Abstract
ABSTRACT Schools across the UK were mostly closed from March to July 2020 due to Covid-19. Therefore, parents and children found themselves thrust into a prolonged period of home-schooling. In this study, parents (N = 2,122) reported on their children’s (N = 3,230) home-schooling experiences and its impacts on their children’s academic progress. Parental reports suggest that children spent around 3 hours each weekday doing schoolwork at home. Children enrolled in private secondary schools received 4 hours of virtual lessons each weekday from teachers, while state school children received just 1 hour. Parents, on the whole, reported concern for children’s academic progress. This is particularly so for children in secondary school and, most strikingly, those in school years antecedent to final exams (Years 10 and 12). Parents were less concerned about academic progress for those in Years 11 and 13, who had received their final exam grades shortly before the time of the survey. This study highlights the fact that children have been unequally affected by Covid-19 school closures, depending on their year group and school type, which should be considered in future research and policy.
Highlights
In the year 2020, governments around the world imposed strict public health measures in response to the Covid-19 pandemic
We investigated children’s levels of learning loss and experi ences of home-schooling during the summer term of 2020, from the perspec tive of parents who largely supported their children’s learning during this period of Covid-19 school closures
We found that school attendance was extremely low during the summer term of 2020
Summary
In the year 2020, governments around the world imposed strict public health measures in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Non-key workers were asked to work from home wherever possible, which for many working parents meant juggling work, childcare and home-schooling, often with competing demands for space and other resources within the home These public health measures helped to reduce rates of Covid-19; concerns have been raised over their negative impacts on children and parents. The current study aims to provide estimates of children’s learning loss and home-schooling experiences during the initial period of school closures, at the end of the 2019/2020 academic year. Parents reported on their children’s school attendance, time spent on schoolwork at home, time in virtual lessons from teachers, and time receiving help with schoolwork from parents. It is hoped that the results of this study will be used to inform future research and to design and target interventions to mitigate chil dren’s learning loss
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