Impact of School Closures and Subsequent Support Strategies on Attainment and Socio-Emotional Wellbeing in Key Stage 1. Research Report
Author: Rose, Susan
Date: 2021-12-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: School Closing,COVID-19,Pandemics,Educational Attainment,Social Development,Emotional Development,Well Being,Reading Achievement,Mathematics Achievement,Economically Disadvantaged,Educational Strategies,Interpersonal Competence,Elementary School Students,Foreign Countries,School Holding Power,Scores,Achievement Gap,Lunch Programs,Educational Trends,Educational Practices,Curriculum Development

This study investigated the impact of school closures for COVID-19 on the attainment of pupils in Key Stage 1 in reading and math, and on the gap between the attainment of disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged children. It explored pupils' attainment compared with pre-pandemic samples, as well as any changes in attainment over the course of the academic year 2020/21. It also investigated schools' strategies and approaches to learning during closures and reopening for Year 1 and Year 2 pupils. It aimed to determine the parts of the curriculum that children are struggling with, and also explored pupils' social skills and wellbeing. The research was carried out over the course of the academic year 2020/21, using termly assessments (autumn 2020, spring 2021, summer 2021). Interim papers were published on the results of the autumn and spring assessments. This study focused on children in Key Stage 1. The youngest children in the study had not completed their Reception year before the first set of school closures. Similarly, Year 1 children moving into Year 2 missed much of their first year of formal education. The study involved a total of 12,311 pupils from 168 primary schools (or schools with Key Stage 1) in England. School retention in the sample was high over the three terms: 168 took part in autumn, 155 took part in the spring term and 152 in the summer term. This was an observational study in which the samples' attainment outcomes were compared to standardisation samples from previous years using NFER reading and mathematics assessments (as well as a 2019 national curriculum assessment paper in summer for Year 2 pupils). For each National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) assessment, comparisons were made between the 2020/21 scores and the standardisation sample scores from previous years (and for the national curriculum assessments to the 2016 national assessment scaled scores) -- to identify any gap in scores -- i.e., the COVID-19 gap. Further analysis compared the scores of pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM pupils) and those not eligible (non-FSM pupils) to explore the disadvantage gap. In addition, the authors analysed how the COVID-19 gap and the disadvantage gap changed from one term to another using a repeated measures analysis. The authors explored the impact of school closures on pupils' social skills using the teacher-completed Child Self-Regulation and Behaviour Questionnaire (CSBQ) with a sub-sample of pupils in the autumn and summer terms (during 2020/21). Additionally, the authors collected information and views on strategies schools used during closures and reopening via a school survey and in-depth teacher telephone interviews. They also invited schools to provide pupil-level information on catch-up support.