Provide systematic online material and ensure high-risk children have access to adequate learning environments ahead of school closures¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 3 claims (3 for) · 1 study (1 quant-synthesis), q3 · 1 of 1 report an effect size · 3 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The review recommends that, to counter learning losses from future closures, policy makers and educators provide children with systematic online material and prioritize access for high-risk children. It grounds this in the finding that "low-performing students benefited more from systematic online-learning methods" and that the positive-effect studies all used familiar online-learning software. The recommendation appears in the discussion as a forward-looking policy measure.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Students need access to adequate learning environments, in particular high-risk children
• Online material should be systematic and, ideally, familiar to students before an interruption of in-person teaching

Constraints¶

• The review notes the evidence comes from a small number of countries, clustered around developed countries, with no studies from developing countries available yet

Target Learners¶

• primary and secondary education students
• high-risk and low-SES students

Target Learning Goals¶

• maintaining student achievement in mathematics and reading during school closures

Claims¶

• Studies in which students used familiar online-learning software reported positive achievement effects during school closures [+W]
• Low-performing students were more affected by closures in mathematics while high-performing students were more affected in reading, and low-performing students benefited more from systematic online learning [+W]
• Children from low-SES families were more negatively affected by COVID-19 school closures than children from high-SES families [+W]

Related Strategies¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Hammerstein Svenja, König Christoph, Dreisörner Thomas, Frey Andreas. (2021). Effects of COVID-19-Related School Closures on Student Achievement-A Systematic Review. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.746289