Learning loss and learning recovery

Abstract

In 2020, most countries closed schools. Two years after the pandemic began, the evidence strongly indicates that school closures result in learning loss. A decrease in learning could decrease future employment prospects and lower future earnings. This means that schooling matters. One promising policy option for mitigating learning losses during closures as well for subsequent learning recovery and acceleration is tutoring. While tutoring is effective, the replicability was demonstrated during the COVID-19 school closures. These online experiments were very cost-effective, showing that it is possible to provide quality instruction across the cost spectrum in different contexts.

The impact of Covid-19 on student achievement: Evidence from a recent meta-analysis

“…This calls for more efforts to help students recover from missed learning during the pandemic. As initiatives and programs aimed at learning recovery can be quite costly, several researchers (e.g., Patrinos, 2022 ) stress the importance of protecting the education budget whilst considering the competing financial needs of other sectors such as, for instance, health and social welfare ( UNESCO, 2020a , UNESCO, 2020b ). Therefore, given the current policy climate where public resources are in high demand by various sectors, it is more important than ever to identify and adopt cost-effective measures.…”

New challenges in mitigating climate change: Digital teaching for the sustainable development and innovation

“…However, while overall internet user penetration is 51.2 %, only 45 % is observed in developing countries and 20 % in the least-developed countries, according to the 2019 State of the World Broadband Report. When the pandemic began, network facilities and information technology in most countries were still developing and some basic problems and challenges remained in online education [ 25 ]. Examples of the challenges include inadequate infrastructure and technology, academic climate, digital disconnect, psychological fallout, media disruptions, and digital illiteracy, which need to be urgently addressed in digital education to accelerate the adaptation to online classes [ 24 ].…”

How do we best support adolescents with low academic performance and learning disabilities in the era of pandemic learning loss? The importance of intensive learning strategy interventions

“…This type of tutoring should be "at least 30 min per day, 3 days a week, with a well-trained tutor who is providing that child with consistent, intensive support" (US Department of Education, 2022). Thus, there appears to be at least some emerging consensus that "high dosage" tutoring is characterized by intensive learner engagement occurring three or more days a week, preferably within the normal school schedule (Robinson et al, 2021;Patrinos, 2022).…”

“…Clearly, whether it's called "high-dosage" or not, research supporting the use of instructional tutoring points to the use of intensive programming offered by well-trained professionals (Allensworth and Schwartz, 2020;Nickow et al, 2020;Patrinos, 2022). In contrast, to intensity of instruction, a historical consideration of tutoring programs for students with learning disabilities (LD) and other vulnerable groups (e.g., culturally and linguistically diverse students) points to models that are more likely to involve a reactive approach like simple daily assignment completion that is practical, but limited in terms of long-term impact (Hock et al, 2001a,b,c).…”