Elective home education of children with neurodevelopmental conditions before and after the COVID-19 pandemic started

Abstract

COVID-19 brought disruptions to children’s education and mental health, and accelerated school de-registration rates. We investigated Elective Home Education (EHE) in families of children with a neurodevelopmental condition. A total of 158 parents of 5–15 year-old children with neurodevelopmental conditions (80% autistic) provided information on reasons for de-registration, their experience of EHE, and children’s mental health. Few differences were found between children participating in EHE before and after the pandemic started. Low satisfaction with school for not meeting children’s additional needs was the main reason for de-registering in both groups. COVID-19 had a more limited role in parents’ decision to de-register. The main advantage of EHE reported in both groups was the provision of personalised education and one-to-one support. Levels of anxiety, internalising and externalising problems were similar between children participating in EHE before and after the pandemic started, and also similar between all children in EHE and school-registered children (N = 1,079).

The Unlearning of School Attendance: Ideas for Change

“…The 12 other articles in this collection shine a light on a multitude of ways to unlearn attendance and effect change. For some readers, the articles will stimulate them to replace punitive responses to absence with a focus on learners' relationship with education (e.g., , to think more broadly about influences on attendance (e.g., Purtell and Ansari, 2022), to re-think the key elements in a multi-tiered system of supports for geographical areas with high rates of chronic absenteeism (e.g., , or to unlearn the notion that home education is counterproductive (e.g., Paulauskaite et al, 2022). The richness in the current collection of articles is enhanced via the diversity in article types (original research, review, systematic review, perspective, hypothesis and theory), the locations in which the authors work (Australia, Belgium, Chile, England, Finland, France, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, United Kingdom, and United States), and the different perspectives they bring to our work in the field (anthropology, business studies, computer science, computer engineering, criminal justice, education, epidemiology, law, psychiatry, psychology, public health, research data science, social work, and sociology).…”

“…Two articles in the collection focus on home-based education, in one case because parents de-registered their child from school (i.e., elective home education; Paulauskaite et al, 2022), and in the other case because schools were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic (i.e., emergency remote education; . We address these articles in turn.…”

“…The aforementioned articles illustrate flexibility regarding the setting for education, whether due to parent choice or the imposition of remote teaching during school closures. The articles present arguments in favour of home-based education for learners with developmental conditions (Paulauskaite et al, 2022) and to some extent for those with school attendance problems . also suggest that home-based education and online programs are a flexible way to facilitate school ), the argument being that school systems need to adapt in order to support and engage all learners -including those with difficulty attending school.…”

“…Examples of alliances are found in the empirical articles in this collection. Researchers Paulauskaite et al (2022) consulted with a parent advisory group during their study, working together on the development of the survey for parents, analysis of the data, and interpretation of the results. Researchers Bowen et al (2022) collaborated with the Fight for Life Foundation to access schoolbased data derived from a platform created by the Foundation, in order to learn more about factors underlying absenteeism.…”

Embracing change: from recalibration to radical overhaul for the field of school attendance

“…The 12 other articles in this collection shine a light on a multitude of ways to unlearn attendance and effect change. For some readers, the articles will stimulate them to replace punitive responses to absence with a focus on learners' relationship with education (e.g., , to think more broadly about influences on attendance (e.g., Purtell and Ansari, 2022), to re-think the key elements in a multi-tiered system of supports for geographical areas with high rates of chronic absenteeism (e.g., Kearney and Graczyk, 2022), or to unlearn the notion that home education is counterproductive (e.g., Paulauskaite et al, 2022). The richness in the current collection of articles is enhanced via the diversity in article types (original research, review, systematic review, perspective, hypothesis and theory), the locations in which the authors work (Australia, Belgium, Chile, England, Finland, France, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, United Kingdom, and United States), and the different perspectives they bring to our work in the field (anthropology, business studies, computer science, computer engineering, criminal justice, education, epidemiology, law, psychiatry, psychology, public health, research data science, social work, and sociology).…”