from a grass-roots level, star�ng with our teens and tweens at school who are more eco-conscious than ever.”

“We kept hearing feedback from our customers such as, “Why weren’t we taught about these in school” or “I wish I had heard about these sooner”.

Schools and organisa�ons were reques�ng sample menstrual cups and informa�on booklets and we realised there was a large resource gap when it came to educa�ng about all the modern menstrual op�ons.

There just weren’t enough resources available” said Susan Johns from Lune�e New Zealand, one of the trio who developed and launched the Sustainable Period Project.

SANITARY PRODUCT Conven�onal disposable sanitary pad Conven�onal disposable tampon Co�on disposable Pad

MADE FROM Plas�cs, bleached rayon, co�on Bleached rayon, co�on 100% co�on

The project was a world-first collabora�on with some of Australia and New Zealand’s largest sustainable and reusable menstrual companies and ar�sanal communi�es, including Modibodi, Natracare, OrganyC and Tom. Together, with Lune�e at the helm, they pooled their ideas and resources to create a free Resource Kit that was distributed to high schools in the hope of igni�ng conversa�on about sustainable op�ons at schools.

Modern Sanitary Op�ons - Comparison table

LIFESPAN Dispose a�er use (6-8 hours) Dispose a�er use (3 hours) Dispose a�er use (6-8 hours) Dispose a�er use (3 hours) 5 years

Co�on disposable Tampon 100% co�on Co�on, bamboo, Reusable Cloth Pad PUL Reusable Period Co�on, bamboo, PUL 2-3 years Underpants Menstrual Cup 100% medical silicone 10 years 60

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Up to 500 years

HOW MANY COST OVER PER CYCLE 10 YEARS UP T0 22 $2000

6 months

UP TO 22

$2000

1-5 years

UP T0 22

$2000

3-6 months

UP TO 22

$2000

6-12 months

8-12

$200-300

6-12 months

5-8

$200-300

TIME TO DECOMPOSE

Incinerate to dispose 1

$55 Index

Susan Johns, Lune�e New Zealand “In the past, schools have had li�le or no resources to educate about sustainable op�ons, our kit gives teachers the tools to talk about all the sanitary hygiene op�ons so students can make an informed decision about what they want to use” said Susan.

“The zero-waste movement is rapidly gaining momentum in New Zealand, par�cularly in our younger genera�on, it is important that educa�on con�nues to empower students to decide on, and examine alterna�ves that have important health, cost and environmental impacts on the future of Aotearoa.” she adds.

Each Resource Kit contains samples of biodegradable disposable pads, reusable period underpants, reusable cloth pads, menstrual cups, videos and ac�vi�es that can be used for classroom educa�on for years to come. The kit has cross-subject elements and is designed in a way that it can be used as part of a larger lesson, or form the whole lesson itself for years 7 to 13.

The Success so far: Quotes from Teachers about the Sustainable Period Project Resource Kit: “I have shown it to my senior health classes (as we introduced the menstrual cups to them last year) and quite a few staff members as word got around and interest grew. We will be using the resources with our junior health classes later in the year and this is a fantas�c resource that will help engage our students more thoroughly.”

High School Teacher, Auckland.

“Thank you so much for the resource kit you sent. I have already shared it with my class -

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we looked at puberty earlier in the year and I had talked about the sustainable products. It was so good to be able to let them see and handle samples. As I teach this topic every year, they will be really useful.”

Intermediate Teacher, Southland.

Uptake and involvement: The distribu�on of kits to all NZ high schools was completed in Term 4, 2020. Kits were sent to the head of health and PE at every high school: North Island High Schools: South Island High Schools: 498 125 Auckland: 176 Wellington: 60 Rest of North Island: 262

There was also great uptake by organisa�ons who deliver puberty talks to primary schools such as: • Life Educa�on Trust (Healthy Harold)- NZ wide • Nest Consul�ng- North Island • Endo NZ -South Island • Family Planning NZ -South Island • - Independent consultants delivering puberty talks- NZ wide • Public health nurses and midwives in Community District Health Board se�ngs • Enviroschools co-ordinators • Local council funded educators If you would like to learn more about the free downloadable resources and videos, please go to h�ps://sustainableperiodproject.org/

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Most people in top management want to have everything that relates to people be as simple as possible so that everyone in the organiza�on, significant stakeholders and customers can understand it.

Consider this lis�ng of organiza�onal elements made simple: �

Vision: One page or, be�er yet, one phrase

�

Values: Five, maximum

�

Mission: One to three phrases

�

Strategy: Three ini�a�ves

�

Culture: Seven to nine principles and goals (some argue for only three or four)

�

Policy manual: Five pages

�

Performance ra�ngs: Three categories: at standard, below or above.

Why keep these simple?

So that all can understand them.

Each of these elements should be memorable so people remember it when they are solving problems and making decisions.

S�cky, so they don’t have to find it and read it again.

Why do things need to be simpler as you move more toward the top of the organiza�on? Are top managers less smart? Are they underes�ma�ng the communica�on skills of the people below?

Aside from "simple" being taught in MBA programs as the right thing to do, a long career will lead to mul�ple experiences of accurate, �mely and complete communica�ons not ge�ng through. We probably give preference to promo�ng people capable of complex analy�cs, problem-solving and decision-making. We promote the best and the smartest, who then turn around and demand and endorse "simple" for others.

All of the seven "simples" above probably work – "if." If what?

Is each list complete? Does it cover enough to be helpful to most people most of the �me? Is it clear what the words and phrases mean?

What kind of, and how many, ques�ons are there a�er "simple" is communicated?

Is life simple? Simply, no.

Golf had 34 primary rules and hundreds of pages to interpret them un�l a recent reduc�on. There are roughly 250 exis�ng car models to choose from. There are over 800 life insurance companies. Most driver manuals are over 100 pages.

Almost everything in life lives in the context of complexity.

Compelling, so that it feels right and is mo�va�ng.

Essen�al, so that it covers everything needed.

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Bob Eichinger

There are a few considera�ons about how simple a complex thing can be and s�ll work.

First, there is a great difference between simple and simplis�c. Both look and sound about the same. One works and the other doesn’t. The test comes when, in a specific situa�on, most everyone knows what "it" is and what "it" suggests they are supposed to do. Does it work most of the �me? Does it offer sufficient direc�ons to know what to do?

Reducing a complex domain to "simple" is a very difficult task.

Enhance your personal health? One sugges�on might be to follow a five-point plan: 1. Quality sleep.

2, Exercise.

3. Eat a healthy diet.

4. Reduce stress.

5. Get an annual checkup.

Accurate? Yes. Do most now know what to do?

No. Why? Too simplis�c. Each descriptor would need at least five addi�onal points to be useful. What kind of diet? Nutri�on pyramid? What kind of exercise? What's the best way to reduce stress?

Consider being parsimonious -- meaning, to be as short and simple as needed to get the Index

inten�on of the message across. So, for personal health, using five major points with about five sub-points under each is about as simple as you can get on this topic. That’s the parsimonious solu�on.

Simple is probably not possible because the underlying domain is very complex. Using only the five main points doesn’t pass the "does everyone now know what to do?" test.

Talent management today The "simple" urge has come back into vogue in talent management. Top execu�ves are asking their talent professionals to use a simple list of management and leadership characteris�cs, usually about five to seven.

Why? So everyone can understand the model and know what to work on to get be�er, and to be able to recite the whole list when needed.

There are a few problems with simple management and leadership models. Above all, human behavior is complex.

Libraries full of research have documented that the list of focal behaviors changes twice during one's career. There is a common list for early-career individual contributors, one for supervisors, managers and team leads, and one for execu�ve leadership.

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So even if you wanted to go simple, there would have to be three lists of five to seven core competencies or characteris�cs. There could also be slight differences within func�ons and for interna�onal nuances.

Does having five to seven characteris�cs pass the test? Does the simple list lead to most of the people knowing what to do most of the �me? Generally not.

A common characteris�c on most simple lists is communica�ons skills. Let's say someone gets a low evalua�on and is asked to work on their communica�on skills. Do they now know what to do? No. Is the deficiency in wri�ng, presenta�ons, listening, nego�a�ng, deba�ng or leading mee�ngs? In order to meet the test, each of the five- to seven-word skills would need five to seven sub-skills to be specific enough to help most of the people most of the �me.

Our research over the past 40 years has generally concluded that any role or job beyond individual contributor requires somewhere between 13-17 dis�nguishable competencies or characteris�cs and cannot be communicated in five to seven words or phrases.

For example, helping the general counsel improve is likely to include a list of 13-17 focal behaviors or skills that need to be honed. The chief marke�ng officer may have the same number to work on, yet the list will be slightly different.

If there were a "simple" solu�on to management and leader effec�veness and success, we would all be using it. It doesn’t exist. Work gets complex because there are mul�ple combina�ons of backgrounds, skills and styles that can lead to success. There isn’t one path. There just isn’t a common list of five to seven things that work for everyone.

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A solu�on The parsimonious solu�on is made up of a behaviors, skills and competency library that’s complete and accurate (verified and validated). Any employee can go to the library and check out the three books they need to improve their performance and prepare for a promo�on.

No one needs to know about everything in the library. They don’t have to be able to recite all of the lists. They just need to know the library exists and how to access and use it. For any given person, there is a list of five as a handy guide and a list of 13 to 17 dis�nguishable competencies or prac�ces they need to concentrate on. And their list will be different than the list of the person si�ng next to them.

Think of two people si�ng in urgent care wondering which of 500 diseases they might have. All they need is to understand is the one malady for which they've received a diagnosis and what exactly they're to do about it.

In leadership, as in any complexity, there is no simple.

Bob Eichinger, Ph.D. is a cofounder of TalentTelligent.

He was the co-founder and CEO of Lominger Interna�onal. He brings more than five decades of experience working, wri�ng, developing talent management products, teaching, consul�ng, coaching and building communi�es of prac�ce. Eichinger has wri�en over 50 books, ar�cles, so�ware products and other IP around the topic of talent management and succession planning.

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Michelle LaBrosse, CCPM, PMP, RYT

Social Unrest o�en starts out as a peaceful protest but goes off the rails when “group think” of being wronged takes a turn to revenge and retribu�on.

In observing what has triggered the two largest violent social unrest events in the past year – I came up with a systems dynamics model about what is driving it and how to predict someone’s probability of par�cipa�ng in violent social unrest.

There are three factors that are predictors for someone’s propensity to par�cipate in violent social unrest: Strength of the percep�on of being “wronged” Level of a�achment to their percep�on.

Ability to become a fana�c to an ideology (called being radicalized) Decreasing any of these three factors decreases someone’s propensity to par�cipate in violent social unrest.

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Let’s dissect each of these three and look at what each of us can do to decrease the chances of violent social unrest.

Strength of the percep�on of being “wronged.” This can be by the individuals who feel (or think it’s a “fact”) they have been wronged or those who feel they need to be advocates for others who they feel have been wronged (called carrying another’s offense). Others not sharing this percep�on are labeled as “the enemy.”

From a model perspec�ve, it does not ma�er what is the issue ac�va�ng people’s percep�ons of feeling “wronged.” What ma�ers is the strength of the percep�on, as for many people their percep�on is reality. When other people feel a similar percep�on is their reality, it reinforces the belief that the percep�on of being “wronged” is “real.”

In systems dynamics – this is called a reinforcing feedback loop. In the business world we call this “group think.”

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Level of a�achment to a percep�on, belief or ideology – the stronger someone’s a�achment, the more predictable their response and the easier it is for them to be triggered. Extreme responses show a fana�c level a�achment to the percep�on they have been “wronged.”

Reac�on, Response Capability, Strategies and Behavior are propor�onate to a�achment level. For those with strong a�achments, they are quickly triggered and o�en have violent reac�ons. They can be easily controlled (and played). They are judgmental towards others who are not as a�ached.

Ease of crea�ng new fana�cs to an ideology (called being radicalized).

This one is driven by three factors: • how people share informa�on (consistent messaging repeated in many forums – called “programming”) •

•

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the same repeated extreme emo�onal response created from regular exposure to triggering informa�on (creates a chemical addic�on to the emo�onal response which actually causes brain damage and an inability to use the pre-frontal cortex for higher order thinking). People who have extreme reac�ons when triggered, are showing signs of brain damage from this repeated and reinforced programming. requiring people to meet increasing “purity” tests in their fana�cism drives a subconscious commitment to con�nue par�cipa�ng and increases the divide of “us vs. them” allowing for it be “okay” to dehumanize “them” and cause harm to another.

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How can we counter each of these in ourselves so we do not become part of the problem?

Choice Theory – recognize your percep�ons are in fact a choice. They create your reality.

We get to choose our percep�ons of situa�ons, events. Choice is a very empowering concept. Making a choice to have a different percep�on is where people find their voice and their power. Others who have a different percep�on than you about events are not wrong, or the enemy – they are choosing to have their own unique and valid experience of reality. This is not only their right, it’s the way they are evolving. It is not your right or responsibility to dictate how another person evolves. People pay a�en�on to what others do far more than what they say. If you’d prefer people act differently, consistently role model that behavior you’d like to see in others.

Dialing back a�achments. Recognize the more you are a�ached to a percep�on or idea, the easier it is for others to play you, push your bu�ons and control you.

Recognize radicaliza�on is occurring. If you are consuming informa�on that is the same messaging repeated over and over and over and it’s charging you up emo�onally to the point where you only have one way of responding to it STOP consuming that informa�on. Turn off the sources of the informa�on. If you meet others who challenge your sincerity and tell you whatever it is you are doing is not “enough” recognize this is a purity test. You are “enough” just the way you are. You do not need to meet anyone

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else’s defini�on of enough. If you harbor any type of desire to harm “them” in a form of retribu�on, you are on your way to being radicalized.

Taking care of our own house is the first order of business. But what about all the other craziness out there?

Engage with people who are suffering in kind and compassionate ways: Have a conversa�on about what is happening for them. Find out how they came to their percep�ons. Ask if they have thought about perceiving the situa�on differently. Give them �me to share the basis for their percep�on.

This gets their brain working in ways it needs to, to gain control of their percep�on. This is their percep�on – it is not an a�ack on you.

Stay calm – do not react to their painful percep�on. Deescalate by iden�fying their pain -” that sounds horrible, you’re in a lot of pain over this,” Is there another way you would prefer to feel?”

Share how you used to perceive that way but you wanted to experience a different reality so tried a different percep�on.

Ask what it is they are ge�ng by being a�ached to their point of view and if they are aware of the costs associated with that a�achment (being easily played and controlled).

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Find out ways they could feel like they are “enough” around you without having to pass someone else’s purity test. Be compassionate and let them know for you they are enough just because they exist in your life. Get them involved in other things besides the “news” – go outdoors, have a game night, do a zoom mee�ng, cook a meal together. Connect with them around things that are NOT the news.

Make your boundaries clear – no talking about XYZ issue – this gives their brain a rest of the constant addic�ve chemical drip. If they bring up the issue – let them know you need a break from it and to please take a rest from it as well. Everyone needs �me to unplug and recharge. Spending �me away from the news, and these events, enjoying their company is your �me to do that since you do in fact love and care about this person.

Each of us influences at least 150 people in our lives. If we each take it upon our selves to first, get our own house in order and then through our ac�ons, influence others to do the same, maybe we can bring sanity back to our world.

To keep this short, I’ve le� all the research sources out of this – please comment on my public � page to share your ideas – h�ps:// www.facebook.com/MichelleChiefCheetah/ Good Teacher Magazine Issue 1 2021

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Despite progress, higher rates of s�gma and discrimina�on, as well as mental health challenges, have been reported by New Zealand LGBTQ+ students, new analysis shows.

Youth19, the latest in a series of surveys focused on young people in Aotearoa, asked 7,721 secondary school-aged students about their experiences of school, home and community.

Co-inves�gator Dr John Fenaughty from the University of Auckland says that around half of the rainbow students in the study are coping well, and a sizeable number report posi�ve environments and experiences.

However some, especially transgender and diverse gender students, are facing s�gma and stress.

“The increased amounts of mistreatment and stress par�cularly for some transgender and diverse gender young people, are known

drivers that underpin the increased rates mental health challenges we are seeing,” says Dr Fenaughty.

Three quarters (73%) of transgender and diverse gender par�cipants, who account for about one percent of the students’ surveyed, said they had started to iden�fy as transgender or gender-diverse before the age of 14.

On all measures, apart from volunteering, a greater propor�on of these students reported discrimina�on and a lack of support than their cisgender peers, including at home, at school and in community and healthcare se�ngs.

More than half (55%) reported they hadn’t been able to access healthcare when they needed it in the past year, with 57% repor�ng significant depressive symptoms and an equal propor�on repor�ng they had self-harmed in the past year.

While schools are becoming more welcoming, with seven out of ten saying they felt part of their school, nearly a quarter (23%) said they had been bullied at school, weekly or more o�en, in the past year. Only three out of ten

Dr John Fenaughty, from the University's Faculty of Educa�on and Social Work, is a co-inves�gator on Youth19.

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(32%) said they “always felt safe” in their neighbourhoods.

Lower propor�ons of transgender and diverse gender youth also reported that a parent “cared about them a lot”. Dr Fenaughty says this might be related to families not understanding, or accep�ng, the young person’s gender.

“This perceived lack of care, combined with a lack of belonging at school for some of these students, means they may be par�cularly vulnerable to harm.”

However despite facing significant challenges, these students’ generosity in giving back to others, through volunteering and suppor�ng their communi�es, matches that of cisgender students, he says.

On all measures, apart from volunteering, a greater propor�on of transgender and diverse gender students reported discrimina�on and a lack of support than their cisgender peers, including at home, at school and in community and healthcare se�ngs.

“Such willingness to support others is an important strength to celebrate and nurture, and we need to ensure that rainbow young people are supported to take on these volunteering roles safely, given they are likely to be facing a range of addi�onal stressors.”

Sixteen percent of Youth19 par�cipants reported they were same-or mul�ple-sex a�racted, not sure, or not a�racted to any sex.

The majority of this group reported posi�ve home and family environments, and were no more likely to report weekly bullying compared to different-sex a�racted young people.

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However, a greater propor�on of same-and mul�ple-sex a�racted students reported social and school isola�on and unsafe environments than their different-sex a�racted peers.

Just over half reported significant depressive symptoms (53%), and a similar propor�on said they had self-harmed in the past year (50%).

Almost one in three (31%) said they were unable to access healthcare when they needed it in the past year.

Dr Fenaughty says adequate health care access is an urgent issue for many rainbow students, especially given the mental health challenges the survey has iden�fied.

And the early age at which many of these students recognised their transgender and gender diverse iden��es means there is also a growing opportunity for primary and intermediate schools to turn these sta�s�cs around.

“Schools, at all levels, need to have a plan for how they will create rainbow-inclusive environments and a�tudes among students and staff," he says.

About Youth19 Youth19 is the latest in the Aotearoa New Zealand Youth2000 series of health and wellbeing surveys which began in 2001 and has involved more than 36,000 students. The most recent survey involved 7,721 adolescents from 49 Auckland, Northland and Waikato schools and kura kaupapa Māori.It is being led

by Dr Terryann Clark from the University of Auckland and Dr Terry Fleming from Victoria University of Wellington, alongside a number of collaborators.

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A genera�on of talented but disadvantaged children are being denied access to higher educa�on because academic success in lower- and middleincome countries is con�nually ‘protected by wealth’, a study has found.

These inequali�es in higher educa�on access have nothing to do with ability: this is about systems which are consistently failing poorer children The research, which used data from around 3,500 young people in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam, shows that promising but poorer students ‘fall away’ during their school years, as challenges associated with their socioeconomic circumstances gradually erode their poten�al. Among children who showed similar levels of ability aged 8, for example, the wealthiest were o�en over 30 percentage points more likely than the least-wealthy to enter all forms of ter�ary educa�on: including

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university, technical colleges, and teacher training.

Even when they focused only on students who complete secondary school with comparable levels of learning, the researchers found that those from wealthier backgrounds were s�ll more likely to progress to higher educa�on.

They describe their findings, reported in the Bri�sh Educa�on Research Journal, as indica�ve of the ‘protec�ve effect’ of wealth in rela�on to academic advantage.

The study was undertaken by the Research in Equitable Access and Learning (REAL) Centre at the Faculty of Educa�on. Dr Sonia Ilie, its lead author, said: “In many lowerincome countries, low socio-economic status is a con�nual barrier to young people’s a�ainment. What is clear is that these inequali�es in higher educa�on access have nothing to do with ability: this is about systems which are consistently failing poorer children.”

The data used in the research was from Young Lives, an interna�onal childhood poverty study

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Sonia Ilie which is tracking two cohorts of young people from Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam. The Cambridge researchers focused on the group born in 1994/5. Young Lives includes informa�on about educa�on and a�ainment at ages 8, 12, 15, 19 and 22, and importantly therefore includes the many young people in lower-income countries who may enter higher educa�on a�er age 19.

The researchers started by comparing basic entry rates into higher educa�on among the poorest 25% and wealthiest 25% of par�cipants. The percentage point gap between these quar�les was 45 in both India and Peru, 41 in Vietnam, and 17 in Ethiopia.

They then analysed higher educa�on progression rates among increasingly comparable groups of students. First, they focused on those with similar demographic characteris�cs (such as gender, ethnicity, and whether they lived in urban or rural se�ngs).

They then progressively added more informa�on about their educa�on to examine students who were both in school, and achieving certain a�ainment levels, aged 8, 12 and 15.

The gap between the poorest and richest students’ likelihood of enrolling in higher educa�on narrowed steadily as each level of informa�on was factored in. Given the disparity in the ‘raw’ wealth gap, this indicates that children from poor backgrounds o�en fail to progress because they drop out, or underachieve, throughout primary and secondary school. It also suggests that factors such as a person’s gender interact with their socioeconomic status to influence their likelihood of progressing to higher educa�on.

Crucially, however, a gap s�ll existed between rich and poor even among students who Index

finished secondary school with comparable levels of learning. The size of the remaining gap reflected the complexi�es of each country’s higher educa�on systems, but showed that at the same level of schooling and learning, wealth played this protec�ve effect.

The study also analysed the progress of ‘highpromise’ children. The researchers iden�fied all children who had achieved a certain level of literacy at age 8, and then used numeracy and maths scores to compare the educa�onal trajectories of the richest and poorest among this group.

Overall, the a�ainment gap between highpromise children from the top and bo�om wealth quar�les widened during school, even though their test scores were similar at age 8.

Ul�mately, many more high-promise children from the richest quar�le entered higher educa�on compared with the poorest: the percentage point gap between the two groups was 39 in Peru, 32 in India and Vietnam, and 15 in Ethiopia.

“Even among children who do well to begin with, poverty clearly becomes an obstacle to progression,” Ilie said. “The reverse also applies: if they are wealthy, even children with ini�ally lower levels of learning catch up with their poorest peers. This is what we mean by the protec�ve effect of wealth.”

The study says that the first priority in addressing the higher educa�on wealth gap should be targeted investment in primary educa�on for the very poorest. This is already Good Teacher Magazine Issue 1 2021

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an emerging policy focus in many lowerincome countries, where disadvantaged children, even if they go to school, o�en have poor learning outcomes. The reasons for this, documented in several other studies, include limited educa�onal resources and support at home, and prac�cal difficul�es with school a�endance.

The findings also indicate, however, that targeted support should con�nue during secondary educa�on, where wealth-related barriers persist. In addi�on, the residual wealth gap even among those who finish secondary school highlights a need for ini�a�ves that will reduce the cost of higher educa�on for disadvantaged students. The

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study suggests that means-tested grants may be one viable solu�on, but further evidence is required. It also warns that at present, taxa�on-based funding for higher educa�on will essen�ally ‘subsidise a socio-economic elite’, while tui�on fees will further prohibit access for the poorest.

Professor Pauline Rose, Director of the REAL Centre, said: “If we want to equalise opportuni�es at the point of entry into higher educa�on, we have to intervene early, when the wealth gaps emerge. This study shows that targeted and sustained interven�ons and funding are needed for the poorest students not only in their earliest years, but throughout their educa�onal careers.”

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Ground-breaking research project follows 12,000 from infancy to adulthood across four countries and three con�nents.

Findings reveal huge chang

When Young Lives started in 2001, it was supposed to be a 15-year project, tracking the lives of children from age one to 15 in four developing countries, in line with the UN’s Millennium Development Goals.

es in poverty, educa�on and expecta�ons.

The study has led to changes in law, and policy. It is a massive open access data source for interna�onal researchers

This is 7-Up writ very large, the project encompasses 12,000 young people and, for 20 years, has tracked the lives of children in four developing countries The sample was selected to over-represent the poorest areas, but covers the diversity of study countries: Ethiopia, India (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states), Peru and Vietnam. It was intended to be a rich seam of informa�on, with children and their families personally interviewed, to inves�gate how the experience of poverty and inequality early in life affects what happens later in life, and what difference it makes being born a girl or a boy.

Young Lives talked to the children, who are, a�er all, experts in their own lives. ©Young Lives/Phan Viet Anh.

There is a ‘second chance’ in teenage years...early ac�on in adolescence, ‘can reverse the effect’ of earlier malnutri�on on poor learning.

©Young Lives/ Sarika Gula�.

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But no one expected, 20 years on, that Young Lives would have turned into one of the longest-running surveys ever undertaken in developing countries. This is 7-Up writ large, the project encompasses 12,000 young people - in two age groups (born in 1994 and 2001) allowing compara�ve analysis of children’s experiences of poverty and of similari�es and differences between the four study countries. Unusually, for such a project, most of the original par�cipants are s�ll with the researchers, although they are all now young adults. The remarkably high reten�on rate, has meant husbands, wives and children have joined the project, as the researchers build a picture of their lives.

Young Lives has now completed five rounds of an in-person household survey, and one by phone in 2020, interspersed with four waves of further in-depth, qualita�ve interviews.

According to deputy director Young Lives at work, Dr Marta Favara, ‘We have carried out a face-to-face survey every three to four years.

Interviewers return to the same families to capture changes in their lives and communi�es.’

In each round, every child is visited at home. It takes around 2 ½ hours and can involve more than one visit by local researchers, some of whom have been with the project from the beginning. Senior research officer, Dr Gina Crivello, explains that the research is carried out by in-country partners, ‘We have a very strong rela�onship with our research partners... they maintain the rela�onships

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with the families which is so important for long-term research.’

She adds, ‘It’s very much a collabora�ve project.’

The interview ques�ons are cra�ed to draw out the young lives, including physical growth, cogni�ve development, health, social and emo�onal well-being, educa�on, life skills, work, marriage and children and how they feel about their lives and futures.

The more in-depth interviews involve a 200strong sub-set of the group. Dr Crivello explains these are less-structured conversa�ons, to find out from the young people what ma�ers most to them. She says, ‘We dig deeper to find out what lies behind the sta�s�cs emerging from the household survey – if children are dropping out of school, we can use these interviews to find out what is going on.’

One important aspect of the research, according to Dr Favara is, ‘From the beginning, Young Lives talked to the children, who are, a�er all, experts in their own lives. Most studies about poverty only speak to adults.

But children and parents don’t always have the same experiences or think alike.'

And the study has provided a wealth of informa�on about how children’s lives have changed over the last two decades. First and foremost, evidence has found significant improvement in the living standards of many Young Lives families, alongside rapid economic growth and significant poverty reduc�on.

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In Ethiopia, extreme poverty declined from 61% in 1996 to 24% in 2016. And many Young Lives families reported improved access to basic services, electricity, water and sanita�on.

In Peru, the propor�on of Young Lives families with access to electricity increased from 60% in 2002 to 96% in 2016.

Educa�on a�endance did not always result in the hoped for life changes. Across the four countries, 40% of the sample had not established basic literacy by the age of eight, despite a�ending school, with many only able to access poor quality educa�on.

Early marriage and childbearing have a nega�ve impact on life chances. Early marriage and childbearing affect young mothers’ educa�on and employment chances, as well as the health and cogni�ve development of their children.

The study has witnessed important improvements in educa�on. ©Young Lives/Lucero Del Cas�llo Ames.

Seven main conclusions from the study so far, according to the two researchers are: Early childhood is absolutely cri�cal. The first 1,000 days of a child’s life shape what comes next. A malnourished child is more likely to have weaker cogni�ve abili�es by age five. A child arriving at school already disadvantaged will fall further behind as they grow up.Poverty is all encompassing. The study confirms childhood poverty is mul�dimensional and reaches into every part of a child’s life, limi�ng their poten�al in many ways.

There is a ‘second chance’ in teenage years.

The study has challenged the assump�on that persistent malnutri�on irreversibly affects cogni�ve development. Evidence showed children, who physically recover as they age, also perform be�er in cogni�ve tests. And early ac�on in adolescence, ‘can reverse the effect’ of earlier malnutri�on on poor learning.

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Violence towards children has a profound impact on their lives. This finding saw a change in the law in Peru’s schools to protect children from violence.

Not all work is detrimental to children. No child should undertake harmful work or work that prevents them from a�ending school.

Some families depend on children’s contribu�ons and, when safe, their work can bring important rewards for themselves and their families.

Not all work is detrimental to children. ©Young Lives/Antonio Fiorente

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The study has made it possible to see in sharp focus the impact of inequality and contributed solid evidence to UNICEF’s consulta�ons on the Sustainable Development Goals. Na�onal policymakers have used the study’s evidence to design programmes to improve young lives. In Ethiopia, work on early childhood contributed to the development of pre-school provision and, in India, evidence on the impact of early marriage on girls’ life chances was used to make sex with a wife who is a child an offence of rape.

The ground-breaking nature of the survey, with the data open access, gives interna�onal researchers the chance to study the lives of thousands of young people in developing countries.

Over 20 years, the study has witnessed important improvements in educa�on, with more access to primary educa�on, secondary educa�on and closing of the educa�on gender gap. But progress remained slower for children born in the poorest households.

The drama�c and on-going shock of the COVID-19 pandemic has raised major concerns about whether improvements will be sustained over �me. The 2020 phone survey found lockdowns and related restric�ons could not only halt progress made over the last two decades, but could also reverse life chances and entrench persis�ng inequali�es.

Young Lives will find out what happens next. Dr Favara says another phone survey is planned for 2021, to research the mid-term effect of the pandemic, as well as two further survey rounds and is fundraising for more in-depth interviews.

Follow the Young Lives story on Twi�er @yloxford, Facebook and LinkedIn. All the images are of children living in circumstances and communi�es similar to the children in our study sample

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Grace Ebert

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Letting our kids flounder and fail is a hard but necessary part of parenting. As a teacher, I’ve encountered my fair share of “fixers:” parents who want to save their child from the fight.

Of course I’m not talking about a fight that leads to unsafe situations or harm; I’m talking about the kind of internal battle that builds fortitude and confidence.

As a mother of three, I appreciate the innate desire to fix. But what I’ve learned through parenting my own and certainly in the classroom is that natural consequences are often the best teachers.

Simply put: there comes a time when fixing and controlling everything for our kids harms more than helps. And can we just admit our “fixes” are usually nothing more than knee-jerk reactions?! We don’t like the loss of control and it hurts to see our kid upset, so we fly off the handle. No thinking, just acting, and unfortunately modeling the epitome of how we don’t want our kids to behave. Boooo.

As if keeping our own big feelings in check while watching our kids roll with the punches isn’t hard enough, then we get to the Reaping What They Sow chapter of parenting. The temptation to fix is never greater than when your child comes face-to-face with the 84

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bitter consequences of their own mistake. GAH! It’s so, so hard. What’s more is that they’ll make many of these bad decisions when out from under our watchful eye (at a friend’s house, on social media, in school) and with other people, which will then tempt us to place blame anywhere but on our parenting or our child. And they will make many, many bad decisions because they’re kids. Look at all the dumb things parents do, and we’re the adults! But it’s in how we handle all those questionable choices that makes the difference.

Quiz time! When your kid does or says something morally suspect, you should: A. Find an adult you deem just as culpable as your child and give them a good tongue lashing. Bonus points if you start with HOW DARE YOU… B. Move. Higher property taxes equal better quality people, people who won’t negatively influence your perfect offspring.

It’s science.

C. Take a deep breath and fight the urge to fix. Admit you don’t know all the details and in an effort to learn more, have a civilized conversation with your child, then with whoever else was involved.

No one’s perfect, but if you consistently resemble A or B, Index

you should probably get used to profusely apologizing and/or dedicating your life’s work to salvaging relationships. I’ve had students’ parents come at my neck over things they perceived to be unfair or confusing. After we chat, though, they calm down (sometimes even apologize!), and acknowledge their own or their child’s role in the big picture. Had these parents chosen C, we could’ve avoided the nonsense and arrived at a solution much sooner.

That’s kind of the point of my latest piece for Bored Teachers: Parents, Before We Blame Teachers, Let’s Look at Ourselves. There are always other, better options than flying off the handle and subsequently backtracking. The article is about properly addressing school-related issues with your kids’ teachers, but also serves as a nice reminder to be a decent to one another.

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“Life is an echo. What you send out, comes back…”

Hey there, I’m Steph! English teacher by trade, smack-talker by nature, and mother of three living by the mantra: Life is too short, laugh! I hope you’ll s�ck around and check out my stuff.

By stuff I mean my wri�ng.

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Lost in the Etherworld I could rave and rant about Covid, the lack of decent bread, or the madness of 'Hate Studies' in left-wing universities. I toyed with the possibility of bemoaning the capitulation of the publishers of those awfully-nasty racist books

by Dr Seuss, but then thought that they could be trying to instigate a Streisand effect and revive flagging sales, so instead I have chosen a much more personal topic on which to vent my spleen.

By the way, has anyone experienced a phenomenon called 'scintilating scotoma'? I believe it is also named 'fortification spectrum'. I had one at this part of the rant, and it was a challenge to type as only a portion of the text was visible, unless I turned my head like a rabid tennis spectator. This condition starts off like the Big Bang singularity, blocking a miniscule part of one's vision, and slowly expands into a curved wall of flashing geometric shapes, a bit like a kaleidoscope.

It eventually gets to a size where it disappears over the retinal horizon. These auras can precede a migraine but, touch wood, mine usually do not.

However, I digress.

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I live in the backblocks, the proverbial Wop Wops, about two kilometres from the Black Stump. It takes several minutes to drive to the first signs of civilization, namely a 'give way' sign and a pair of shoes hanging from a power line.

I like to listen to the car's radio while I avoid deceased possums and try to keep left. Some days I challenge myself - I turn on the Concert Programme and attempt to identify the composer of the piece being played. My hit rate is about 50%, which is pretty satisfying and sometimes I even know its name. I can usually recognise Dvorak string arrangements and Mozartian complexity. It's quite a buzz listening to the end and hearing that my guess has been correct.

There is a stretch of road, about three hundred metres long, which meanders between Rangiora-covered limestone cliffs. One has to drive quite slowly, as local farmers often send sheep along it, sitting on their ATVs while their Border Collies and Huntaways earn their Tux biscuits. This stretch is a dead-spot for radio reception. I could be cruising along, grooving to 'The Rite of Index

Spring' and next minute there is a cacophony of static which completely obliterates any transmission. I must admit that 'The Rite of Spring' is not a good example, as the static could perhaps be interpreted as a suitable modern modification to that strident piece.

Now there seems to be a malign influence afoot here. It seems to be that this stretch of road coincides with the most crucial part of a broadcast. Many times has the concerto or aria come to an end, and its title and composer's name mentioned before I emerge from the blackout. Not just music suffers this environmentally-induced censorship. I could be listening to a cricket match. It's the final ball and NZ needs four runs to win. The batsman takes his mark, the bowler starts his run and then the commentator starts to sound like someone speaking Polish while gargling with sandpaper, then just white noise and, as I enter the area with reception again, I hear the rapturous spectators and the commentator extolling the play of the century.

Important news, interesting interviews, recipes for stinging nettle wine-all have had crucial Index

sections wiped out. It happens too often to be coincidental.

Why don't I just stop before the Canyon of Deadness you may ask and wait for the important message? Well, country roads are pretty narrow and I don't fancy risking life and limb anyway, I usually forget until it's too late.

I fantasise that one day, the Supreme Deity will try to contact me as I am driving: 'Roger, I have, in my infinite wisdom, decided to let you-and only you-know the meaning of life. Look on this as a once-only chance to redeem the world.

Listen carefully, the meaning of life qxskixwo%&^%^&%@&%&@& %&%*)(*()**)(%^%&^%^#%# %$#$%^&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&***&776... and don't forget to collect the billion dollars I mentioned so you can broadcast this message to all humanity.'

Life is not fair. I have not won Lotto, never seen a UFO and there are too many odd socks in my drawer. Mischievous radio gods are the last straw.

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The ‘Life Under Coronavirus’ survey was designed by researchers from Queen’s University Belfast with children, for children aged between 8 17 years and available in 27 different languages, alongside an easy-read version. More than 26,000 children from 137 countries across five UN regions par�cipated in the global survey.

The survey was designed in the spirit of the United Na�ons Conven�on on Rights of Child (UNCRC).

Researchers from the Centre for Children's Rights at Queen's, employing their unique children's rights-based methodology, designed the survey and analysed and reported the results, working at every stage with children and young people and other partners to make sure that the survey and findings were produced with children for children.

The key findings include: • 61 per cent said they were ge�ng a be�er educa�on before Coronavirus; • 56 per cent said they got to talk to their friends less than they would like since Coronavirus; • 43 per cent said they felt ‘bored’, 40 per cent said they felt ‘happy’, and 39 per cent said they felt ‘worried’ when asked about their three most common feelings during the coronavirus pandemic; • 62 per cent would go to their family members for ‘informa�on that they could trust’ on Coronavirus; • 41 per cent said that their family had less money to meet their needs since Coronavirus; • 21 per cent said that access to medical help was be�er before Coronavirus; • 9 per cent felt less safe in their homes/where they lived since the start of Coronavirus, 36 per cent felt safer since Coronavirus, and 56 per cent reported feeling as safe as they had done prior to the pandemic; • 16 per cent think the media has portrayed children more nega�vely than before Coronavirus.

• 38 per cent don’t think their government is listening to children when making decisions about Covid-19.

Speaking about the survey results Dr Bronagh Byrne from the Centre for Children’s Rights at Queen’s University Belfast said: “Findings show that many children were unaffected during 102 Good Teacher Magazine Issue 1 2021

coronavirus and, for some children, things were be�er. However, other children reported nega�ve impacts since the beginning of the pandemic.

Some groups of children were more likely to report nega�ve experiences including children from migrant communi�es, those living in a deten�on centre, refugee camp or homeless centre and children with disabili�es.”

The Coronavirus pandemic has caused severe social and emo�onal disrup�on in the lives of children by depriving them of on-site educa�on. It has also made them feel highly unsafe and stressed within their homes. The results of the survey have been inclusive of the various prospects on what children have experienced during the pandemic.

The survey was developed in collabora�on with interna�onal partners and involved a diverse group of children from 28 countries at all stages including drawing conclusions and developing key messages.

Publicising the findings allow children and young people to directly share with decision makers and leaders around the world how the pandemic and related measures taken by governments affect their daily reali�es.

"I'm ge�ng the opportunity to raise my voice at a �me where it has never been needed more, let's all do this together and raise our voice a li�le louder," said Kenizeh-Julie�e, 14, from Pakistan.

In a world centred around decisions made by adults, children and their role in decision making, especially during the �me of a crisis, must be included. This global survey has also served as a channel for children to communicate the right to par�cipate in decisions affec�ng their lives to adults.

The survey has served as a channel for children around the world, to portray their thoughts and feelings about the pandemic to the world alongside their message to decision makers and leaders. In its representa�veness, this ini�a�ve serves as a medium of a global solidarity among children amidst a crisis while also reflec�ng upon the diverse unity of the children around the world.

More informa�on on the #CovidUnder19 ini�a�ve and the survey results, please visit: h�ps://www.tdh.ch/covidunder19 Index

The state of school education One year into the COVID pandemic

Preliminary results- March 2021

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Acknowledgements Sincerethanksare due,particularly inthecontextof the COVID-19 pandemic, tothemanycontributorswho contributed toand helped shapethepreparation of TheState of SchoolEducation– One yearinto thepandemic.

Thedata underlying thisreport werecollected and processed by theOECDbased ontheSurveyonJointNational ResponsestoCOVID-19 School Closures,a collaborative effort conductedby theUnitedNations Educational,Scientific andCulturalOrganization (UNESCO),theUNESCO Institutefor Statistics(UIS),theUnited Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF),theWorld Bank(WB) and theOECD. Designed for governmentofficials responsiblefor education, thesurvey collected informationon national or regional education responsesto school closuresrelated to theCOVID-19 pandemic. Thedata werecollected between Januaryand February2021 Our sincerestthanksgoes to membersof theOECD INES Working Partyanditstwo networks-theINESNetwork for thecollection andtheadjudication of system-leveldescriptive informationoneducational structures,policies andpractices (NESLI)and theNetwork for LabourMarket, Economicand Social OutcomesofLearning(LSO)-thathaveprovided guidance intothedesignof thequestionsof thedata collection, coordinated thenational responsesto thesurvey,and provided commentsthroughthedata collection phase.

Thisbooklet wasprepared undertheresponsibilityof Andreas Schleicher,Special Advisoron EducationPolicytotheOECD Secretary-General, andDirector for EducationandSkills.

Coordinated by ÉricCharbonnier, thisworkistheproduct of a collaborative effort acrossmultipleteamsintheDirectorate for Education and Skills: Francesco Avvisati, LukaBoeskens, AntonioCarvalho,Manon Costinot,Marie-Hélène Doumet, Diana Toledo Figueroa,PierreGouëdard, Corinne Heckmann, RichardLi,Andreea Minea-Pic, Deborah Nusche,Beatriz Pont, Daniel SanchezSerra, and RomaneViennet.Cassandra Davis, Sophie Limogesand RachelLindenprovided valuable support intheeditorial andproduction process.

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic

Editorial Fewgroupsare lessvulnerable to theCoronavirus thanschool children, butfew groupshavebeen more affected by thepolicy responsesto contain thisvirus: Lastyear, 1.5 billion studentsin188 countrieswere locked outof theirschools.Someof themwereable tofind theirway aroundclosedschooldoors, through alternativelearningopportunities,well supportedby their parentsand teachers.However, manyremained shutoutwhentheir school shutdown, particularly thosefromthemostmarginalised groups,who did not haveaccessto digital learning resourcesor lacked thesupportor motivationto learn ontheir own. The learning lossesthatfollow fromschoolclosurescould throwlong shadowsovertheeconomicwell-being of individuals and nations.

Thecrisishasexposed themanyinadequacies and inequities inour school systems-fromthebroadband and computersneeded for online education, through thesupportive environmentsneeded to focuson learning,up to thefailureto enablelocal initiativeand align resourceswith needs.Butastheseinequities are amplified inthistimeof crisis,thismomentalso holds thepossibility thatwe will notreturntothestatusquo whenthingsreturnto“normal”. It isthenatureof our collective and systemicresponsesto thedisruptions that will determinehowwe areaffected bythem.

Inan unprecedented crisislikethispandemic, it is difficult to derive lessonsfromthepast.However,it can be instructivetolook outwardstohow othereducation systemsareresponding to similar challenges. To supportthis,theOECDhascollected comparative education statisticsto track developmentsthroughout thepandemic,looking at aspectsthatrangefromlost learning opportunities and contingencystrategiesto makeupfor these;throughtheorganisation of learning and theworking conditions of teachers;uptoissues aroundgovernanceandfinance.

Thefirstof thesedata collections wasconducted in March 2020 jointly with Harvard University,right

after thepandemic had hittheOECD area. Thislatest Special Survey,whichreflects thesituationasof 1 February2021, wasa collaborative effort between theOECD,UNESCO,UNICEFand theWorld Bank,whichjointly designed thesurveywhichwas thenadministered by theOECD for itsmembersand partnersandby UNESCOfor othercountries.The data wereprovided by governmentauthorities.

Theresultsfromthe Special Surveyshow that some countrieswereable to keepschoolsopenand safeevenindifficult pandemicsituations.Social distancingand hygienepracticesproved tobe the mostwidely usedmeasuresto preventthe spread of theCoronavirus,buttheyimposedsignificant capacity constraintsonschoolsand required education systemstomakedifficult choices whenit comes to the allocation of educational opportunity. The vaccination of teachershasalsobeenpart of national strategies,with 19 outof the30 education systems with comparable data implementingnational measures prioritising teachers’vaccination. However, thelimited initial supplyofvaccines,andcompetingpublic health objectivesmaketheprioritisation of vaccination a difficult balancing act.

Itisnoteworthythatinfection ratesinthepopulation appear unrelatedto thenumberof daysinwhich schoolswereclosed. Inother words,countrieswith similarinfectionratesmadedifferent policy choices whenit comesto school closures,whethermotivated by educational objectives, by thehealthinfrastructure or by other public policy objectives.

What isconcerning,however, isthatthecountries withthelowesteducational performancetendedto fullyclosetheirschoolsforlonger periods in 2020.

Infact,theperformanceof15-year-olds incountries on theOECD Programmefor International Student Assessment(PISA)2018 reading testexplains 54% of thevariation inthenumberof dayswhereschools were fully closed in 2020 in upper-secondary schools. © OECD2021

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Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic Inother words, education systemswithalready poorer learning outcomesin2018 sawmoreinpersonlearningopportunity lostin2020. Thisisnot simplyanartefact of higherperformingeducation systemsoperating inmorefavourable economic conditions.Evenafter accounting for GDPper capita, therelationship still explains31%of thevariation.

Thismeansthecrisisdid notjustamplify educational inequalities within countries,butit islikely to also amplify theperformancegap amongcountries.

Where schoolclosureswereneeded, theSpecial Surveyshowsthat manycountriesmademajor efforts to mitigate theirimpact for learners,familiesand educators,oftenwithparticular attentionto thosein themostmarginalisedgroups.Where schoolcapacity waslimited becauseof social distancing, most countriesprioritised youngchildren and studentsfrom disadvantaged backgroundsforlearning inpresence, reflecting thatthesocial contextof learning ismost importantforthesegroups,while digital alternatives are leasteffective for them.86%of countrieswith comparable data provided remedialmeasuresto reducelearning gapsat theprimarylevel, 75%did soatthelower secondary and 73%at theuppersecondarylevelof education.More than60%of the countriesintroduced specific measuresfocusedon disadvantaged studentswhile about 40%targeted measuresat immigrant,refugee, ethnic minority or indigenousgroups.

Significant effortsweremadeto ensurereliability and predictability of servicesfor studentsandparents, and to ensurethatall studentshavea regular and dedicated contact, evenwhenschoolswereclosed.

Many countriesputinplace newchannelsto facilitate communicationbetween students,families, teachersandschool or local authorities.Countries havealsorelied ona rangeof approaches to ensure inclusivenessin distance education. Thisincluded flexible and self-paced digital platformsaswell as agreementswith mobile communicationsoperators and internetfirmsto enhanceaccess,particularly at the primarylevelof education.

Localcapacity waskeyfor a safeopeningof schools.

Successoften depended oncombining transparent and well-communicatedcriteria for serviceoperability, with flexibility to implementthemat thefrontline. The latter oftenincluded local decisionsastowhento implementmeasuresofsocial distancing, health, quarantine or theclosuresof classesor schools.

With reduced instructiontime,itwasessentialto prioritise curriculumcontentinorder toavoid that teachersand studentswere overburdened. Sometimes core subjectslike reading or mathematicsweregiven

4

© OECD2021

greater emphasis.When it comesto learning at school, priority wasoftengiventothelearning of newcontent overtherehearsalof material,to thepreparation andreviewof materiallearned atdistance,andto themotivationanddevelopmentofeffective learning strategiesandsocial learning.

Duringschool closures,digital resourcesbecame thelifeline for education and thepandemicpushed teachersand studentstoquickly adapt to teach andlearn online.Virtuallyall countrieshaverapidly enhanceddigital learning opportunities for both studentsand teachersand encouraged newformsof teacher collaboration. TheresponsesfromtheSpecial Surveyshowconsistentpatterns acrosscountries: Online platformswereextensivelyusedat all levelsof education,butparticularly soatthesecondarylevel.

Mobile phonesweremorecommonat thesecondary leveland radio attheupper-secondarylevel. Takehomepackages, televisionand otherdistance-learning solutionswere morecommonat theprimary level.

Theopportunitiesthatdigital technologiesoffer go well beyonda stop-gap solutionduringthepandemic.

Digital technologyallows tofind entirelynewanswers to what people learn, how people learn, where people learnand whentheylearn.It canelevatethe role of teachersfromimpartingknowledge towards working asco-creatorsof knowledge, ascoaches, asmentorsandasevaluators.Already today, digital learning systemscannot justteach students,but simultaneouslyobserve how studentsstudy, thekind of tasksand thinking that interestthem,and thekind of problemstheyfind boring or difficult. Thesesystems canthenadapt learning tosuitpersonallearning styles withfar greatergranularity andprecisionthanany traditional classroomsettingpossiblycan.Similarly, virtual laboratories give studentsanopportunity to design,conduct and learn fromexperiments, rather thanjustlearning about them.TheOECD has documentedmanydigital contingency strategiesonits COVID-19Hub(h�p://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/ en/ ).

However, thecrisishascaught manyeducation systemscold, and theSpecial Surveydocuments majorlimitationsinaccess,quality, equity and useof digital resourcesfor learning andteaching. Taking stockof lessonslearned during thepandemicwill be keyfor countriesto strengthentheresilience of their education systems.Moving beyond thepandemic, it will be importanttocontinuemonitoringhowdistancelearning solutionsare addressingtheneedsof different studentsandexpand theiropportunities for quality learning. TheSpecial Surveyshowshow a numberof education systemshavealready embarked on such studies, using household surveys,student assessments

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic and teacher assessments.Still,thereisa lot morethat needsto be done. Thecrisishasshownthatcountries cancollaborate betterto mutualiseopenonline educational resourcesanddigital learning platforms, andto encouragetechnology companiestojoin this effort.

Moreover, countries need to usethemomentumto reconfigure learning environmentstoeducate learners for theirfuture,notourpast.It isimportantto build ontheongoing effortsto establisha future-oriented infrastructurefor online and remotelearning, and to continuetodevelop thecapacity of studentsand teacherstolearn and toteach inthatway. Effective learning outofschoolduring thepandemicplaced muchgreater demandsonautonomy,capacity for independentlearning, executivefunctioningand selfmonitoring. Theplansto returnto school need to focus onmoreintentional efforts to cultivate thoseessential skillsamong all students.Thisisessential first because itislikelythat,untilavaccineiswidely available, any returntoschool will be interruptedagain asaresult of futureoutbreaks,at leastlocally. Butbeyond the pandemic, thereare benefits to studentsinexpanding theirlearning timeandlearning opportunitiesbeyond thewallsof theschoolbybeing able tolearn usinga varietyof modalitiesofdistancelearning.

Thepandemic hasalso complicated theadministration of national examinationsand assessments.Toa varying extent,education systemschangedthecalendar, content and mode of examinations and assessments.

Thevariation intheextentto which countriesdeviated fromtheir assessmentandexamination plans relates both tothepandemic contextandto howimportant thesetestswere in their respective education systems.

Countriesthatcould draw onmultiple modesof assessmentinpre-pandemic timesfound it easier to substituteexaminationswith other waysto recognise studentlearning.

Not least,thetransitionto remoteinstructionand the subsequentre-opening of schoolshada profound impact on teachers’ work. Thecrisisrequired many of themto acquire newskillsand prepare materials suitedto virtual learning environments.Insomecases, it alsoadded newresponsibilitiestotheirwork, such astheco-ordination of supportand resourcesfor their students,increased interaction with parents,the organisation of remedial classesor theimplementation of newadministrative,healthand safetyprocedures inschools.Insomecontexts,teachers’ absences furtherlimitedcapacity andplaced constraintson schools’ ability to reduce classsizesor implement different hybrid learning models.TheSpecial Survey showshow thesenewdemandson teachers and their

colleagues havemovedsomecountriesto change theirstaffing and recruitmentpractices.

Thetransitionto online or hybrid teacherprofessional learning hasbeenanadditional challenge for many teacherswho werenotfamiliar withonline learning formats.Teacherengagementin online professional developmentwaslimitedprior to thepandemicand teacherswere lesslikely thanother professionalsto learnby keepingupto date withnewproductsand services. TheSpecial Surveyshowshow mostcountries mademajor efforts to supportteachers’ learning online duringthepandemic,for instanceby providing access to informationand communicationtechnology (ICT) andconnectivity toteachersor supportingICT-related teacherprofessionallearning to build teachers’digital competence.

Of course,all of thiscostsmoney.Inthe2019/2020 school year, mostcountrieswereable to mobilise additional resourcesfor theirextraefforts duringthe pandemic, and theestimationsby countriessuggest thatmanyof themwill be able toraiseadditional fundsalso in the2020/21 schoolyear. However, the long-termeconomicoutlook isfarmorechallenging.

Now isthetimefor countriestobuild onthelessonsof thepandemicto reconfigure thepeople, spaces,time andtechnology todevisemoreeffective andefficient educational environments.

Inone way, thecrisishasrevealed theenormous potential for innovation thatisdormantinmany education systems,whichoften remaindominated by hierarchical structuresgeared towardsrewarding compliance.It will be importanttocreatea morelevel playing field for innovationinschools.Governments can help strengthenprofessional autonomyand a collaborative culturewheregreatideasarerefined and shared.Governmentscan also help with funding, andcan offer incentivesthatraisetheprofile of,and demandfor, what works.Butgovernmentsalone canonly do somuch.Silicon Valley worksbecause governmentscreated theconditions for innovation, notbecause governmentsdo theinnovating. Similarly, governmentscannot innovate in theclassroom; but theycan help by opening up systemssothat there isanevidence-based innovation-friendly climate where transformativeideas can bloom. Thatmeans encouraging innovation within thesystembutalso makingitopen to creative ideas fromoutside.

Tomobilisesupport for innovation,resilienceand change,particularly intheuncertaintycreated bythe pandemic, education systemsneedto become better at communicatingtheneedand building support for change.Investingincapacity developmentand change-managementskillswill be critical; andit is

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5

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic vital thatteachersbecomeactive agentsforchange, notjustinimplementingtechnological and social innovations, but in designing themtoo. Thatmeans also thateducation systemsneedto become better atidentifying keyagentsof changeand champion them;and to find moreeffective waysof scaling and disseminatinginnovations.Itwill be crucial thatthe

manygood experienceslearned duringthepandemic will not be lostwhenthingsreturnto ‘normal’ but provide inspirationfor thefurtherdevelopmentof education. Thatisalsoabout finding betterways to recognise,reward and celebrate success,todo whateverispossible to makeit easier for innovatorsto takerisksand encourage theemergenceof newideas.

AndreasSchleicher Director for theOECDDirectorate of Educationand SkillsandSpecial Advisoron EducationPolicytothe Secretary-General

6

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1 Lostlearning opportunity It isnaturalthat muchof thepublic attention focuseson near-termchallenges around health and employment, butthelearning lossesthatcould follow fromschool closurescould throwlong shadowsovertheeconomic well-being of individualsandnations.Peoplewith lower skillswill be lessproductive, lessable to participate in economicand social activities, and morelikely to receivesocial transfers.Anddifferent fromthedirect economicimpact of thepandemic, whichwill be temporary,theseeffectsarelikely to remainpermanent.Putsimply, our schoolstoday are oureconomiestomorrow.Of course,manyefforts

weremadeto supportstudentlearning during school closures,butasshowninthefollowing, therewere majorissueswith accessand quality of alternative learning opportunities. Somealso argue thatstudents will quickly catchupasschoolsre-open, butthatis unlikely to happen if businessgoes on asusual.Results from OECD’s PISAassessmentsshowthat there was noreal overall improvementinthelearning outcomes of studentsacrossOECD countries over thelast two decades, withno pandemic,and despitemany educational reformsand risingexpenditure.

Ongoing school closures One yearafter thepandemichit,primaryand secondary schoolsarefully open inlessthan40%of the33 countrieswith comparable data, ‘fully open’ meaningthatschoolsare open for at leastthevast majority of students.

Where therearecapacity constraintsfor in-school learning time,countriesneedto makedifficult choices.

In-schoollearning isespecially importantforthe early years,wheredirect contact witheducatorsis particularly importantanddigital alternativesareleast effective. Itisalso vital for studentsfromdisadvantaged backgrounds,who havefeweralternatives.

Theseprioritiesarebroadly reflected inthedata from theSpecial Survey. AsshowninFigure1.1,thehigher thelevelof education, thegreater theshareof schools thatinFebruary2021 wereeitherclosedoroperated with smallgroupsof studentsonly.

Attheprimary level,schoolsremainedfullyopen in 30%of the33 countrieswithcomparable data, atthe lower-secondary level in24%of thecountriesand

at theuppersecondary general level in9%of the countries(i.e. Japan,Norway and New Zealand).

Insixcountries(Chile, Colombia, Costa-Rica,Korea, Switzerland, Turkey)schoolsweretemporarily closed becauseof scheduledvacations and in Austria,France, GermanyandNew Zealand schoolswereclosedin someregionsbecauseof scheduledvacation periods.

Thesituationisdifferent at thepre-primary level of education, whereeducational institutionswerefully open injust40%of thecountriesinFebruary2021.

Thereare severalconsiderationsbehind keeping preprimary institutionsopen evenina difficult pandemic context. First,thereare few alternative and remote modesof provision for theyoungestchildren,and theearlyyearsareparticularly importantforbuilding strongand equitable foundations.Second,preprimary education isoftentheprerequisitefor parental employment,particularly whereteleworking isnot an option. And third, somestudiessuggestthat the transmissionof theCoronavirus islessmarkedamong theyoungestchildren.

In-person learning timelost Theyear 2020 sawa substantialshareof instruction timelostformostcountrieswith comparable data. In

theirinitial attempttocontain thespreadof thevirus early in2020 manycountriesclosed theirschools. © OECD2021

7

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic Figure1.1• School closure asof 1 February 2021 Bylevelsof education Fullyopen, with no hybrid learning Partially opened (e.g. opened in certain regions, or for certain grades, with other studentsbenefiting in mostcasesfrom distance learning) Closeddueto regular schoolcalendar (holiday break) and planningto openin February/ĐMarch 2021 Closed dueto

Upper secondary, general educa�on

Lowersecondary educa�on

Primaryeducation

Pre-primary education

COVID-19

Japan, New Zealand1, Norway

Belgium,Canada, Estonia, France1,Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, RussianFederation, Spain,Sweden

Belgium, France¹,Hungary, Italy, Japan,Norway, New Zealand¹, Russianfederation, Spain,Sweden

Brazil, Canada, Estonia,Italy, Russian Federation

Belgium,England, France¹,Hungary, Italy, Japan,Latvia,Norway, New Zealand¹, Poland,Spain, Sweden 0

10

20

Chile, Colombia, Costa-Rica,Korea, Switzerland, Turkey

Brazil, Canada, Estonia, Slovenia

Belgium,France¹,Hungary, Italy, Japan,Norway, New Zealand¹, RussianFederation, Spain, Sweden

30

Austria¹, Brazil, Czech Republic, Denmark,England, Germany¹, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia

Chile, Colombia, Costa-Rica,Korea, Switzerland, Turkey

Austria¹, Czech Republic, Germany¹, Denmark, England , Ireland, Israel, Lithuania, Latvia, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovak republic, Slovenia

Chile, Colombia, Costa-Rica,Korea, Switzerland, Turkey Brazil, Estonia, Slovenia, Russian Federation 40

50

Austria¹, CzechRepublic,Denmark,England, Germany¹, Ireland, Israel, Lithuania,Latvia, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovak republic CzechRepublic, Denmark, England,Germany¹, Ireland, Israel, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovak republic

Chile, Colombia, Costa-Rica,Korea, Switzerland, Turkey 60

70

80

90 100 Shareof countries(%)

1.School were closed asof 1stFebruaryinsomesub-national regionsin thesecountriesdueto regular schoolcalendar.

Source:OECD/UNESCO-UIS/UNICEF/World BankSpecial SurveyonCOVID.March 2021.

By16 March 2020 about half of the33 countries withcomparable data hadfully closedat leastsome primaryand secondaryschools,i.e.closed for all pupils(or only openfor childrenof keyworkersor with special educational needs.Bytheendof thatmonth, all countriescovered intheSpecial Surveyhad at least someof their schoolsclosed: Therewere countrywide schoolclosuresin23 countries,while a further10 countriesclosed schoolsatsub-national or local levels(Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark,Estonia, Germany,Italy, New Zealand, PolandandtheSlovak Republic),mainlybecausethepandemic contextvaried regionally. Thesesub-regional variationsmayhave been significant insomecountries.

Forexample,upper secondary(general) schoolswereclosed between95 and 152 daysin Colombia, between 15 and 30 daysin Germany,between 58 and 101 days inItaly, between 24 and 37 daysin New Zealand and between40 and 75 daysintheRussianFederationin2020, depending on subnational regions where thestudentslive.

Ashealthconsiderationstook precedence overother considerations,thechoicesmadeby policy-makers with regard to school closuresinthefollowing monthswere quite similar, with mostof thecountriessurveyedclosing all ormostof theirschoolsfrommid-March 2020 until mid-May or mid-June.Attheprimary level,and among countrieswithnosub-national variation, 14 closedtheir schoolsonly oncein 2020 while11 countriesclosed

8

© OECD2021

themovermultiple periods. Swedenisanexception with noprimaryschoolclosuresin2020.

Forthereasonsdiscussedpreviously, thenumberof instructional dayswhenschoolswhereclosed (excluding schoolholidays, public holidays andweekends) increaseswith thelevel of education (Figure1.2).

On averageacrossthe30 countrieswithcomparable data forall levelsof education,pre-primary schoolswere fully closed for anaverage of 42 daysin 2020, while primary schoolsclosed for 54 days, lower secondary for 63 days and upper-secondary schoolsfor 67 days.

However, thesefiguresmasklarge differences between countriesand,within countries,between levelsof education. Forinstance,inSweden,all primary and most lower-secondary schoolsremainedopenin2020, while upper-secondary schoolsresortedmainlyto distance learning frommid-March onwards.

Globally, schoolswere closedat least20 days longer forupper-secondary educationthanforprimaryin Austria,Israel, Latvia,Poland, theSlovak Republicand Switzerland. Incontrast,Ireland, Koreaand theCzech Republicclosed theirprimary schoolslonger thantheir upper-secondary schools.Upper-secondary general schoolswereclosed for lessthan40 daysin Denmark, France,Germany,New Zealand and Norway, and for morethan100 daysintheColombia, CostaRica, Poland,theSlovakRepublicand Turkey.InColombia, for example,schoolswerefully closed inmostregions

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic Figure1.2• Number of instructiondays (excluding school holidays, public holidays and weekends)where schoolswere fully closed in 2020 Primaryandupper-secondary generaleducation Upper secondary, general

Primary

200 180 Nmber of instruc�ondays

160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 Denmark²

Germany¹

Norway

New-Zealand¹

France

Belgium

Netherlands

England

Spain

Ireland

Estonia

Portugal

RussianFederation

Finland

Korea

Switzerland

Chile

Lithuania

CzechRepublic

Sweden

OECDaverage

Israel

Austria

Slovenia

Latvia

Italy¹

Poland

Turkey

Colombia¹

SlovakRepublic¹

Costa Rica

0

1.Most typical numberof instructiondays 2. Minimumnumberof instructiondays.

Source:OECD/UNESCO-UIS/UNICEF/World BankSpecial SurveyonCOVID.March 2021.

betweenMarch andDecember2020, resultinginthe lossof 152 daysof instructionsoverthistimeperiod.

Schoolclosureshavenotonly amplified inequitiesin learning opportunities within countries,asstudentsfrom lessprivileged backgroundshadfewer alternatives to compensatefor learning losses,butthedata also suggestthatthepandemic hasamplified inequitiesin learning opportunity acrossOECDcountries.

Asshownin Figure1.3, thecountries with thelowest educational performancetendedtofully closetheir schoolsforlonger periodsof timein2020. Infact,the performance of 15-year-olds incountriesonthePISA 2018 reading testexplains54%of thevariation inthe numberof dayswhereschoolswerefully closed in 2020 at theupper-secondarylevel of education. In otherwords, education systemswithpoorer learning outcomesin2018 weremorelikely tosufferfrom greater lossesof in-personlearning timein2020. This isnotsimplyanartefact of higherperformingeducation

systemsoperating inmorefavourable economic conditions.Evenafter accountingfor GDP/capita, the relationship explains 31%of thevariance.

Furthermore,theintensity of COVID-19 transmission doesnotappear related tothedurationof school closures.Thesizeof thebubbles inFigure1.3, which indicates thenumberof confirmed casesof COVID-19 per million inhabitant sincethestartof thepandemic totheendof2020, appearsunrelatedtothetotal numberof daysinwhichschoolswereclosed in2020, indicated bytheposition of countriesonthevertical axis.Forexample,countrieswithsimilar infection rates and PISAperformance (e.g. Poland,Swedenand Englandor Franceand Austria)havemadedifferent policy choices whenit comesto school closures.These choicesmayhavebeenmotivatedby educational objective, by thehealthinfrastructureor by other health-relatedobjectives.

Adjustmentsto the school calendar and curriculum School closuresand social distancing requirements reduced available instructiontimeand thusforced countriestomakedifficult choiceswhenit comesto thecurriculumand theschool calendar. Forexample, countrieshad to choosewhether to maintainthe breadth of thecurriculumat moreshallow depth or to teachfewer thingsat greater depth;or whetherto

uselimitedon-sitelearning opportunity toteach new contentor toprepare andreviewmateriallearned at distance,etc.

Slightly morethanhalf(55%)ofthe33 countries with comparable data reported thatadjustmentsto theschoolcalendar or curriculumof theirprimary

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9

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic Figure1.3• PISA2018 performance in reading and numberof instruc�onal days upper-secondary schoolswere fully closedin 2020 180 Costa Rica 160 Colombia

Number of instruction days whereupper secondary schoolswere fully closedin 2020

140

SlovakRepublic

120

R²= 0.5411

Turkey

100

Poland

Italy Latvia Slovenia

80

Israel

Austria Sweden

Chile

60

CzechRepublic Switzerland Portugal Belgium

Lithuania RussianFederation

40

Netherlands

France

England(UK) Norway

Finland Estonia Ireland

New Zealand Denmark

Germany

20

Korea

0 400

420

440

460

480

500

520

PISA2018 performancein reading (scorepoints)

Note: thesizeof thebubblesrepresentthenumberof COVID-19 casesper million inhabitant fromthestartofthepandemic to 31December 2020. Higheristhesizeof thecircle, higherwasthenumberof COVID-19casesin2020.

Source: OECD/UNESCO-UIS/UNICEF/World BankSpecial Surveyon COVID.March 2021; Number of COVID-19 casesper million inhabitantfromOurWorld inData(Roseretal., 2020[1])

schoolswereimplementedin2020 inresponseto the pandemic. Incontrast,theshareof countriesplanning suchadjustmentsfor 2021 roseto 66%(Figure 1.4).

Where adjustmentswere madeat theprimary level, only 6 countries(Chile, Ireland, Israel, theRussian Federation, theSlovakRepublicand Turkey)indicated that certain subjects– inmostcasesmathematicsand reading - wereprioritised. Physicaleducation andthe natural scienceswere other subjectscited by several countriesaspriorities. Brazil and Portugalwerethe only two countriesthatextendedtheacademic yearin responseto thepandemic.

Fourcountries(Latvia,theNetherlands, Spain and Sweden)haveplanned to reviseregulations (at the national level)onthedurationof education andthe contentof curriculaa�er the2020/2021 schoolyear.

IntheNetherlands, a national programmehasbeen announcedtoprovide financial meanstohelp schools

10

© OECD2021

overcomelearning losses.InSweden,thespecial COVID-19 regulation offers thepossibility to deviate fromtheteaching periods, i.e. theregular numberof schooldays and thelengthof schooldays. InSpain, theRoyalDecree-Law passedon29 September 2020 adopted urgentmeasuresinthefield of nonuniversityeducation todeal withthepandemic. Finally, inLatvia, inorder to ensurethatthe instructional time provided for intheregulationsisdevotedtolearning, thegovernmentapproved, on11 March 2021, the regulation onthestarting and ending timesof the 2021/2022 schoolyear, and stipulatedthatif, during theschoolyear, anunforeseeable situationdoesnot allow thestudyprocessto be fully ensuredfor at least oneweek,thehead of theeducational institution, inco-ordination withthehierarchicalauthorities,is empoweredto decide ontheextensionof theschool year for classes.

540

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic Figure1.4• Have/will adjustmentsbeen/be madeto theschoolcalendar datesand curriculumdue to the pandemic in the previousand current school year?

Primaryeducation No adjustmenthavebeen/

will be made

YES,academic year extended YES,prioritisation of certain areas of the curriculum or certain skills YES,depends- Schools/Districts/the mostlocal level of governancecould decide at their own discre�on YES,other adjustments.

Schoolyear2020/2021 (2021 for somecountrieswith calendar year)

Brazil, Portugal

Colombia, England, Estonia, France,Hungary, Latvia, Netherlands,Norway, Slovak Republic, Switzerland

0

10

20

30

Brazil, Portugal

Austria, Belgium,England, Estonia, France,Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania,Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia,Switzerland

Schoolyear2019/2020 (2020 for somecountrieswith calendar year)

Chile, Ireland, Israel, Russian Federation

40

50

Germany, Japan,Korea, Poland, Sweden

Chile, Israel, Russian Federation, Slovak Republic, Spain, Turkey 60

Austria, Belgium,Czech Republic, Denmark, Spain,Lithuania, Slovenia, Turkey

Colombia, CostaRica, Czech Republic, Denmark, New Zealand

Canada, Japan, Korea, Poland, Sweden

70

80

90

100

Shareof countries(%)

Source:OECD/UNESCO-UIS/UNICEF/World BankSpecial SurveyonCOVID.March 2021.

Consequencesof learning losses If anything,theperiod of school closureshasmade public andwidely visiblethemanybenefitsthat studentsdraw frombeing able tolearn inclosecontact with theirteachersandtheir peers,and with access to thevariety of serviceswhichschoolsoffer. This public awarenessof theimportanceof schoolsand of teacherscanhelp to furtherengagementand support fromcommunitiesand parentsfor schoolsand for teachers. Thisisimportant asa possible resultof the pandemicwill be greaterfinancial austerity,resulting fromtheeconomic adjustmentthat thehealth and economiccostsof thepandemicwill bring about.

Most concerning isthatthelearning losseswill not affect studentsequally, butwill furtheramplifyand accelerate social inequality in learning opportunities.

Already pre-COVID, inequitiesineducation had beenthemostformidable challenge facing education systems.

While it isdifficult to predict exactly how school closureswill affect students’futuredevelopment, economistsEricHanushekand LudgerWoessmann estimatethatthestudentsinGrades 1-12 affected by theclosurescould expect some3 percentlower incomeover their entirelifetimesfor everythree monthsof effective learning timelost(Hanushekand Woessmann,2020[2]). Hanushekand Woessmann also project individual lossesonto economiesand arrive at a long-run costranging fromUSD504 billion inSouthAfrica toUSD14.2 trillion intheUnitedStates for everythreemonthseffective learning timelost.

© OECD2021

11

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic

Definitions

12

•

Schools were fully closed: Government-mandatedor/and recommendedclosuresof educational institutions(e.g.closureofbuildings) affecting all or mostof thestudentpopulation enrolled ata givenlevelof education. Inmanycountries,despiteschool closuresat national level, schoolswerestill open for vulnerable studentsor/and children of keyworkers.

•

Schools were fully open: Forthemajorityof schools,classesarebeing heldexclusivelyinperson(e.g. buildings are opened), noting thatmeasurestoensuresafetyand hygienein schoolsvaryconsiderably from contextto contextand/or by level of education.

•

Schoolswere partially opened: Government-mandatedor/and recommended(a)partial re-opening in certain areas,and/or (b) a phased(re-)opening by grade level or age and/or (c) theuseof a hybrid modelcombining in-personat schooland distanceeducation. Italso includesthecountrieswherenational governmentshavedeferred decisionson(re-)opening to otheradministrativeunits(e.g. region, municipality or individual schools),andwherea variety of (re-)opening modalitiesarebeing used.

© OECD2021

2 Distanceeducation during school closures Duringschool closures,digital resourcesbecame thelifeline for education and thepandemicpushed teachersand studentsto quickly adapt to teachand learnonline. Theopportunitiesthatdigital technologies offer go well beyond a stop-gap solutionduring the pandemic.Digital technology allows to find entirely newanswerstowhat people learn,howpeople learn,wherepeople learnand whentheylearn.It can elevatetherole of teachersfromimparting knowledge towardsworkingasco-creatorsof knowledge, as coaches,asmentorsand asevaluators. Already today, digital learning systemscannotjustteach students,but simultaneouslyobserve how studentsstudy, thekind of tasksand thinking that interestthem,and thekind of problemstheyfind boring or difficult. Thesesystems canthenadapt learning tosuitpersonallearning styles withfar greatergranularity andprecisionthanany traditional classroomsettingpossiblycan.Similarly, virtual laboratories give studentsanopportunity to

design,conduct and learn fromexperiments,rather thanjustlearning about them.

However, thecrisis hascaught manyeducation systems cold. ThePISA2018 assessmentrevealedwide disparities both between and withincountriesinthe availability of technologyinschoolsandof teachers’ capacities to usethosetoolseffectively (OECD, 2020[3]). Asa result,manyhavefaced challenges inensuringthecontinuityof learning at a distance.

Ascountriescontinuenavigating thepandemic, governmentsand societies need to takestockof progressachievedand prevailing gapsin distance educationdelivery. Thisreflection will act asbuilding block, notonly for a moreinformedshorter-term responseina contextof disruption, butalso towardsa richer, moreflexible type of education delivery able to cater to different students’needsover themid and longer-term(OECD,2020[4]).

Preparednessof countries Startingwith theverybasics,onaverage across OECDcountries,in2018, 9%of 15-year-old students did notevenhavea quiet place to studyintheir homes (OECD,2020[3]). Thesetended to be studentsfrom marginalised groups:EveninPISAtop-performer Korea, one infive studentsfromthequarter of the mostdisadvantaged schoolsdo nothavea place to studyat home.Thepicture wassimilar whenit came to accesstocomputers.Forexample,virtually every 15-year-old inadvantaged schoolsintheUnited Stateshad a computerto work with at home,butonly threeoutof four studentsindisadvantaged schoolshad one.

Bothtocompensateforcapacity constraintsdue to social distancing requirementsand asaway to innovatelearning,hybrid andtechnology-supported learning isseeninmanycountries asthenew normal postthepandemic. Butagain, judging fromthe

equipmentthatwasavailable inschoolsa year before thepandemic, schoolsarenotready for this.On the one hand, PISAshowsthat there wasalmost one computeratschool for every15-year-old student,on average acrossOECDcountries(OECD,2020[3]).

Also,thedistribution of computerstended to be moreequitable inschoolsthan inhomes,and in16 education systemsthecomputer-studentratio was greater indisadvantaged schoolsthaninadvantaged schools.However,in manycountriesschoolprincipals said thatthesecomputerswere notpowerful enough, thushindering learning for one inthreestudents globally. Moreover, remoteand hybrid learning depend notjustonindividual accesstocomputers,but alsoonpowerful onlinelearning platforms.In2018 just about half of 15-year-olds were enrolled in schools withaneffective onlinelearning supportplatform, according toschoolprincipals. Again,therewerelarge

© OECD2021

13

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic variationswithin and acrosscountries,and especially related to schools’socio-economicprofile.

Finally,technology isonlyasgood asitsuse.On average acrossOECDcountries,in2018 65% of 15-year-olds wereenrolled inschoolswhose schoolprincipals considered thattheirteachershave thenecessarytechnicaland pedagogical skillsto integratedigital devicesin instruction(OECD,2020[3]).

Thishighlightsthelearning needsthatlie ahead of

teacherstoget ready for thenewnormal. This,too, variesconsiderablybetweensocio-economically advantaged anddisadvantaged schools.InSweden, for example,the shareof teacherswith thenecessary skillswas89%in advantaged schoolsbut just54%in disadvantaged schools.

Thefollowing progressmadeduringthepandemic shouldbe seenagainst thisbackground.

Accessto distance learning during the pandemic Distanceeducation isdefined hereaseducation that usesone or moretechnologies to deliver instructionto studentswho are separated fromtheinstructorand to supportregular and substantiveinteraction between thestudentsand theinstructor synchronouslyor asynchronously.

With school closuresoften implementedat shortnotice torespondto therapidly changingpandemic context, countriessoughttobridge gapsineducation coverage by building on existingdigital tools or developing new ones.

TheresultsfromtheSpecial Surveyindicate important differencesinaccesstodistanceeducation delivery, whetherbecauseof differentiated approachesby levelof education, differencesinthedurationof schoolclosures,geographic variation inpolicies and practices, or becausespecific studentgroupswere givenpriority tocontinueattending schoolsduring school closures.

Duringthefirst period of school closures,all students receiveddistanceeducation in8 countriesatthe primary and lower-secondary levels,aswell asin12 countriesat theupper-secondary general level.Still morethan75%of studentsbut not all of thestudents followed distancelearningin15 countriesatthe primarylevel,in14 countriesatthelower-secondary leveland in13 countriesattheupper-secondary general level. Denmarkstoodout initsdifferentiated approach by education level,with lessthan25%of studentsfollowing distancelearning during thefirst schoolclosureat theprimary level,morethan50% butlessthan75%of studentsfollowing it at lowersecondarylevel,and all studentsfollowing itat uppersecondarylevel.

Forcountriesreporting informationfor a second period of school closures, all studentsreceived distanceeducation inonly Latvia,theNetherlands and Sloveniaattheprimary,lower-secondary anduppersecondary general levels.Attheupper secondary

14

© OECD2021

level, thiswasalso reported by Austria,Denmarkand Estonia.More than75%of studentsbutnot all of the studentscontinued receiving distanceeducation inat least7 countriesattheprimaryand lower-secondary level,and 6 countriesattheuppersecondary level.

Lessthanone-quarter of studentsreceived distance education in New Zealand (sincea second period of closurehappened only inonearea of thecountry whereall studentswerecatered for by distance learning), while in Turkey,morethanhalf butlessthan three-quartersofstudentsfollowed distanceeducation attheprimarylevel,lower secondaryand general uppersecondarylevel.

Forthethird period of school closures,only Latvia and theNetherlands reported thatall studentsreceived distanceeducationattheprimary,lower andupper generalsecondarylevelof education.

Inslightly lessthanhalf of thecountrieswith comparable data, all studentsattendedschoolin personduringthefirstperiod of schoolreopenings.

Thiswasthecasefor 11 countriesat theprimary level andlower-secondary leveland 12 countriesatthe uppersecondary level.In7 countries,betweenhalf and almostall studentscameback to institutionsat theprimary,lower secondaryor uppersecondary levels. Lessthanhalf of thestudentscameback to schoolinChile, Colombia, theCzechRepublic, Denmark,England(UK), Lithuania,the Slovak Republic, SloveniaandSpain. Inonly two countries,thedecision wasmadeatschools/district/most local levelsof governanceat theirown discretion(Germanyand Japan).

Althoughthesedata give someindication of theextent of distancelearning duringthepandemic,theydo not provide anindication of theeffectivenessof distance learning.

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic

Delivery of distancelearning upper-secondary levels.“Take-home packages” and televisionfollowed closely assolutionsimplemented, with a similarshareof 84%of countrieswhoreported usingthemfor at leastone level of education, although take-homepackages were morecommonly usedat theprimary and lower secondary level. The provisionof mobile phoneswasalsoreported by over half (63%)of thecountriesfor at leastonelevel of education. One-third of countries(31%)reported using radio asaneducational resource,and thiswasmost commonlyreported for theupper-secondary level.

Other distance-learningmodalitieswerereported also by about one-third (25%)of countries.

Distance-learning solutions Distanceeducation canbe delivered througha wide array of tools. Technologiesusedfor instructionmay include paper (e.g. books,take-homepackages); TV; radio; Internet;one-way and two-way transmissions throughopen broadcasts,closedcircuit, cable, microwave,broadband lines,fibre optics,satelliteor wirelesscommunicationdevices;audio conferencing; and video cassette,DVDs,and CD-ROMs. Theresponsesfromthe Special Surveyshowconsistent patternsacrosscountries:Online platforms were prioritised acrosslevelsof education, mostclearly atthesecondarylevel. Mobile phonesweremore commonat thesecondary level,and radio at the upper secondary level. Atthe sametime,take-home packages,televisionorradio werereportedwith similarfrequencyatboth primary andsecondary education andotherdistance-learning solutions weremorecommonlyreported at theprimary level (Figure2.1).

It isimportant to notethat countriescombined these resourcesdifferently. Threegroupsof countriescan be iden�fied: • Limited setof instruments: Some34%of countriesreported implementingthreeor fewer of the instrumentsincluded inthe Special Survey.Countries in thisgroup are theCzech Republic,Denmark, England(UK),EstoniaHungary, Italy, Lithuania,the Netherlands,Norway, theSlovakRepublicand Sweden.All relied ononline platformsforat leastone educationlevel, while a majority of themalsoreported usingtake-homepackages (Czech Republic,England [UK], Lithuania,theNetherlands, SlovakRepublicand

Online platformswereimplementedacrossall 32 countrieswith comparable data during 2020 and 2021, withall countriesexceptfor Swedenand the RussianFederationreporting themat primary level andall countriesreporting thematboth lower and

Figure2.1• Distance-learningsolu�onsoffered in par�cipa�ng countriesduring 2020 and/or 2021 Primary

Lowersecondary

Upper secondary, general

At least one education level*

%of countries 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Online platforms

Take-homepackages

Television

Mobile phones

Radio

Other distance learning modality

Source:OECD/UNESCO-UIS/UNICEF/World BankSpecial SurveyonCOVID.March 2021.

© OECD2021

15

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic Table2.1• Distancelearning solu�onsoffered in par�cipa�ng countriesduring 2020 and/or 2021 Online pla�orms

Grand Total

P

LS US

30

32

Take-home packages P

32

Television

LS US

25

25

Mobile phones

P

LS US 25

23

25

24

P

LS US

17 20

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Belgium (Fl)

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Belgium (Fr)

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Canada

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Chile

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Colombia

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Costa Rica

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Czech Republic

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Denmark

X

X

X

England(UK)

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Estonia

X

X

X

France

X

X

X

X

X

Germany

X

X

X

X

X

Hungary

X

X

X

Israel

X

X

X

Italy

X

X

X

Japan

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Korea

X

X

X

X

X

X

Latvia

X

X

X

X

X

X

Lithuania

X

X

X

X

TheNetherlands

X

X

X

X

X

X

New Zealand

X

X

X

X

X

Norway

X

X

X

Poland

X

X

X

X

Portugal

X

X

X

X

X

X

X X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

10

LS

US

8

7

7

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Slovenia

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Spain

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Switzerland

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Turkey

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Note: (P):Primaryeducation,(LS):Lowersecondaryeducation, (US):Upper secondaryeducation (general).

Source:OECD/UNESCO-UIS/UNICEF/World BankSpecial SurveyonCOVID.March 2021.

© OECD2021

8

P

X

Slovak Republic

Sweden

US

X

X

X

LS

8

Austria

RussianFederation

16

P

20

Other distance learning modality

Radio

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic Sweden)and television (Czech Republic,England [UK], Hungary, Italy, Lithuaniaand SlovakRepublic).At thesametime,Estoniaand Italy were theonly countries inthisgroupwho reported usingmobile phonesand Swedenwastheonly country which reported using radio. DenmarkandNorway onlyreported using onlineplatforms.

• Wider range of instruments: Some56%of thecountriesreported usingfouror five of thesolutions surveyed. Austria, Belgium (FlemishCommunityand FrenchCommunity),Canada, Costa Rica,France, Germany,Israel,Japan,Korea,Latvia,New Zealand, Portugal, theRussianFederation, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and Turkeyare thecountriesin thisgroup.

Inaddition toonline platforms,televisionor takehomepackages, thesecountriesalso morecommonly reported usingmobile phones. All thesemeasures werereported for all levelsof education inthisgroup of countries.Inthisgroup only Canada, CostaRica and Francedid notreport usingmobile phones.Some countriesinthisgroup reported relying ontheradio or other distance-learning solutions,whichwasin most casesfor all levelsof education aswell.

• All instruments: Theremaining19%of countriesreported usingall of theinstrumentsreferred intheSpecial Survey,including otherdistance-learning modalities. ThesecountriesareChile, Colombia and Polandand implemented all instrumentsacrosslevels of education.Other distance-learningmodalitieswere reported atprimarylevelinChile, andat all levelsin Colombia andPoland.

Ascountriescontinueto navigate thepandemic and beyond,a wider rangeof teaching and learning modeswill becomeincreasingly important. This wider spectrumneedstoplace priority onpeople and processes(with studentssupported by teachers andotherstaff atthecentreofeducation delivery), ratherthanclassesanddevices(OECD,2020[4]).

Accessibility of devicesandtheiruse,thequality of instructiondelivered throughthem,and their costeffectivenesswill requirecloseconsideration.

Inclusionof populations at risk Countriesrelied ona rangeof approachesto ensureinclusivenessin distance education. This included flexible and self-paced platformsaswell as agreementswith mobile communicationsoperators and internetfirmsto enhanceaccess,particularly at the primarylevelof education.

Measures to subsidisedevices for access(PCsor/ andtablets),orimplementingflexible andself-paced platforms (asynchronouslearning platforms) where thetwo mostcommonsolutionsto thisendreported by countriesinat leastoneeducation level,with

89%and 81%of countries who reported usingthem, respectively. Furthermore,overhalf of thecountries reported effortsinat leastonelevelofeducation to improveaccessto infrastructurefor learners in remote areas(67%),supportlearnerswith disabilities (e.g. signlanguage inonline learning programmes)(59%), establishagreementswith mobile communications operators/Internet firmstoremoveaccessibility barriers (56%),improveaccesstoinfrastructure for learnersin urbanhigh-densityareas(56%),or provide additional supportto lower-income households,including economic support (i.e. take-homerations,cashbased transfers)(52%). At the sametime,lessthan half of thecountriesreported undertakingspecial effortsto makeonline learning moreaccessibleto migrantand displaced children, including thoseincamps(44%) and designing learning materialsforspeakersof minority languages (26%)(Figure2.2).

Countrieswhich implementedatleast half of these measuresaccording to theSpecial Surveywere Belgium (FlemishCommunity and FrenchCommunity), Chile, Colombia, England(UK),Estonia,France, Japan,Korea,Latvia,New Zealand, Poland,Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Turkey.Inthesecountries, such measureswereimplementedat theprimary, lower secondaryor upper-secondarylevelsofeducation.

It shouldbe noted, however,thatin someeducation systems,effortsto distribute education devices may havealready takenplace before thepandemic.In Estonia,digital learningmaterials,includingfor flexible platforms and materials in Russian(mainminority language) were available already before school closures.Studentswho did nothaveaccessto digital devicesat home,could borrow thesefromtheirschool.

Inthesameway, intheCzech Republic,support for disabled studentsand speakersof minoritylanguages wasassuredvia activities whichhad beeninplace already before thecrisis.

Localefforts also played an importantrole in 2020, in countriessuchastheNetherlands or France.Inthe Netherlands, for example,effortswereundertakenby different actors,suchasorganisations(e.g. providing fundingfor theacquisitionof devicesatschoollevel), municipalities (e.g. througharrangementsat theirown initiative including, suchasthedistribution of second hand devices),schools(e.g. who were recommended to makearrangementsfor studentswithout accessto good quality internetordigital devices,butcan also allocate compensationtounder-agelow-income studentsfor thepurchaseof education material). In France,for example,depending onlocal capacities, studentswith special needsreceived accessto adapted equipment.

Effectivenessof distance-learning solutions © OECD2021

17

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic Figure2.2•

Measurestargeting populations at risk of exclusion fromdistanceeducation platforms

Measurestakenduringthefirstclosureofschoolsin2020 atschoollevel At least one education level

Upper secondary, general

Lowersecondary

Primary

Subsidiseddevicesfor access(PCsor/and tablets) Flexible and self-paced platforms (Asynchronouslearning platforms) Improvedaccesstoinfrastructurefor learnersinremoteareas Support to learnerswith disabilities (e.g. sign language in online learning programmes) Improved accessto infrastructure for learners in urban high-density areas AgreementswithGlobal SystemforMobile Communications(GSM) operators/Internet firmsto remove theinternet accessbarrier Additional support to lower-income households,including economic support(i.e. take-homerations, cashbasedtransfers) Special efforts to makeonline learning more accessibleto migrant and displaced children, including thosein camps Designof learning materials for speakersof minority languages 0

20

40

60

80

100 %of countries

Source:OECD/UNESCO-UIS/UNICEF/World BankSpecial SurveyonCOVID.March 2021.

Asmentionedearlier inthischapter, taking stockof lessonslearned during thepandemicwill be keyfor countriesinorder to strengthentheresilience of their education systems.Moving beyond thepandemic, it will be importanttocontinuemonitoringhowdistancelearning solutionsare addressingtheneedsof different studentsandexpand theiropportunities for quality learning.

To assessthe effectiveness of the measures implemented,a numberof education systemsreported studiesthathavetakenplace, or arestill underway.

TheCzech Republic, Estonia,Finland,Israel, Latvia, Slovenia or Turkeyhaveadministered household surveys,student assessments,teacher assessmentsor otherfield studies.

InFinland,theFinnishNational Agency for Education (FINEDU)hasbeencompiling information ondata collections, surveysand reports. Furthermore,Poland monitorsthe numberof platform usersand theuse of individual e-materials(e.g.intermsofpopularity of educational material, or thenumberof usersof theplatform).InLatvia,apartnership witha private

18

© OECD2021

companyenabled theMinistry of Educationtorun periodical surveysonstudyprocessmonitoring.

Aspectsof education delivery whichLatviaadjusted based on outcomesof thesesurveysincluded access to digital tools,accesstointernetinruralareas,time spentonlearning incomparisonwith on-sitelearning, or learning methods.InEstonia,a national survey hasmapped effectsof distancelearning basedon impressionsfromstudents,teachers and parents in general andvocational education. Israelhasalso beenrunningperiodical surveys(withtwo applied so far) to assessaccessto technology and supporting features,professional development and needsamong teachers,andperceived efficiency of distantlearning.

Finally,inSlovenia,anoverall evaluationwill take place in2021 toassessimpactonstudentlearning, although someinitial smallerscalesurveys/analyses havebeenimplementedwith schoolprincipals, teachersand students,ondifferent aspectsof distance-learning strategies,theirimplementationand experience inschools.

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic

X

Belgium (Fl)

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Belgium (Fr)

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Canada

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Chile

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Colombia Costa Rica

X

X

X

Czech Republic

X

Denmark

X

X

X

X

X

X

England(UK)

X

X

X

X

X

X

Estonia

X

X

X

France

X

X

X

X

X

Germany

X

X

X

X

X

Hungary

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Latvia

X

X

X

Lithuania

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

New Zealand

X

X

X

Norway

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

RussianFederation

Sweden

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Netherlands

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Korea

Spain

X

X

X

Slovenia

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

US

X

X

X

X

Support to learnerswith disabili�es (e.g. sign language in online learning programmes)

X

X

X

Slovak Republic

LS

X

X

X

X

P

X

X

Japan

Portugal

US

X

X

X

X

Subsidized devicesfor access(PCs or/and tablets) X

X

Israel

X

16

X

Italy

Poland

16

X

X

X

X

16

23

X

X

X

22

12 22

X X

X

US

11 12

LS

P

Special efforts to makeonline learning more accessibleto migrant and displaced children, including thosein camps

Improved accessto infrastructure for learnersin urban high-density areas LS

P

US

14

LS

X

LS

P

US

X

18 17 14 15

P

Austria

21 17

US

6 22 20

Improved accessto infrastructure for learners in remoteareas

Flexible and self-paced pla�orms (Asynchronouslearning platforms) LS

7

P

7

US

Designof learning materials for speakersof minority languages LS

14 13 13 15 14 14

P

US

LS

P

US

LS

P

Grand Total

Agreementswith Global Systemfor Mobile Communications(GSM) operators/Internet firmsto remove theinternetaccessbarrier

Measurestargeting populations at risk of exclusion fromdistanceeducation platforms Addi�onal supportto lowerincomehouseholds,including economic support (i.e. take-home rations, cashbasedtransfers)

Table 2.2•

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Switzerland

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Turkey

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Note: (P):Primaryeducation,(LS):Lowersecondaryeducation, (US):Upper secondaryeducation (general).

Source:OECD/UNESCO-UIS/UNICEF/World BankSpecial SurveyonCOVID.March 2021.

© OECD2021

19

3

Support of studentsand schoolsduring schoolreopenings

Thebenefits of open schoolsmustbe weighed against thehealth risks.Evidencefrompreviousepidemics suggeststhat school closurescanprevent upto 15% of infections(OECD,2020[5]). While thisimpact is modestcompared with otherpublic policy measures (for instanceworkplace social distancingcanreduce transmissionby upto 73%,caseisolation by around 45%and householdquarantineby around40%),it is notnegligible. Insomecountries,thereare also high levelsofinteraction between theyoungestchildren and theolder generations mostat riskfromthevirus.

Several stepshave been takenacross countries to managetherisksand trade-offs of ensuringquality and equitable learning while enforcing appropriate measuresto mitigate therisksof infection. Sustained and effective co-ordination between education andpublic healthauthoritiesatdifferent levelsof governmentisrequired to ensurelearning continues in adherence with therelevant sanitary measuresto reduce viral transmission.

Mi�ga�ng healthrisks Depending onnational strategiestocontain the spread of thevirus,and theevolution of thepandemic, countriesdiffered intheirapproachestore-open schools.While a numberof countriesensuredphysical in-personlearningduring theacademicyear in 2019/20, otherspostponed there-opening until thefollowing one,inparticular forhigherlevelsof education.

Social distancingproved tobe oneof themost effective measuresto preventthespread of the Coronavirus. Within a school context,thismeans reducingcontact between groupsof childrenand maintaininga safedistanceof 1-2 metresbetween studentsand staff.

Acrossall levelsof education, adjustmentsto schools and physical arrangementswere themostcommon strategyimplementedinalmost8 outof 10 countries after the firstperiod of school closuresin 2020. Half of thecountries also implemented measuresfor students to returnprogressivelyto classes,for examplebased onage cohorts,and suspendingextra-curricular activities. Strategiessuchascombining in-person and distancelearning together with organising students 20

© OECD2021

inshiftsweremorecommonlyadopted at secondary levelsof education thanatprimary level (Figure3.1).

Thirteencountriesreported a normalreturntoclass schedulesand schoolattendance at primary level after the firstperiod of school closuresin 2020.

Of those,elevenre-opened inMay or June,while intwo others(Canada and Turkey)mostschools acrossthe countryremainedcloseduntilthestartof thefollowing academic year. With theexceptionof New Zealand, all of thesecountriesareintheNorthern Hemisphere with summerholidays beginning around theend of June.Only two countries,Brazil and Portugal, extendedthe2019/20 or 2020/21 academic yearat primaryor secondarylevelfollowing thisfirst period of schoolclosuresto compensatefor possible learning losses,while inanother seven,schoolshad the possibility todo soattheirdiscretion.

Othersoffered thepossibility to reorganisetheteachingscheduleon weekends, evenings,summerholidays.

Asschoolsre-opened, a numberof countrieshave ensuredschoolshad theautonomy to adjust to distance-learning methodsshouldthesanitarysituation deteriorate. Forexample,a temporary amendmenthas

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic Figure3.1• Strategiesfor there-opening of primary schoolsa�er thefirst period of closuresin 2020

Yes

Schools/Districts/the mostlocal level of governance could decide at their own discre�on

No

Do not know

Adjustmentstoschool and/or classroom’sphysical arrangements Reducingor suspendingextracurricular activities Progressivereturnof students(e.g. by age cohorts) Immediatereturnto normal schedulingand studentattendance Combining distance learning and in-person classes Adjustmentstoschool feeding programmes Classroomteaching conducted inschools’ outdoor spaces Classroomattendance scheduledinshifts Studentandteacher returnscontingent upon resultsof antibody testing Other No lunch or meals at school 0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100 %

Source:OECD/UNESCO-UIS/UNICEF/World BankSpecial SurveyonCOVID.March 2021.

been madeto theBasicEducation Act inFinlandto enable exceptional distanceteachingarrangements in primaryand lower-secondaryeducation if contact

teachingcould notbeorganisedsafelyaccording to recommendationsgivenby regional authorities.

Vaccina�on of teachers Thevaccination of teachers,together with measures suchassocial distancingand stricthygienepractices inclass,cancontribute to makingin-personteaching safer,following there-openingof schools.Given thelimitedinitial supplyof vaccines,however,and withcompeting healthobjectives (e.g.relieving the healthcare system,protecting themostvulnerable individuals),governmentsfaced difficult decisions about theprioritisation of vaccination (European CentreforDiseasePreventionandControl, 2020[6]).

Asof March 2021, theSpecial Surveyshowsthat 19 out of the 30 countrieswith comparable data implementednational measuresprioritising teachers’ vaccination,at thepre-primaryto upper-secondary levels. Thesecountriesinclude Austria,Chile, Colombia, theCzech Republic,Estonia,Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel,Italy, Latvia,Lithuania,Poland, Portugal, theRussianFederation, theSlovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain and Turkey.Forinstance,inGermany, staff inECECand primary institutionsareassigned to

thesecondpriority group(togetherwithindividuals aged 70-80 and individualswith special diseases; and after individualsaged 80+ and health care staff).

Inthiscountry, thevaccination campaign startedat the endof February2021 for teachersinprimaryschools and special education institutions.Incountriessuch asBelgium, Costa Rica,Denmark,England, Finland, France,Japan,theNetherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland, teachersare eithersubjectto the samevaccination scheduleasthegeneral population, or the schedulefor teachers’ vaccination hasnot beendefined yet(Table 3.1).InFrance,for instance, althoughno decision hasbeentakenasof March 29 2021, thegovernmentisexploring thepossibility of startingteachers’vaccination in mid-or late April 2021, aspart of a targeted vaccination campaign for exposed professions.

AsshowninFigure3.2, mostof thecountries that prioritise teachers’vaccination havealso adopted prioritisation criteria amongteachers.Giventhat

© OECD2021

21

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic Table3.1• Measuresfor thepriori�sa�on of teachers’vaccina�on, at thepre-primary to uppersecondarylevels (asof March 2021) Countrieswith na�onal measurespriori�sing teachers’ vaccina�on

Countries where teachers are subject to the samevaccination scheduleasthe general popula�on, or where teachers’ vaccina�on schedulehasnot been defined yet

Number of countries

Number of countries

19

Listof countries Austria,Chile, Colombia, theCzech Republic,Estonia,Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel,Italy, Latvia,Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, theRussianFederation, theSlovakRepublic,Slovenia, Spain and Turkey

Listof countries

11

Belgium, Costa Rica,Denmark,England (UK), Finland, France,Japan,the Netherlands,Norway, Swedenand Switzerland

Source:OECD/UNESCO-UIS/UNICEF/World BankSpecial SurveyonCOVID.March 2021.

older adultsface higherrisksof developing severe formsof thedisease,several countries(Austria, Chile, Colombia, theCzechRepublic,Germany,Hungary, Latviaand Slovenia)haveprioritised teachers’ vaccination basedon theirage. Anothercriterion isthe level of education at which teachers’teach,which was usedto determinetheorder of vaccination inGermany,

Latvia,Poland,Portugal,Slovenia and Spain. InLatvia, for instance,priority wasgivento teachersworking face-to-face withchildren(pre-primary teachersand special education teachers).Anothercriterion was adopted inthe RussianFederation:theincidence of viral transmission,inorder to prioritise thevaccination of teachersby sub-national level.

Sustaininglearning With thedifficulties of ensuringequitable accessand quality indistancelearning, countrieshaverelied

ondifferent strategiesto mitigate learning losses, particularly atthelower levelsof educationwhere

Figure3.2• Percentageof countriesrepor�ng that thefollowing criteria were usedto priori�se vaccina�on among teachers(pre-primary to upper-secondary levels) Yes

No

Yes,by age group

Yes,by level of educa�on

Other

No criteria

Yes,by sub-na�onal level depending on the incidence of viral transmission 0

10

20

30

40

50

Note: Countriesthatreported “Do not know” / “Not applicable” are excludedfromthedenominator.

Prioritisationcriteria are rankedindescendingorder of thepercentageof countrieswhoanswered“Yes”.

Source:OECD/UNESCO-UIS/UNICEF/World BankSpecial SurveyonCOVID.March 2021.

22

© OECD2021

60

70

80

90

100 %

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic thesechallenges are mostprevalent. 86%of countries with comparable data reported providing remedial measurestoreduce learning gaps at theprimary level,75%did soatlower secondary and 73%at theupper-secondary level of education. Remedial measureswere morecommonlytargeted to all students thatwould needthemratherthanfocusingonspecific demographic groups.More than60%of countries withcomparable data introducedspecific measures focusedondisadvantaged studentswhile about 40%targeted measuresat immigrant,refugee, ethnic minorityor indigenousgroups.Similarly, morethan half of thecountriesintroduced measuresspecifically targeted atthoseatriskofrepeating theirgrade or dropping out(Figure3.3). Forexample,inIsrael, theopening of schoolsindisadvantaged areasor areaswith a large shareof studentsat riskof low performancewasprioritised. Duringthesecondperiod of schoolclosures,theywereallowed to remainopen.

inLatviapassingthenational examinationfor the 2019/20 schoolyear wereallowed to returnto school for open consultationsoncoursematerial. Despite thedifficulties of ensuringpractical learningina virtual and remoteenvironment,only 40%of countries implementedmeasuresto addressthe specific challengesof upper-secondary vocational students (Figure3.3). Vocational studentsinEstoniabenefited fromadditional studytimewhile specific adjustments to theorganisation of thetrade examinationsfor apprenticeswereimplementedinNorway.

With schoolclosuresandhybrid learning significantly reducing thenumberof in-person instructionhours available withintheacademic year, education systems adapted byallocating timeforremedialclasses within currentschedules.Slightly lessthanhalf of the countriesproviding remedial measurestoaddress learninggaps provided additional classtimeoutside of normalschool hoursacrossall levelsof education.

Forexample,in France,theinitiative DevoirsFaits,which supportsstudentswith completing their homework throughdedicated timeatschool, wasstrengthenedin September2020 tosupport studentswitheducational challengesduringthepandemic. Atprimary andlower secondary level, ninecountriesscheduledextraremedial timeduring theschool holidays and someschoolsin

While about oneinfour countriesfocusedtheir remedial efforts onstudentstransitioning across education levels,thesharedoubled whenit came to upper-secondary studentsexpecting to passa national examinationthatwould be a prerequisitefor completion of theleveland enable accesstohigher education. Forexample,upper-secondary students Figure3.3•

Strategiesto addresslearning gaps when schoolsre-opened after the first closurein 2020

Upper-secondary education Remedial measuresto reduce students’learning gaps Assessmentofgaps in studentlearning Remedialmeasures-special focusondisadvantaged students Remedialmeasures-special focusonstudentswho were unable toaccessdistancelearning Remedialmeasures-special focuson studentsat risk of drop-out or grade repe��on Remedialmeasures-special focusonstudentsinupper secondary with a na�onal examina�on Remedialmeasures-special focusonimmigrant, refugee, ethnic minority or indigenous students Remedialmeasures-special focusonstudentsinprogrammes with a voca�onal orienta�on Remedialmeasures-special focusonall students transitioning fromoneISCEDlevel to thenext Do not know Other 0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80 %

Source:OECD/UNESCO-UIS/UNICEF/World BankSpecial SurveyonCOVID.March 2021.

© OECD2021

23

England(UK)

Israel

Japan

Italy

24 X X X X

X X X X

Korea X X X

Latvia X

Lithuania X

Spain

Turkey

© OECD2021 X

Norway

Slovenia

Sweden

Netherlands

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

New Zealand

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Poland

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Portugal

X

Slovak Republic

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X X X X

Belgium FlemishCommunity X X X

Belgium FrenchCommunity X X X

Canada X X

Chile X

Colombia X X

Czech Republic X X X X

X X X

X X X

Hungary X

Ireland X

X X X X

X X X X

X X X X

Source:OECD/UNESCO-UIS/UNICEF/World BankSpecial SurveyonCOVID.March 2021.

X

Estonia X X

Finland X X

France X X X X X

Germany X X X X X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Remedial measureswith a special focus on studentsin programmes with a voca�onal orienta�on

Remedial measureswith a special focus on immigrant and refugee students, ethnic minority or indigenous students

Remedial measureswith a special focus on studentsat risk of drop-out or of grade repe��on

Remedial measureswith a special focus on all studentstransi�oning from one ISCEDlevel to the next

Austria Remedial measureswith a special focus on studentsin upper secondary grades with a na�onal examina�on at theend of 2019/20 or 2020 calendaryear)

Remedial measureswith a special focus on studentswho were unable to access distancelearning

Remedial measureswith a special focus on disadvantaged students

Table 3.2•

Remedialmeasuresto reduce students’ learning gaps (for all students who need it)

Assessmentof gaps in student learning that may have accumulatedduring school closures

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic

Upper-secondary education

Strategiesto addresslearning gaps whenschoolsre-opened after thefirst closurein 2020

X X X

X

X X X

X X X

X X X

X

X X X

X X X

X X

X X

X X X X X

X

X

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic Germany,Japanand theNetherlands organised such measuresduring weekends.Inother countries, suchas Slovenia or Switzerland, suchremedial measureswere organised duringplanned schooltime.

Korea,New Zealand or Norway, settingup afterschool,weekend,or holiday tutorialswaslargely left totheschool’sdiscretion.According toa recent surveyof lower-secondary institutionsinFrance,54% of respondentsreported settingupa complementary systemto support studentswith difficulties to consolidate thefundamentalskillsand integrated the additional hoursintotheirteachingactivity.

However, theextent to which thesemeasureshave beenequitably distributedcannotbediscernedfrom thesedata. Inmanycountries,although national guidelineswere issued,schoolscould decide how and when to implementthem.Incountries suchas

Ensuringequity and inclusion Populationsfromdisadvantaged demographic groups are mostvulnerable to learning lossesduring school closures.Not only are theylesslikely to haveaccessto a quality education,buttheyarealsolesslikely tobenefit fromdigital infrastructure,a quietplace tostudy,anda supportiveenvironmentfor effective distancelearning.

majority of OECD countries, somesuchasCosta Rica, Estonia,Poland,Portugal, Hungary, Spain and Turkey provided financial incentivessuchascash,food or transportor waived schoolfeestoat leastonegroup of vulnerable students(Figure3.4).

While mostmeasuresweregenerally applied to all vulnerablepopulation groups,somecountries targeted specific measuresto some.Forexample, in Latvia,special education institutionsdelivering basic education for childrenwith mentaldisabilities were allowed toremainopenfor on-sitelearningwhile in theCzechRepublic,childrenwith specific cognitive disabilitiesor otherspecific disorderswerenotobliged to wear face maskswith special care takento ensure

Between65%and 75%of the20 countries implementedschool-based mechanismstotrack vulnerable studentgroupsnot returningto school, anda slightlylower shareadjustedtheaccessibility of sanitationand hygieneservices.About 40%of countriesleveraged communityengagementactivities while 30%reviewed accesspolicies.

Althoughbasic public schoolingisprovided freeof chargeinthe

Figure3.4• Outreach and support measuresto encourage thereturn to school of vulnerable populations (preprimary to upper-secondary educa�on) Shareof countriesthatresponded havingimplementedthespecified measures Other popula�ons at risk Children withdisabili�es

Refugees/migrants/ displaced children EthnicMinorities/Äspeakersof minority languages School-based mechanismstotrack thosenotreturningto school Make modifications to ensurewater, hygiene, and sanitation servicesare accessible Communityengagement to encourage return to school Reviewing/revising accesspolicies Provisionof financial incentivesor waived fees None Other 0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Shareof countries(%)

Note: Theshareofcountriescalculated includesonlycountriesthatresponded“yes” or“no” tothequestion.

Source:OECD/UNESCO-UIS/UNICEF/World BankSpecial SurveyonCOVID.March 2021.

© OECD2021

25

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic smallgroupsand enforced hygiene measures.In Ireland, a summerprogrammewasdeveloped to supportvulnerable studentsand thosewith disabilities inreturningtoschool. Inaddition, thecountry’sAccess andInclusionModel (AIM) whichsupportsthe

26

© OECD2021

participation of childrenwithdisabilitiesintheState’s free-school programme,wasopen throughoutthe pandemic. InTurkey,financial or waived feestargeted mostlyrefugees,migrantsor displaced children.

4 Examination and assessment Inmanycountries,and ina typical schoolyear, students’ability to progressto a higher level of education requirestheobtainmentof a certification or credential, whichoften requirestaking anexamination.

Suchexaminationsare mostprevalent at theupper secondarylevel andcan certify completionof thislevel and/or selectstudentstoentertertiary institutions.

Standardised assessments,distinctfromend-ofcycle examinations,are also regularly used.They help policy-makersand educatorsmonitorlearning acrosscohorts,can informfunding formulaeor teacher allocation mechanismswhichaimat better matchingresourceswith needs,andprovide diagnostic information to teachers,studentsand parents.In somecases, suchassessmentsalso inform school evaluations(OECD,2015[7]). Forboth examinations

and assessments,standardisationin content coverage and intheconditions of administrationhelp ensure comparability of resultsacrossstudents,schoolsand over time.

Thepandemic complicated theadministrationof national examinationsand assessments.Toa varying extent,education systemschangedthecalendar, content and mode of examinations and assessments.

Many countriescancelled planned administrations and, inthecaseof upper secondary examinations, replaced thembyothercriteria for graduation. The variation intheextentto whichcountriesdeviated from their assessmentandexaminationplans isrelated both to thepandemic situationand to how important these testswere in their respective education systems.

Changesto graduation criteria and examinations Countrieswereaskedwhether, aspart of the schoolre-opening plans,theymadechangestothe graduation criteria atupper-secondarylevelineither 2019-20 or 2020-21. Many countriesreported adjustments.Forexample,in Spain, asa general rule, all studentswere promoted to thenextlevel at theend of thepastacademic year; central examinationswere mostlycancelled and replaced by collegial decisions by teachers.InFrance,for classeswheregraduation criteria included both standardisedexaminationsand school marks,only thelatter componentwasretained.

Fewcountrieshavebeenable toreport graduation ratiosfor 2020 aswell asfor 2019 (i.e. theratio of upper secondary graduatesto studentsenrolled in thelastyearof upper-secondaryeducation).Initial resultsshowthat in Chile, theCzech Republic, France, Hungary, Italy, Latvia,Norway and Spain therewas a significant increaseingraduation ratios(among vocational studentsonly, intheCzech Republic, Hungary andLatvia;amonggeneral education studentsonly, inNorway); incontrast,Estonia,Korea,

LithuaniaandSwedenreported stablegraduation ratios, and theRussianFederationreported a decline in graduation ratios(Figure4.1).Colombia alsoreported thatit expectsgraduation ratiosto havedecreased (without being able to computethem,at thisstage).

Some17 countriespostponed or rescheduledthe examinations(Austria,Chile,Colombia, theCzech Republic,Estonia,Finland,Germany, Israel, Korea, Latvia,Lithuania,New Zealand, Poland,Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Turkey).Re-schedulingdid not always meanpostponing: inFinland,for example, matriculation examinationswhichdetermineuniversity entryaretypically heldin Spring,andweremoved forward by one weekin Spring2020 in anticipation of a worseningpandemic situation;at thesame time,tocompensatefortheshortenedpreparation, studentswere offered to repeat theexaminationin the Autumn,if theywere unsatisfied with theSpring result.

Nine education systems(theFrenchCommunityof Belgium,Denmark,Estonia,France,Hungary, Israel, theNetherlands,Norway andtheSlovakRepublic) © OECD2021

27

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic Figure4.1•

Gradua�on ra�os for studentsin thelastyear of upper secondary educa�on (2019 and 2020)

Generaland vocational tracks

2018/ 2019

2019/ 2020

Upper secondary, general % 100

Gradua�on ra�os

95 90 85 80 75

Sweden

Turkey Turkey

Norway Norway

Sweden

Lituania Latvia

RussianFederation

Korea Lituania

Italy

Hungary

France

Estonia

Spain

CzechRepublic

Chile

70

Upper secondary,voca�onal % 100

Gradua�on ra�os

95 90 85 80 75

RussianFederation

Korea

Italy

Hungary

France

Estonia

CzechRepublic

Chile

70

Notes: Graduation ratiosare computedbydividing thenumberof upper secondarygraduates by thenumberof studentswhowere enrolled intheirlastyear of upper secondary education. Ratiosabove 100%are shownasequal to 100%.Only countrieswithvalid responsesfor both schoolyearsare showninthefigure.

Source:OECD/UNESCO-UIS/UNICEF/World BankSpecial SurveyonCOVID.March 2021.

28

© OECD2021

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic Table 4.1• Have you madeany of thefollowing changesto 2019-20 na�onal examina�onsdue to the pandemic?

Upper secondarygeneral Changes

N

Countries

Introduced additional healthandsafetymeasures(e.g., extraspace between desksfor distancing students)

21

Austria,Belgium (Flemish),Belgium(French),Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic,Estonia,Finland,France,Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Lithuania,Latvia, Poland, Portugal, RussianFederation, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey

Adjustedthecontent of theExaminations(e.g., subjects covered or numberof questions)

10

Austria,Chile, Spain,Israel, Italy, Latvia,Poland,Portugal, RussianFederation, Turkey

Adjustedthemodeof administration(e.g., computer-based oronline-based) Postponed/rescheduled theExaminations

5

Belgium(Flemish),Colombia, Italy, Latvia,Lithuania

17

Austria,Chile,Colombia, CzechRepublic,Germany,Spain, Estonia,Finland,Israel, Korea, Latvia,Lithuania,New Zealand, Poland,Portugal, Slovenia, Turkey

Canceled theExaminationsand usedanalternative approach for high-stakesdecisionmaking(e.g.,calculated grades)

9

Belgium(French),Denmark,Estonia,France,Hungary, Israel, Netherlands,Norway, SlovakRepublic

Introducedalternativeassessment/validationof learning (e.g.appraisal ofstudentlearningportfolio)

8 CostaRica,France,Israel,Latvia,Netherlands,New Zealand, Poland, RussianFederation

Note: 34 countriescompleted thequestionnaire.Of these,28 provided valid answers(different from“not applicable” least one of thesequestions.

Source:OECD/UNESCO-UIS/UNICEF/World BankSpecial SurveyonCOVID.March 2021.

or “do not know”) to at

cancelled theexaminationsaltogether,at leastpartially (inHungary, for example,theoral examinationwas cancelled).

New Zealand, Polandand RussianFederation) reported thattheyintroducedalternative waysof assessingand validating students’learning.

Many of thecountriesthatmaintained theexaminations (possibly at a different date thanoriginally planned) also madeother changesto thecontentor mode of examination. Tencountries(Austria,Chile, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Poland,Portugal, RussianFederation, Spain and Turkey)reported changesto thecontent of theexaminations,and five education systems(the FlemishCommunityof Belgium,Colombia, Italy, Latvia and Lithuania)reported changestothemodeof administration(in Lithuania,for example,a smallpart of final examswasadministered on line). Eightcountries (Costa Rica,France,Israel, Latvia,theNetherlands,

Forthe2020-21 schoolyear, foureducation systems (the FrenchCommunityof Belgium, Denmark, Hungary and Norway) reported that theycancelled examinationsat theupper secondary general level and three other systems(the FlemishCommunity of Belgium,Colombia and Latvia)reported thatthey would adjustthemodeof administration. Twelve countries(Austria, theCzech Republic,Denmark, France,Germany, Latvia, Lithuania,Poland,Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Turkey)haveadjusted thecontent of theexaminations,and eight havepostponed or rescheduled theexaminations.

Useof assessmentstoevaluate learning Giventhewidespread disruptionsof regular schooling overthepast year, thereisanurgentneedfor knowing how students’learning hasbeen affected in order to guide theefficient useof resourcesinthecoming months.In mostcountries, the assessmentof the impact of schoolclosuresand otherhealth and safety measureson students’learning hasbeen mostlythe responsibility of classroomteachers(Table 4.2). In somecases,e.g. inColombia, teachersreceived guidance and instrumentsfromcentral authorities to help themassesslearning losses.Only a few countries reported that studentswere assessedin a standardised

way: five countries(France,Germany, Denmark, Estonia,Italy) did soattheprimary,lower secondary andupper-secondary levels;theNetherlandsdid soat theprimary level; Norway at the primary and lowersecondary levels;Polandat thelower and uppersecondary levels;and Austria,theCzech Republic, Latvia and theRussianFederation at theuppersecondary level. Inseveralothercountries,thereare plans to usethestandardised assessmentsconducted in thecurrentschool year to assesslearning lossesdue to thepandemic.

© OECD2021

29

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic Table 4.2• Stepstakento assesswhethertherehavebeenlearning lossesasaresultof COVIDrelated school closuresin2020 Primary,lower-secondary andupper-secondary (general) Studentswereassessedin a standardised way (at the sub-na�onalor na�onal level) Primary

Lower secondary

Upper secondary

Austria

X

Studentswereassessedat theclassroom level (formative assessmentbyteachers) Primary

Lower secondary

Upper secondary

X

X

X

Belgium (FlemishCommunity)

X

X

X

Belgium (FrenchCommunity)

X

X

X

Chile

X

X

X

Costa Rica

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Czech Republic Denmark

X

X

X

X

Estonia

X

X

X

X

X

X

France

X

X

X

X

X

X

Germany

X

X

X X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Spain

X

X

X

Switzerland

X

X

X

Israel Italy

X

X

X

Japan Latvia

X

Lithuania Netherlands

X

Norway

X

Poland

X

X X

X

Portugal RussianFederation

X

Source:OECD/UNESCO-UIS/UNICEF/World BankSpecial SurveyonCOVID.March 2021.

One reasonwhysofew countrieswereable to assess learning usingstandardised assessmentsisthat national assessmentswerecalled off during 2020 inmany countries:Forexample,Hungary, Israel, theSlovak RepublicandSpain cancelled all national assessments in2020. Countriesthatwereable tomaintain national assessmentsin2020 usedtheir resultsto provide teacherswith studentdiagnostic information andto provide feedback toparents(nineeducation systems,atlower-secondary level: Austria, theFlemish Communityof Belgium,the Czech Republic, Estonia, France,Italy, Latvia, Polandand RussianFederation); sevencountries usedthe resultsto compare themwith to theschool’s resultsinpast years(Austria, theCzech Republic,Estonia,France,Hungary, Latvia and Poland).

Sevencountriesindicated that theyusedtheresults of national/central assessmentsconductedduring the2019/20 schoolyear at lower-secondarylevel to evaluateschool performance(Austria,theCzech 30

© OECD2021

Republic, Denmark,France,Latvia, Poland and Russian Federation).In2015, inresponsetoa similarquestion, a majority of countrieshad reported thattheyused national/central assessmentstoevaluate school performance(OECD,2015[7]) .Thelow numberof countriesthatusednational assessmentsin2020 for schoolaccountability purposesmayreflect simplythe fact that assessmentswerecancelled; whenthey were notcancelled, it mayalsobe theconsequenceof lower studentparticipation ratesin suchassessments, which mayaffect thevalidity and comparability of school- and teacher-level results.

5 Supporting teachers Thetransition to remoteinstruction and thesubsequent re-opening of schools– often at reduced capacity and understrictsanitaryprotocols – hashad a profound impact on teachers’ work. Thecrisisrequired manyof themto acquire newskillsand prepare materialssuitedto virtual learning environments.In somecases,it also added newresponsibilities to theirwork, suchastheco-ordination of supportand resourcesfor their students,increased interaction with parents,theorganisation of remedial classes or theimplementationof newadministrative,health and safety procedures in schools.In somecontexts,

teachers’absencesfurtherlimited capacity and placed constraintson schools’ ability to reduce classsizes or implementdifferent hybrid learning models.These newdemandsonteachersand their colleagues, have movedsomecountriesto change their staffing and recruitmentpractices. Japan,for example,secured asupplementarybudget inmid-2020 toadjustthe staffmixinschoolsand hireadditional supportstaffto alleviate teachers’workload throughMarch 2021 (the plan foresawhiringup to84 900 addi�onal staffin elementaryandjunior highschools,or 3 per school,on average) (BoeskensandNusche,2021, p.68[8]).

Ensuringeducational continuity Responsestothe Special Surveyshowthat, in the majority of OECDcountries,all teachersat theprimary and secondary levelswererequiredto teachremotely duringtheschool closuresof 2020 (Figure5.1).

Betweenaquarter anda thirdof countriesreported that notall butmorethan75%of teacherswere requiredto teachwhile a fewcountriesleft thedecision toschoolsandlocal authorities.

Atthepre-primary level,organising remoteand distancelearning posed evengreater challengesthan inschools.Only 42%of thecountrieswith comparable data requiredall professionalsatthepre-primary level to teach during school closures,butsomecountries keptEarlyChildhood Educationand Care (ECEC) centresopen throughoutthepandemic or closed them for shorterperiods of time.While theywereclosed, sevencountriesreported thathalf or fewer teachers wererequired to teach,perhapsdueto thegreater difficulty of meaningfullyengaging children at the ECEClevel remotely. Likewise,morecountriesat the pre-primary level (21%)left thedecision whether teachersshouldengage ininstructionto schoolsor local authorities.

Not all countriesthatrespondedtotheSpecial Surveyhad monitored thesettingsinwhich their

teachersengaged inremoteinstructionduring the school closures.Amongthosethatdid, morethanhalf reported thatteacherswereable to teachfromthe premiseswhile schoolswereclosed. InSlovenia, for example,teacherswereallowed to teachfromthe schoolpremisesif theydid nothavesuitable conditions to teach fromhome.

Acrossthecountriesparticipating intheSpecial Survey,only a limited numberof countriesreported to havechanged theirrecruitmentpractices and staff policies while themajorityappearstohaveprioritised other leversto minimisetheimpact of school closures and enable schoolsre-opening. Nine of the 28 OECD countriesthatmonitoredchangesinstaffing practices report havingrecruited temporaryteachersand/ or otherstaff to supportlower-secondary studentsin needduringthepandemicin2020. InSlovenia,for example,basic schoolsandkindergartens received additional fundingtohiretechnicaloperatorsto support their ICTinfrastructureduring thesecondwave of thepandemic. Anotherfive countriesreported that hiringadditional temporarystaffwasatthediscretion of schoolsor local authorities(similarpracticeswere observedat theprimaryand upper secondary levels) (Figure5.2). Four,or 12%of countries,reported having

© OECD2021

31

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic Figure5.1• Proportion of teacherswho were required to teach (remotely/online) during all schoolclosuresin 2020 All teachers

More than75%but not all

Lessthan 75%

At the discretionof schoolsor local authorities

Upper secondary, voca�onal

22

Upper secondary, general

9

24

Lowersecondary, general

8

21

Primary

10 0

10

20

2 30

40

2

9

2

7 50

Note: Basedon data from34 OECDand partnercountries(excluding“don’t know” / Source:OECD/UNESCO-UIS/UNICEF/World BankSpecial SurveyonCOVID.March 2021.

Figure5.2•

1

10

21

Pre-primary

1

60

5 70

80

90

100 %

“not applicable” fromthetotals).

Changesto staff policies and recruitmentpractices (ISCED2)

Percentageof countriesreporting thefollowing sharesof teacherswererequired to teachremotely/online duringschoolclosures in2020 Yes

At discretion of schoolsor local authorities

No

100 90 Shareof countries(%)

80 70

14

16 22 21

60 50 5

40

8

30 9

10 0

4

8

20

8 4

Recruitmentof temporary teachersand/or otherstaff

New teachersrecruited for re-opening2019/2020

© OECD2021

4 2

New teachersrecruited for re-opening2020/2021

Note: Basedon data from34 OECD and partner countries(excluding “don’t know” / systemsweresimilarattheprimary and upper-secondary level.

Source:OECD/UNESCO-UIS/UNICEF/World BankSpecial SurveyonCOVID.March 2021.

32

17

Incentives to delay retirement

4 Increasedincentives toteachremedial classes

“not applicable” fromthetotals). Responsesformost

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic hired newteachersfor there-opening schoolsinthe schoolyear 2019/20 and eight,or 25%of countries did so forthefollowing schoolyear2020/21.

Fewercountriesreported thatthey systematically changed theirpolicies for existingstaff members.

Only two OECDcountries,JapanandNew Zealand, provided teacherswithincentivestodelay their retirementand continueworking. Foureducation systems,the Flemishand FrenchCommunities of Belgium,theCzechRepublicand Poland,offered teachersincreased incentivestotake onremedial classessomeof which were organised during the summermonthsto help studentsmakeup for lost learning time(Figure5.2).

ThreeOECD countries (10%of thosethat responded to theSpecial Surveyand monitored thesechanges) reported havingadjustedthepay andbenefitsof teachersat theprimary to upper secondary level inresponseto theschool closuresin2020. Inthe SlovakRepublic, for example,teachers who refused or wereunable to teachremotelyhadtheir base salary reduced by 20%.InSlovenia,teacherscould be compensated for someof theresourcestheyused whenworkingfromhomeandwere eligible for a riskallowance whenworking at theschool premises, subjecttotheschoolleadership’sapproval.

Maintaining interactions between teachers,studentsand parents Maintaining a closerelationshipbetweenteachers, studentsand parents hasbeen keyin ensuring education continuity during schoolclosures.

averagereported a highlevelof needforprofessional developmentin teacher-parent/guardian co-operation (OECD,2019[13]).

Distancelearning impliesa numberof challenges for students,suchasremaining focused during online classes,and finding themotivationand engagement towork withoutthedirect supervisionof a teacher.

Students’self-efficacy and resiliencedescribe their confidence intheirability topursuetheirgoals inthe face of challenging situations.Theseattitudes may constituteimportant assetsto overcomethechallenges posedbyschoolclosures(Meluzzi, 2020[9]). Asshown inPISA2018, prior to thepandemic, 84%of students ‘agreed’ or ‘stronglyagreed’ thattheycan usuallyfind a way out of difficult situations,and 71%‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ that theirbelief in themselvesgets themthroughhard times(OECD,2019[10]).

School closuresarelikely to implya changein the volumeand formatof theinteractionsneeded between schoolsand families. Asanattempt to maintainsmooth communicationbetween teachers, studentsand parents,governmentshaveoftenprovided guidelines about potential communicationchannelsduring school closures.Amongcountrieswithcomparable data at thelower-secondary level, themostcommonly encouraged formsof interaction are“communication one-school platformsavailable for teachers,students andparents”and “phone callsto studentsor parents to ensurethatstudentsfollow upon their learning activities” (Figure5.3). Thesecommunicationchannels wereencouragednationally inaroundtwo thirdsof countrieswith comparable data, while inmostother countriesdecisionsregarding communicationbetween schoolsand familiesaremadeat theschoolor local level (Figure5.3). InFinland,for instance,although national authoritiesprovide recommendationsabout theimportance of maintaining smoothcommunication between schoolsand families,all decisionsregarding theseco-operation and communicationpractices are madeatthelocal level.

Support fromteachersand familiescan contribute to thedevelopment of students’senseof self-efficacy and tobetter learning outcomes(OECD,2019[11], OECD, Forthcoming[12]). Thereare equity concerns,however, asparentsfromdisadvantaged backgroundsmay face morechallengesinsupporting theirchildrenwith schoolwork (e.g. dueto timeconstraints,or lack of familiarity withthelearning material).Communication between schoolsand familiesmayhelp bridge this gap, forinstancebyproviding guidanceto parents onhowto effectively supporttheirchildren’slearning (Meluzzi, 2020[9]). Priorto thepandemic,on average acrossOECDcountriesparticipating inOECD’s Teaching and LearningInternational Survey(TALIS), teachersreported havingspentanaverage of 1.4 hoursoncommunicationand co-operation with parentsor guardians during themostrecentcomplete calendar week.Moreover, 9%of teacherson

Lesscommonapproaches to encouraging communicationbetween schoolsandfamilies include “the useof online parental surveystogather feedback” (33%of surveyedcountries),“involving parentsof youngerlearnersinplanningteaching content” (34%) and “home visits” (14%).Forinstance, homevisitswere onlyimplementedin4 countrieswithcomparable data: theFlemishCommunityof Belgium,Chile, Ireland and Japan(Figure5.3).

© OECD2021

33

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic Figure5.3• Percentageof countriesthat encouraged interactions between teachersand their studentsand/or their parents during school closuresin 2020 Lowersecondaryeducation Schools/Districts/the most local level of governance could decide at their own discre�on

Yes

No

Communicationon E-schoolplatforms available for teachers,studentsand parents Phonecalls to studentsor parentsto ensurethat studentsÊ follow up on their learning activities Emailsto studentsor parents Holding regular conversationsabout studentprogress or consulting parents to inform decision making Videoconference technologies (Zoom, MS Teams,Facetime) Text/ÊWhatsApp/Êotherapplica�on messagingtostudentsor parents Useof online parental surveysto gather feedback Involving parents of younger learners in planning teaching content Homevisits Other

Therewere nospecific guidelines/Êefforts toencourage continuousinteractions outsideof theregular instructiontime 0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Note: Basedon data from34 OECDand partnercountries(excluding“don’t know” / “not applicable” fromthetotals).

Responsesformostsystemsweresimilar at theprimary and upper-secondary level.

Typesof interactions are rankedin descending order of theshareof countrieswhoanswered "Yes".

Source:OECD/UNESCO-UIS/UNICEF/World BankSpecial SurveyonCOVID.March 2021.

Preparingteachersfor remote/ hybrid teaching Toensurethecontinuity of studentlearning during thepandemic, education systemsacrosstheOECD switchedtoremoteor hybrid learning. Tohelp teachers adapt to thistransition,mostcountriesprovided support totheir teachers(frompre-primary toupper-secondary levels)(Figure5.4). While nation-wide measureswere prevalentacrosscountries,supportwasalso provided at thesub-national level (e.g. in Austria,theFlemishand FrenchCommunitiesof Belgium, theCzech Republic, Spainand France)andon a school-by-school basis (e.g. in Austria, the Flemishand FrenchCommunitiesof Belgium,Estonia,Germanyand Korea). Theprovision of instructionondistanceteaching (e.g. TV,radio, learningplatforms)andof adapted teachingcontent (e.g. intheformof open education resources,sample lessonplans) have been the mostcommonformsof supportinthe34 countriescoveredby theSpecial Survey.

Thepandemic hasshownthatdigital divides inaccess todigital toolsand Internetconnectionremainmajor areasof concern inOECD countries.If manycountries

34

© OECD2021

havefocusedtheirefforts inenhancing access for students,teachersoften also needed support.

Teachers’ accessto technology (computers,software, stable Internetconnection) wasone of themost frequently mentionedchallenges by Europeanteachers whenswitchingtoonline or distancelearning during thepandemic (reported by 34%of teacherssurveyed in April/May 2020 on theSchoolEduca�onGateway platform) (SchoolEducationGateway, n.d.[14]). The Special Surveyrevealsthat70%of participating countriessupportedteachersbyproviding ICTtools or freeconnectivity (PC,mobile device, voucherfor mobilebroadband, etc.)(Figure5.4).

Beforethepandemic, evidence fromPISA(2018) showedlarge cross-countryvariations inteachers’ preparedness(technical and pedagogical) at integratingdigital technologiesintheirinstruction.

Teacherswhoappeared prepared (basedon their principals’ reports) taughtmorethan80%of studentsin Austria in contrast to just27%of studentsin Japan(OECD,2020[3]). Threequartersofcountries

100 %

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic Figure5.4•

Support for teachersin their transition to remotelearning in 2020

Percentageof countriesthatprovided eachtype of supportata national level % 100 90

29

28 24

80

24

23

21

70 60

14

50 40

OECD/UNESCO-UIS/UNICEF/World BankSpecial SurveyonCOVID. March 2021.

30 20

5

10

0

0 Teaching content adapted to remote teaching (e.g. open educa�onal resources, lessonplans)

Instructions on distance teaching (e.g. TV, radio, learning platforms)

Special ICT training

Professional development ac�vi�es (e.g. workshops and webinars) on pedagogy and ICTuse

Professional, psychosocial and emotional support (e.g. chatgroups, online teacher forums)

ICTtoolsand connectivity (e.g. PCs, mobile devices, mobile broadband vouchers)

Guidelines for preparing a virtual classroom

Note: Basedon data from34 OECDand partner countries.Countriesthatreported “Do not know” / denominator.

Source:OECD/UNESCO-UIS/UNICEF/World BankSpecial SurveyonCOVID.March 2021.

Figure5.5•

Other

No addi�onal support

“Not applicable” are excluded fromthe

Teacherstrained in using distance-learning tools in responseto the pandemic

Percentageof countriesreporting thefollowing sharesof trained teachersin2020

Upper secondary, general

All of the teachers

More than75%but not all teachers

About half of the teachers

More than 25% but lessthan 50%

Lessthan 25%

Unknown/not monitored

6

Lowersecondary

Primary

0

15

6

9

6

58

9

6

58

3

18

6

3

18

6

10

20

6

30

9

58

40

50

60

70

80

90

100 %

Source:OECD/UNESCO-UIS/UNICEF/World BankSpecial SurveyonCOVID.March 2021.

© OECD2021

35

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic coveredby theSpecial Surveyprovided professional developmentto teachersduringthepandemic, whetherintheshapeof ICTtrainingor activities on pedagogy andeffective useof technologies.

Countriesdisplay large variationsin theshareof teacherstrained inusingdistance-learning toolsand morethanhalfof countrieswerenotable toreport howmanyteachershad actually beencovered by suchsupport. Thisraisesquestions about accessand provisionof professionaldevelopmentprovided to teacherswhich may,in turn,haveimplications onthe extenttowhich all studentswereable tobenefit from high-quality distanceinstruction.

Tohelp teachersadapt to thechallengesof remote or hybrid teaching, governmentshaverelied ona range of support measuresfor teachers’ professional learning. Acrossall education levels,themost commonformsof governmentsupport targeted thedevelopment of newtraining programmesand coursesfor practising teachers(74%of countrieson average acrossall education levels)andof new self-learning tools onremote/hybrid teaching and related ICTskills(73%).Incontrast,moreindirect support measures,suchasreformed approaches to schoolaccountability, quality assurancerulesand teacherappraisal totakebetter accountof increased useof remote/ hybrid learning for studentswere less recurrent(Figure5.6). Theemergencycontext islikely to haveprovided insufficienttimefor thedesignand implementation of suchmeasures.Only sixcountries reformedapproachesto schoolaccountability and quality assurancerulesandprocedures (Austria,Israel, Japan,Latviaand Polandand Turkey)and five of them also implementedreformedapproaches to teacher appraisal (Israel, Japan,Latvia,Polandand Turkey).In addition, insomecountries,it wasschools,districtsor a local level of governancethat could decide at their own discretionregarding thetype of supportmeasures for teachers’ professionallearning (e.g. in Spain and Sweden).

Almosthalf of thecountries surveyedhavealso concentratedtheir efforts onsupportfor the establishmentor expansionof teacher networksor communitiesof practice. When embedded insystemwide and school-specific goals, collaborative learning canbe particularly effective atenhancingteachers’ skillsand expertise(OECD,2019[13]). Beforethe pandemic,few OECDcountriesoffered supportfor enhancingcollaboration orfeedback amongteachers and teachers’ engagement in professional networks, peerobservation or coaching remainedlimitedrelative to moretraditional formsof professionaldevelopment (e.g. coursesand seminars)(OECD,2019[15]; OECD, 2019[13]). Itisencouraging therefore,that68%of 36

© OECD2021

surveyedcountrieshavesupported teacher networks or communitiesofpractice. Digitalisation inthewake of thepandemic,togetherwithbottom-up,teacher-led initiatives thoughwhichteacherssupported each other haveaccelerated thecreationand/or improvement of suchnetworks or communities.Someeducation systems,like the FlemishCommunityof Belgium, could build onexistingonlineeducational platforms(e.g.

KlasCement)to support teacher exchangesthrough redesignedteacher forumsand newly-proposed webinars(Minea-Pic, 2020[16]). Inothers,likeKorea, thegovernmentcreated newnetworks. TheKorean governmentintroduced theCommunityof 10 000 RepresentativeTeachers,whereby representative teachers,proficient inremoteteaching, supported otherteachersinadapting toand solvingproblems associatedwith remoteteaching(OECD,2019[13]).

On average, surveyedcountriesintendto maintain thesametypesof support for teacher professional learning in2021, acrossall education levels.The inclusionof (more)learning contenton remote/ hybrid teachingand related ICTskillsaspart of initial teacher education programmesislikely to become morerecurrent(PanelB,Figure5.6). More than80% of countriesplan toprovide suchsupportin2021 in contrastto45%in 2020 forlower-secondary teachers.

Given theaccelerated digitalisation of education systems,enhancedsupportfor initial teacher education acknowledges theimportanceof rethinkingtheinitial teachereducation curriculumand adapting theskillssetof futureteachersfor fast-changing skillsdemands.

Belgium, the RussianFederation, Slovak Republic and Sloveniaare countriesthatdid notprovide such supportfor initial teachereducation in2020 butplan on providing it in 2021.

Health-related restrictionsdueto thepandemichave led manyteacherprofessionallearningactivities to transitiononline and governmentshaverelied on a range of digital-based professionallearning opportunities for teachers.InLatvia,for instance,all continuousprofessional developmentactivities were movedonlinesinceOctober 2020. TheSpecial Surveyrevealsthat recurrentformatsof online teacher professionallearning provided in 2020 haverevolved arounddigital resourcesbanks,informationwebpages or guidelines.

Learningformatsinvolving collaborative features(that hold greatpotential forenhancingteacherlearning), suchasteacher communitiesor webinars with peer interaction,havealsobeen common.More than60% of surveyedcountrieshaveprovided suchteacher professionallearning opportunities and manyteachers also engaged ontheir own,throughmorebottomupinitiatives (e.g. social media,teacher forums)in

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic Figure5.6• Supportfor teachers’ professionallearning to help teachersprepare for moreeffective useof ICT toolsand remote/hybrid teaching Shareof countriesproviding eachtype of supporttolower-secondary teachers Panel A. Typeof support in lower secondary educa�on, in 2020 Yes

Schools/Districts/ themostlocal level of governancecould decide attheir own discre�on

Supported thedevelopmentofnewtraining programmesandcourses remote/hybrid teaching and related ICTskills, aimed at practising teachers

74%

Supportedthedevelopmentofnewself-learning toolsonremote/ hybrid teaching and related ICTskills, aimed at practising teachers

73%

Supported theestablishmentor expansionof teachernetworksor communitiesof practice with a focuson remote/hybrid teaching and related ICTskills Provided additional resourcesto training providers or school support bodiesto scaleupexistingtraining programmes,coursesor self-learning tools for teachersremote/hybrid teaching and related ICTskills Supported theinclusion of (more)learning content on remote/hybrid teaching and related ICTskills as part of initial teacher education programmes Providedadditional resourcestopay for teacherstoaccess training on remote/hybrid teaching and related ICTskills

9% 5% 5%

68% 5%

57% 5%

45% 17%

25%

Reformedapproachestoschoolaccountability andquality assurancerules and proceduresto take better account of increased useof remote/hybrid learning for students Reformedapproachestoteacherappraisal totakebetter accountof increaseduseof remote/hybrid learning for students,

5%

27% 5%

23%

Providedadditional resourcestocover thecostsof releasingteachersfrom teaching dutiesto spendtimeon training remote/hybrid teaching and related ICTskills

18%

9%

Other

11%

No addi�onal supportwasoffered to teachers 0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100 %

PanelB.Typeof support in lower secondary educa�on, in 2021 Yes

Schools/Districts/ themostlocal level of governancecould decide attheir own discre�on

Supported thedevelopmentofnewtraining programmesandcourses remote/hybrid teaching and related ICTskills, aimed at practising teachers

5%

91%

Supportedthedevelopmentofnewself-learning toolsonremote/ hybrid teaching and related ICTskills, aimed at practising teachers

5%

84%

Supported theestablishmentor expansionof teachernetworksor communitiesof practice with a focuson remote/hybrid teaching and related ICTskills Provided additional resourcesto training providers or school support bodiesto scaleupexistingtraining programmes,coursesor self-learning tools for teachersremote/hybrid teaching and related ICTskills Supported theinclusion of (more)learning content on remote/hybrid teaching and related ICTskills as part of initial teacher education programmes Providedadditional resourcestopay for teacherstoaccess training on remote/hybrid teaching and related ICTskills

10%

75% 11%

63%

12%

82% 19%

33%

Reformedapproachestoschoolaccountability andquality assurancerules and proceduresto take better account of increased useof remote/hybrid learning for students Reformedapproachestoteacherappraisal totakebetter accountof increaseduseof remote/hybrid learning for students, Providedadditional resourcestocover thecostsof releasingteachersfrom teaching dutiesto spendtimeon training remote/hybrid teaching and related ICTskills

6%

41% 5%

26% 11%

16%

14%

Other No addi�onal supportwasoffered to teachers 0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100 %

Note: “2020” referstosupportprovided bythegovernmentin2020 tohelpteachersprepare formoreeffectiveuseofICTtoolsandremote/ hybrid teaching.“2021” referstohow thegovernmentplanstosupportteachers’professionallearningin2021 tohelpteachersprepare for moreeffective useof ICTtools and remote/hybrid teaching.Countriesthatreported “Do not know” / “Not applicable” are excludedfromthe denominator.

Source:OECD/UNESCO-UIS/UNICEF/World BankSpecial SurveyonCOVID.March 2021.

© OECD2021

37

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic Figure5.7• pandemic

Provisionof online or hybrid teachers'professional learning opportunities in responseto the

Percentageof countrieswhereteacherprofessionallearning wasprovided inthefollowing formats PanelA. Online only - Schoolyear 2019/2020 (2020 for somecountrieswith calendar year) Yes 4%

4%

4% 4%

12% 8% 93%

15% 15%

16%

9% 93%

89%

65%

60%

57%

67%

62%

69%

60%

Webinars (with peer interac�on)

Web pages with informa�on

Tutoredcourses

Teacher communities

Self-paced courses without peer interac�on

Self-paced courses with peer interac�on

Learningapps

Other

Digital resourcesbanks/ Open education resources

Guidelines

5% Conferences

% 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Schools/Districts/ themostlocal level of governancecould decide at theirown discre�on

PanelB.Hybrid learning - Schoolyear 2019/2020 (2020 for somecountrieswith calendar year) Yes

Schools/Districts/ themostlocal level of governancecould decide at theirown discre�on

%

19%

5%

23%

17%

© OECD2021

50% 35%

31%

Webinars (with peer interac�on)

36%

Note: Countriesthatreported “Do not know” / “Not applicable” are excludedfromthedenominator.

Source:OECD/UNESCO-UIS/UNICEF/World BankSpecial SurveyonCOVID.March 2021.

38

12%

17%

Web pages with informa�on

Other

Guidelines

Digital resourcesbanks/ Open education resources

17%

17%

Tutoredcourses

17%

Teacher communities

42%

18%

Self-paced courses without peer interac�on

37%

20%

Self-paced courses with peer interac�on

35%

11%

12%

Learningapps

15%

Conferences

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic suchformsof supportBalancing central guidance andteacheragency intechnology-based teacher professionallearningopportunities canindeed help teachersmoreeasily navigate throughthewealth of available learningresourcesavailable online and establishmoresustainable online communities driven by their members’desireto learn (MineaPic,2020[17]; OECD,2019[13]; Vangriekenet al., 2017[18]). In Norway, for instance,theDirectorate for Educationand Traininghasbeenactive insocial mediagroupsondigital learning gathering morethan 50 000 members.

Thetransitionto online or hybrid teacherprofessional learning hasbeenchallenging for manyteacherswho werenotfamiliar with online learning formats.Teacher engagementinonline professional developmentwas limited prior to thepandemicinOECDcountriesand teacherswerelesslikely thanother professionals tolearn bykeepingupto date withnewproducts andservices(Minea-Pic, 2020[17]). Countrieshave provided supportto help meetnecessarypreconditions for teachers’learning on line during the pandemic, for instanceby providing ICTaccessand connectivity toteachersor supportingICT-related teacherprofessionallearning to build teachers’digital competence.

(Minea-Pic,2020[17]; Dedeet al.,2016[19]). Hybrid or blended learning environmentsforteachers(and adults)havethusbeen shownto be morebeneficial to learnersthanpurely virtual ones,whetherinthe shape of coursesor communities(Escuetaet al., 2017[20]; Matzat, 2010[21]). Inaddi�on, hybridlearning activities provide flexibility in combiningand delivering teacherprofessionallearning ina rangeof formats that can help reduce costs,addresstimeconstraints and integrate moreimpactful formsof learning suchas coaching, mentoringor externalsupport(Education EndowmentFoundation,2020[22]). Health restrictions and school closureshaveneverthelesslimited the extentto whichcountriescould rely untilnow onhybrid formsof teacherprofessional learning. Countries haveespecially provided hybrid teacherprofessional learning throughwebinarswithpeer interaction and guidelines, butalso teacher communities.Atthesame time,the Special Surveyshowsthatmostformsof onlineand hybrid teacherprofessionallearningare being sustainedinthe2020/2021 academicyear, providing opportunities for progressivelyenhancingthe digitalisation of teacherprofessionallearning systems and thetransitiontomorehybrid formsof learning for teachers (Figure5.7).

Atthesametime,technology alone isinsufficient toensurethequality of technology-based teacher professionallearning. A numberof designfeatures can help enhanceitseffectiveness(e.g.skilled moderatorsfor online communities,behavioural interventionsto increasecoursecompletion rates)

© OECD2021

39

6

Financingeducation in responseto the pandemic

Publicexpenditure enables governmentsto serve a wide rangeof purposes,includingproviding education,healthcareand maintainingpublic order andsafety.Decisionsconcerningbudgetallocations to different sectorsdepend on countries’priorities and theoptionsfor private provisionof theseservices.

Educationisonearea inwhich all governments intervenetofundor direct theprovisionof services.As thereisnoguaranteethat marketswill provide equal accessto educational opportunities, government funding of educational servicesisnecessarytoensure thateducation isnotbeyond thereachof some membersof society.

Policy choices or external shocks,suchas demographic changesoreconomic trends,can havean effect onhow public fundsare spent.Like thefinancial crisisin2008, thepandemicislikely

tosignificantly impactsocietieseconomically, and education isoneof thesectorsaffected.

While the2008 financial crisisseverelyimpacted theeconomy, cutsto governmentexpenditure were delayed in manycountries.Between2008 and 2009, despitea slowdownof theeconomyinall OECD countries,public spendingoneducation continued to increase(Figure6.1). Thefirst signsof a slowdown appeared in2010 following austeritymeasuresthat imposed cutsinthegovernmentbudgets which then impactededucation budgets.Indeed,education budgetsdecreasedinaboutone-third of OECD countriesbetween2009 and 2010 (OECD,2013[23]).

Since2013, education spendinggrowth hastended to closely trackgrowth intheoverall economy(Figure 6.1).

Spending on education during thepandemic Sofar, education seemstohavemaintaineditspriority innational budgets.Infact, theresultsof theSpecial Surveyshowthat,during2020, a large shareof OECDcountrieshaveincreasedthebudget devoted toeducation inorder torespondtotheimpactof thepandemic.In2020, around65%of countries withcomparable data confirmedanincreasein theeducationbudgetat primaryand secondary education levels(Table 6.1).Fortherestof the countriesthebudget hasremainedunchanged, while no countryreported a budget decreasein 2020.

In2020, increasesineducational expenditureat theprimaryand secondary levelsof education have beentargeted mainlyto currentexpenditure.Current expenditure includesstaff compensationand spending onthegoods and servicesneeded eachyear to operate schools.However,countrieshaveapplied 40

© OECD2021

different approaches totarget currentexpenditure.

Forexample, countries suchasDenmark,Franceand Hungary haveprovided someadditional fundsto handlehealth protective equipmentand cleaning costs.Exceptional bonusesto staff in order to ensure thecontinuityof public servicesinsomeparticular circumstanceswere provided in France.Finlandhas supported programmes,which aimed to compensate learning lossesduring theremotelearning periods for disadvantaged students,e.g. for studentswith a foreign mothertongue,studentswith special education needs or studentswith animmigrantbackground. Expenditure inNew Zealand wasalsoincreasedinorderto supportthewell-being needsof teachers.Francehas provided additional financial supportto thenational centrefordistancelearning aswell asforthelarge-

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic

Figure6.1• Annual growth in education expenditure, total general governmentexpenditure and GDPin OECD countries(1999-2018) Expenditureand GDPfigures inreal terms

Education

Total

GDP

2017/18

2016/ 17

2015/ 16

2014/ 15

2013/14

2012/13

2011/12

2010/11

2009/10

2008/09

2007/08

2006/07

2005/06

2004/05

2003/04

2002/03

2001/02

2000/01

1999/00

1998/99

% 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 -1 -2 -3 -4

Note: Expenditureand GDPfigures usedherearein real terms.Thisfigure excludesdata fromCanada, Chile, Colombia, CostaRica,Ireland, Japan,Mexico, New Zealand and Turkeyduetoa lack of completetimeseries.Dataon expendituresare disaggregated according tothe Classification of theFunctionsofGovernment(COFOG), whichdivides expendituresinto tenfunctions:general public services;defence; public order and safety;economicaffairs; environmentalprotection; housingand communityamenities;health;recreation, cultureand religion; education;andsocial protection.

Source:OECDNa�onal accountsdatabase,March2021(h�p://www.oecd.org/sdd/na/).

scale deploymentof the “Open School” initiative that tookplace duringthe2020 summerbreak.

Sometimesadditional fundswerealso allocated to capital expenditure.Capital expenditurerefersto spending onthe acquisition or maintenanceof assets, whichlast longer thanoneyear. France,theCzech Republic,Hungary, New Zealand andPolandhave also increased theirspending dueto thepurchase of internetaccessservicesand computerequipment (hardwareand software).

Theefforts madeby OECDand partner countriesto increaseeducation spendingin 2020 isexpected to continueinthecurrentyear. Infact, comparedto 2020 figures,a slightlylarger shareof countriesreported planstoincreasetheireducationbudgetsin2021 in primaryand secondaryeducation levels(Table 6.1).

Theincrease inthe shareof countriesthat reported additional educational expenditurebetween 2020 and 2021 isparticularly significantat thetertiary level of education, wheretheshareof OECDand partner countriesincreasingtheireducation budgets in responseto thepandemic movedfrom65%in 2020 to 71%in 2021. Thepandemic hasshownthat tertiary education hasbeenone of themostimpacted levelsof education. International studentsnormally

pay higher feesthandomestic studentsand thiscan makea significant contribution towardsfundingtertiary educational institutions(OECD,2017[24]). Mobility restrictionsresultingfromthepandemic can therefore havea significant impact onuniversityfinances.

InCanada, theimpact on universityrevenueshas beenestimatedtobe betweenUSD377 millionand UDS3.4 billion (or0.8-7.5%of projected revenues)in 2020/2021 (STATCAN,2020[25]). Similarimpactsare also expected intheUnited Stateswhereinternational studentsdeclined by16%between 2020 and2021.

Thepandemic hasalso had aneffect onthelabour marketwhich, in somecountries, hasled to an increase inthedemand for higher education. Inresponse, countriessuchasFinland,Norway and Sweden allocated additional resourcestomakeroomformore studentsinhigher education. Other countriessuch asAustralia,Canada, New Zealand andtheUnited Stateshaveput in place measureswhich include increasing theamountof studentloansand providing additional supportto studentstocover extracourserelated costs(OECD,2020[26]).

Severalcountriesfoundit difficult to specify theextent towhichtheyallocated additional public resourcesto education dueto thepandemic, sometimesbecause suchdecisionsweremadeat local levels(Table 6.1). © OECD2021

41

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic Table 6.1• Changesplanned to theeducation budget in responseto thepandemic in 2020 and 2021 Primaryand secondary education Total public expenditure in the schoolyear 2019/2020 (2020 for countrieswithcalendar year) Increases

Belgium(flemish community), Belgium(french community), Colombia, England(UK),Estonia, Finland,France,Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan,Latvia,Lithuania, Netherlands,Norway, Portugal, RussianFederation, Slovak Republic,Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey

Total public expenditure in the schoolyear 2020/2021 (2021 for countrieswithcalendar year) 65%

No changes

Austria,Canada, Chile, Costa Rica,CzechRepublic,Hungary, Ireland

21%

Don't know

Denmark,Korea,New Zealand, Poland,Switzerland

15%

Total

34

Austria,Belgium(flemish community),Belgium(french community),Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic,England(UK), Estonia,Finland,France,Germany, Ireland, Israel,Japan,Latvia, Lithuania,Netherlands,Norway, Portugal, RussianFederation, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey CostaRica,Hungary, Slovak Republic Chile, Denmark,Italy, Korea,New Zealand, Poland,Switzerland 34

Spending choices

Itshouldbe notedthat mostcountrieshad difficulty specifying themeasurestheyhavetakento allocate additional public resourcesfollowing the2020 pandemic, often becausethepandemic hittheminthe middleof the2019/2020 schoolyear, withinsufficient timetoadapt legislation, becausedata arenotyet available atthenationallevel,or becausedecisions

42

© OECD2021

9%

21%

Notes: 1) In Japanschoolyear 2019/2020 beginsin April 2019 andendsin March 2020 and schoolyear 2020/2021 beginsin April 2020 andendsinMarch 2021.2) InChile, thereareno changesinthetotalamount,butsignificant changesinthedistributionofexpenditure.

Source:OECD/UNESCO-UIS/UNICEF/World BankSpecial SurveyonCOVID.March 2021.

Countriesdiffer inthecriteria usedtoallocate additional expenditureinresponseto thepandemic (Figure6.2). Almost50%of thecountriesresponded thenumberof studentsper classasthemain criterion usedtoallocate additional resources.A similar percentage of countriesrespondedthatothercriteria, including thenumberof teachersper school, the particular casesand needsof schools,or thetype of school(public orprivate),whereusedtoallocate resources.Toa lesserextent(between 30%and 40%), theproportion of studentswithspecial socio-economic characteristicsorwith special education needswere usedtoallocate additional fundsattheseeducational levels(Figure6.2).

71%

aremadeat sub-national levels.Table 6.2 showsthe changesinpolicy choicesatthelower-secondary educational levelforcountriesable toprovide this information. While countriessuchasItaly, Latvia, PortugalandSloveniahavechanged justonecriterion toallocate public educational resourcesbetween 2019 and 2020, other countrieshaveadjusted a variety of criteria.

Somecountrieshaveprovided examplesof the measuresthatled changeintheallocation of public educational resources.Theincreasein teacher salariesin theSlovakRepublicwasmainlyexplained by compensation for theuseof own resourceswhen performingworkat home,andalso byallowances for work inriskysituationsgranted to thosegoing to schoolsduringthepandemic period. InTurkey, thereduction of thenumberof hoursof instructionis explained bythe10 minutesdecreaseintheduration of online lessons.

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic Figure6.2• Percentageof countriesalloca�ng addi�onal public funds/resourcesto primary and secondary schoolsin responsethepandemicin 2020 or/and in 2021, by criteria 60

50

Shareof countries (%)

40 Austria, Colombia, Denmark, England(UK), Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Portugal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey

30

20

10

Colombia, Japan, Portugal, Spain

Austria, Belgium (flemish community), Belgium (french community), Colombia, England(UK), Germany, Israel, Japan, Lithuania,New Zealand, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain

Colombia, England(UK), Ireland, Israel, Japan,Latvia, Lithuania, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain

Austria, Belgium (flemish community), Belgium (french community), Czech Republic, England(UK), Estonia, Finland, France,Israel, Japan,Latvia, Poland, Slovak Republic, Slovenia

Chile, Hungary, Russian Federation

0 Geographic criteriaĄĄĄNumber of students/ classes

Socio-economic characteristics

Studentswith SEN

Other criteria

None

Note: Basedondata from34 OECDandpartnercountries.

Source:OECD/UNESCO-UIS/UNICEF/World BankSpecial SurveyonCOVID.March 2021.

Table 6.2• Countriesexpecting a change in theallocation of public educational resourcesasa resultof the pandemicin 2020 (comparedto 2019) Lowersecondaryeducation Number of hoursof Instruction students received

Classsize Increases

Decreases

.

Denmark,Ireland, Spain

.

Denmark,Lithuania, Slovak Republic, Turkey

Number of teachers in schools Ireland,Italy, Portugal, Spain, Turkey .

Number of teaching hoursof teachers .

Lithuania,Slovak Republic

Actual teachers’ salary (including bonuses) Latvia,Slovak Republic,Slovenia .

Source:OECD/UNESCO-UIS/UNICEF/World BankSpecial SurveyonCOVID.March 2021.

© OECD2021

43

7

Who decides?

Aneffective distributionof decision-making responsibilitiesbetweennational,regional andlocal

authorities aswell asschoolswas essentialto ensure agility and responsivenessduringthepandemic.

Distribution of decision-making during thepandemic TheSpecial Surveyaskedrespondentsat what level decisionsweremaderegarding a numberof strategic education issuesduring thepandemic. The resultsshowa consistentpattern: on theone hand, decisionspertaining to school closureswere mostly takenatmorecentral levelsandinformed by health considerations. Thisallowed systemleaders to react quickly tothepandemiccontext,ensurepredictability inserviceofferings and ensurethehealthand wellbeing of studentsand staff.On theotherhand, teachingarrangementsandpedagogical practices were mostlydecided at school levels(Figure7.1).

Ina majority of countriesandjurisdictionswith comparable data, decisionspertaining toschool closuresweretakencentrally. Intwo-thirds of the surveyedcountries,thedecision to closeor open schoolsinprimary and lower-secondary wastaken infull autonomyat thecentralor statelevel. Itoften followed advice fromanexpert group suchasthe Outbreak Management TeamintheNetherlands, theMinistry of Health in Colombia, or the National PublicHealth EmergencyTeamin Ireland. Inthe FlemishCommunityof Belgium, Hungary, the Russian Federation and Lithuania,thisdecision wastakenat regional or multiplelevelswithina frameworksetby the central government.Koreaistheonly country where decisionsregarding school closuresweremadein consultation with, or intherecommendationsof, other bodies located intheeducation system.InSweden, primary schoolswereneverclosed.

In morethan a third of thesurveyed systems,decisions concerningpedagogical resourcesweretakenat multiplelevels.InFrance,theNational Centrefor DistanceEducationwasmandatedby theMinistry of Educationtopropose online resources,completed 44

© OECD2021

byregional authorities,whilelocal authoritieswerein charge of designing learning virtual environmentsand embedded resources.InSpain,national, regional and local authoritiescommittedtoproviding resourcesto ensureeducation continuity. InSlovenia, thecentral governmentinco-operation withtheNational EducationInstituteprovided ICTequipmentsuchas computers,tablets and modemswith free mobile data packages,throughvariousdonationsdirectly to studentsin need. Finland was theonly systemwhere decisionsconcerningpedagogical resourceswere madeatthelocal level,while inChile, England(UK), Lithuania,Portugal,the SlovakRepublic and Sweden (insecondary education) thesedecisionsweremade only attheschoollevel.

In almosthalf of thesystems,schools could make decisionsaboutteaching/working arrangements.

Thesedecisions concern a variety of elementssuch asthenumberof working hoursor requirementsfor teachersto be presentat schoolsevenwithout students.

In Belgium,the Netherlands, Poland, theRussian Federation, and theSlovak Republicschoolshad full autonomy.In Chile, theCzech Republic,Estonia, Norway, andSlovenia,schoolsmadethesedecisions withina frameworksetbya local, regional, or central authority. Teachingand working arrangementswere decided by central governmentsinAustria,Colombia, Costa Rica,France,Israel, Latvia, Portugal, and Turkey, and by stategovernmentsinCanada, Germanyand Switzerland.

In morethan half of thesurveyed systems,schools could decide how to adapt teachingpractices.

Thisincluded, for instance,thechoice of distancelearningtools,theadaptation of learningcontent,or thecommunicationchannelsto maintaincontact with

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic Figure7.1• Distribution of decision-making responsibilities At what level where decisionsmaderegarding…

Mul�ple

Central or State

Regional

Local

School

100 90 80

Shareof countries(%)

70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Primary Lowersecondary Closure/opening

Primary

Lowersecondary Resources

Primary Lowersecondary Teaching/working requirements

Primary Lowersecondary Adap�ng teacherprac�ces

Source:OECD/UNESCO-UIS/UNICEF/World BankSpecial SurveyonCOVID.March 2021.

Table 7.1• Locusof decision-making and degree of autonomyfor adapting teacher practices Degree of autonomy decision

Locusof decision regarding adap�ng teaching prac�ces Mul�ple

Central or state

Regional

Fullautonomy

FlemishCommunityof Belgium FrenchCommunityof Belgium Canada Czech Republic England(UK) Estonia Latvia Netherlands Norway Poland Slovak Republic

Afterconsultation Within aframework

Other

School

Germany Korea

Turkey

Slovenia

Lithuania Hungary

Chile Colombia Denmark France Japan Portugal New Zealand

Source:OECD/UNESCO-UIS/UNICEF/World BankSpecial SurveyonCOVID.March 2021.

© OECD2021

45

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic parentsand thebroader community.Thecentral or stateauthoritiesdirectly regulated teachingpractices in Austria,Costa Rica,Germany, Slovenia and Turkey,although with different practices. InGermany, decisionsweremadeat statelevelafter consultation, while inSlovenia,thiswasdoneby centralauthorities inco-operation withtheNational EducationInstitute.

Inthe remaining systems,schoolseither followed guidelinesestablishedbya higherauthority,decided after consultationwith thecentral government(e.g. in thecase of Lithuania),or were entrustedto make adaptations infull autonomy(Table 7.1).InChile, Colombia, Denmarkand Japan,schoolsmade thedecision within a frameworksetbythecentral government,while inIreland, guidelineson continuity of learning duringperiods of closureemanatedfrom

46

© OECD2021

multipleactors including schoolmanagementbodies, staff associations and teachersunions,theInspectorate and theDepartmentof Education.

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic Table 7.2•

Locusof decision-making Locusof decision regarding adap�ng teaching prac�ces

Decisionsregarding…

Mul�ple …closure/re-opening of schools(dueto the pandemic)

Central or state

Regional

Local

School

Korea; Lithuania; Norway (secondary)¹

Austria; French Communityof Belgium;Canada; Chile; Colombia; CostaRica;Czech Republic; Denmark; England(UK); Estonia;Finland; France;Germany; Ireland; Israel; Latvia;Netherlands; Norway (primary)¹; Poland;Portugal; Slovak Republic; Slovenia; Switzerland; Turkey

FlemishCommunity of Belgium; Hungary;Italy; New Zealand; Russian Federation;Spain

Japan

…resourcesto be made available tocontinue students'learning during schoolclosure

Colombia; Denmark; Estonia;France; Germany;Korea; New Zealand; Norway; Slovenia; Spain;Switzerland

Austria; French Communityof Belgium;Canada; CostaRica;Ireland; Israel; Latvia; Netherlands; Poland; Turkey

FlemishCommunity of Belgium;Czech Republic;Hungary; Italy; Russian Federation

Finland

Chile; England (UK); Lithuania; Portugal;Slovak Republic;Sweden (secondary)1

…teaching/working requirementsofteachers during theschool closure

Ireland; Korea

Hungary; Japan; New Zealand; Spain

Finland

FlemishCommunity of Belgium; French Communityof Belgium;Chile; Czech Republic; Denmark;England (UK); Estonia; Italy; Lithuania; Netherlands; Norway; Poland; RussianFederation; Slovak Republic; Slovenia;Sweden (secondary)¹

…theway teachers shouldadapt their teachingpractice during theschool closure/ whenschoolre-opened

Finland;Ireland; Korea; Russian Federation;Spain

Austria;Canada; Colombia; Costa Rica; France; Germany;Israel; Latvia;Portugal; Switzerland; Turkey

Austria;Costa Rica; Germany;Slovenia; Turkey

Hungary

Sweden(secondary)

FlemishCommunity of Belgium; French Communityof Belgium;Canada; Chile; Colombia; Czech Republic; Denmark;England (UK); Estonia; France;Israel; Japan;Lithuania; Latvia;Netherlands; New Zealand; Norway; Poland; Portugal;Slovak Republic;Sweden (secondary)¹

Notes: 1.Thecountrynamesinbold indicate countriesfor whichthelocusof decision-makingdiffered between primaryand secondary educationfor agivencategory of decisions.

Source:OECD/UIS/UNESCO/UNICEF/WB SpecialSurveyonCOVID.March 2021.

© OECD2021

47

Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic

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Thestateofschool education: One year into theCOVIDpandemic Thiswork ispublishedundertheresponsibility of theSecretary-General of theOECD.Theopinions expressedandargumentsemployed hereindo not necessarily reflect the official views of OECD membercountries.

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Photocredits:Cover © Shu�erstock/Motor�on Films;© Shu�erstock/Halfpoint; © Shu�erstock/Phu�harak;© Shu�erstock/wavebreakmedia.

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TheOECD iscompiling data, information, analysis and recommendationsregarding the health, economic, financial and societal challenges posed by the impact of coronavirus(COVID-19). Pleasevisit ourdedicated page for a full suiteof coronavirus-related information.

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