Vulnerable students remain the hardest hit by COVID-19
The balance after a year and a half of the COVID-19 crisis in education: the corona delay has partly been made up, but learning growth is still lower, especially in mathematics. Vulnerable students remain the hardest hit. Primary school pupils still see a slowdown in learning growth after a year and a half, although part of the slowdown caused by the two school closures has been made up.
However, there is still a gap between students from different socio-economic backgrounds. This is apparent from research by Professor Carla Haelermans from Maastricht University and other scientists based on the National Education Cohort Survey (NCO) of the National Education Research Agency (NRO). The scientist come up with new figures based on a year and a half of the COVID-19 crisis, in which schools had to close twice but also worked hard to make up for the delay.
Still slowing down in learning growth
Learning growth is still lower in arithmetic mathematics, reading comprehension and spelling in the lower years than in the previous period. Only in spelling can a higher learning growth be seen in the upper years since COVID-19 than before. While the greatest delays in reading comprehension were observed after one year of crisis, this delay has partly been made up. After a year and a half, most of the delay in learning growth is still in arithmetic and mathematics. The delay in learning growth is greatest among students in groups 6 and 7.
Vulnerable students still hit hardest
The figures show that students with low-educated parents have a greater delay in learning growth than students with highly-educated parents. Students with low-income parents and students with a non-Western migration background also note more delays in learning growth, on top of the effect of the parents' educational level.
Differences in learning growth between schools remain also
Pupils in schools with higher percentages of pupils with less educated parents have experienced the greatest delay in learning growth. In addition, the delay in learning growth is generally greater in schools in rural areas than in schools in urban areas. School size also has an influence: pupils in smaller schools have suffered the greatest delays.
National Cohort Study Education for and by schools
The National Education Cohort Study (NCO) bridges the gap between education and research. It ensures that reliable research can be done and reduces the research pressure on schools. At the same time, it delivers more actionable data and insights to schools. The NCO is an initiative of the National Education Research Agency.
Schools can also register with the NCO to receive tailor-made reports twice a year, which provide insight into the learning growth of their students compared to comparable schools. In doing so, they also immediately contribute to the national fact sheets.
Also read
-
Higher air pollution increases the likelihood of people voting for opposition parties rather than ruling parties. This is the major finding of research by Nico Pestel, a scientist at the Research Centre for Education & Labour Market (ROA) at the Maastricht School of Business and Economics.
-
On the 18th of April, the Fair & Smart Data (FSD) Spearhead hosted the second event of its farmer-centric data governance event series. The event, titled “The Business Case for Farmer-centric Data Governance in the Global South,” aimed to explore the desirability, feasibility, and viability of...
-
Our lives are intertwined with smartphones, TVs, computer devices, and electronic appliances. However, the benefits they bring come at a price. Especially when consumers are encouraged to replace their devices rather than repair them.
