Responses to Educational Disruption Survey: Conclusions and Outlook

• In Event: The Impact of COVID-19 on Education: International Evidence From the Responses to Educational Disruption Survey

Abstract

"This paper provides conclusions and insights drawn from REDS based on a synthesis of the outcomes reported across the study. The paper is structured according to four themes that have emerged across REDS data and includes observations of, and reflections on, selected results. This is followed by some thoughts about potential areas for further data collection and analysis in the future.

The first theme discussed in the paper relates to the mechanisms put in place by schools to continue teaching and learning programs during the disruption period. The discussion includes: the variations among the organizational approaches that were used in the schools where teaching and learning continued; the modes of lesson delivery, including the use of information and communications technology (ICT) based remote teaching and learning; and finally, school prioritization for the provision of social and emotional support, health and safety support, and the promotion of well-being to students, staff and families.

The second theme relates to the impact of the changed teaching and learning conditions on teachers during the disruption. The discussion of this theme includes: the impact on teacher workload and teachers’ changed working conditions; changes to teachers’ perceptions of their teaching and their capacity to balance competing priorities; and teachers’ perceptions of the support they were offered by their schools. Under this theme, the viability of maintaining similar changes to working conditions for a longer time period is also considered.

The third theme addresses the impact of the disruption period on curriculum delivery and assessment. The discussion of this theme includes: the decisions made regarding the depth and breadth of the curriculum delivered to students during the pandemic; opportunities for students to engage in differentiated learning; and the emphasis on assessment and the nature of assessment information collected during the disruption.

The impact of the disruption on students was central to REDS and was the final theme addressed in this paper. This theme is presented according to three sub-themes. Students’, teachers’, and principals’ perceptions of the impact of the disruption on student learning are discussed as the first sub-theme. The second sub-theme addresses students’ reports of aspects of their social and emotional well-being during the disruption as well as their perceptions of the support offered to them by their schools. The final sub-theme addresses students’ preparedness for their return to regular schooling following the disruption with reference to students’ self-perceptions and the actions reported by schools to support students.

REDS provided information from a snapshot of experiences in 11 countries by reflecting on the past. However, neither the pandemic nor the impacts of the pandemic are over. The paper concludes with consideration of the future. Two clear areas of potential future action are the possibility of follow-up data collection (offering potentially some longitudinal analyses in existing REDS countries or baseline data in newly participating countries) and further analyses of existing REDS data to better understand the factors that both led to successful outcomes for some schools, teachers, and students, but also unsuccessful outcomes for others.
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Author

• Julian M.S. Fraillon, International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement