Using Evidence to Inform Education Delivery during COVID-19

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

The COVID-19 pandemic has left an unprecedented 1 billion children out of school for substantial periods of time. Seemingly overnight, lockdowns upended traditional in-person classroom experiences and ushered in the need for distance learning and alternative education models around the world. Apart from understanding the impact of different delivery modes on learning, there are also concerns with barriers to internet access and connectivity, as well as learning loss from many students spending less structured time on their studies. Policymakers have a critical need to identify promising strategies and engage in evidence-based decision making to ensure the best possible modes of education delivery during this time. The panel will highlight three ongoing projects tackling these challenges and focus on lessons and recommendations that can be considered in other contexts.

Much evidence exists regarding effective teaching and learning channels outside of the context of a global pandemic. For example, various education technology interventions have been shown to be very effective, enabling students to move at their own pace and receive immediate and individualized feedback, but they often take place within the structure and supervision of classrooms or afterschool programs. However, distance learning programs that are completely remote tend to have relatively high dropout and failure rates and students with learning disabilities may be particularly disadvantaged. Previous research also shows a central barrier to learning is that children come into classrooms at very different levels, many unable to keep up with the curriculum. As the COVID-19 crisis is expected to widen the gap between children with access to learning resources out of school and those without, teachers are likely to return to classes with an even wider range of kids’ abilities in their classrooms, making their jobs even more difficult and risking even more children left behind. How can educators and policymakers harness existing evidence to inform approaches to education delivery in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and monitor the impacts of educational programs in real-time?

This panel explores how evidence from various contexts is informing education delivery during COVID-19, and how governments are using real-time data to monitor and improve education delivery during the pandemic. It will present a practical analysis of various approaches to education delivery and real-time monitoring, including distance learning, informational campaigns, phone-based assessments, and behavioral nudges. The first presentation will present a three-pronged approach that the Ministry of Education in Peru is employing with rapid data and existing evidence to inform its educational strategy during the pandemic. The second presentation will discuss a phone-based assessment program in Botswana and practical lessons for implementing this analysis method in other contexts. The third presentation will illustrate a program that utilized audio and text-based nudges and messages in Cote d’Ivoire to assess and prompt parental and teacher involvement in students’ educational progress.

Sub Unit

• Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) SIG

Chair

• Sarah Kabay, Innovations for Poverty Action

Individual Presentations

• Using Rapid Data and Existing Evidence to Mitigate the Educational Impacts of COVID-19 in Peru - Juan Hernandez-Agramonte, Innovations for Poverty Action

• Phone-Based Learning Assessments and a Rapid Randomized Trial of a “Low-Tech” Phone and SMS Intervention in Botswana - Noam Angrist, Young 1ove

• Learning from a Message-Based Intervention in Côte d’Ivoire to inform approaches for education in Ghana during COVID-19 - Sharon Wolf, University of Pennsylvania