Using global benchmarks to examine the impact of COVID-19 on learning

• In Event: Learning what our children have learnt during the pandemic

Proposal

COVID-19 has disrupted school education around the world. School closures have forced countries to develop flexible and remote strategies to ensure learning continues. An increased reliance on remote learning, staggered school attendance and the lack of adequate home educational resources have caused substantial disruptions to learning for many children and are exacerbating learning inequities (Kuhfeld, Soland, Tarasawa, Johnson, Ruzek & Liu, 2020). The pandemic has created additional barriers for the achievement of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal in Education (SDG 4): ‘ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’ (UNESCO, 2020; United Nations, 2022).
The COVID-19 Monitoring Impacts on Learning Outcomes (MILO) study (ACER & UIS, 2022) examined reading and mathematics outcomes of students at the end of primary school in six countries in Africa: Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Kenya, and Zambia.
To determine the impact of COVID-19 on learning, the SDG indicator 4.1.1(b) was used as a benchmark, that is the ‘proportion of children and young people at the end of primary achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in (i) reading and (ii) mathematics, by sex’. The Assessments for Minimum Proficiency Levels (AMPL) are robust tools developed for the study to measure learning outcomes against SDG 4.1.1b. AMPL tests were administered in 2021 alongside national or regional assessments and aligned to the Global Proficiency Framework, which define the mathematics and reading learning domains. For each of the AMPL tests in reading and mathematics an empirical scale was derived using item response modelling, upon which the cut point for SDG 4.1.1b Minimum Proficiency Level (MPL) was placed.
Students in 2021 completed both the AMPL tests and a version of a national or regional assessment that was administered to a previous cohort in 2019. This allowed the national or regional assessments to be equated with the AMPL scales, further allowing the 2019 national or regional results to be reported on the 2021 AMPL scales. A direct comparison of outcomes of the proportion of students meeting the global MPL for SDG 4.1.1b on the AMPL scale between 2019 and 2021 was then undertaken.
The MILO study revealed that learning outcomes regarding SDG 4.1.1b were maintained from 2019 to 2022. Across the six countries, the proportion of students who met the MPL in 2021 in reading ranged from 0.1% in Burundi to 46.7% in Kenya. There was little evidence of changes of proportions of students meeting the global Minimum Proficiency Levels. Important insights concerning equity related to national and school-level policies to minimise learning disruption, common barriers to continued education, and family support. Students in Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Senegal and Zambia who received more support from their families tended to be more proficient in reading and mathematics compared to students who received less support (ACER & UIS, 2022).
The AMPL tools are available as a public good for countries to monitor learning outcomes against SDG indicator 4.1.1(b).

Author

• Ursula Schwantner, Australian Council for Educational Research, Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Centre