No Evidence of a Major Learning Slide 14 Months into the COVID-19 Pandemic in Denmark
The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Disadvantaged Children's Learning
To what extent has school closures during the Covid-19 pandemic affected children’s learning? Are socially disadvantaged children hit particularly hard?
THE PROJECT IS COMPLETED.
Photo: Colourbox
See Danish project description below
This project examined how learning among Danish compulsory school pupils was affected by nationwide school closures during the Covid-19 pandemic. To estimate the learning loss and examine whether it varied by social background, the project relied on data from the national tests in mathematics and reading.
The research project 'The Impact of Covid-19 pandemic on Disadvantaged Children's Learning' recieved 725.000 DKK from Spar Nord Fonden. The researchers behind the project was Associate Professor Kristian Bernt Karlson and Postdoc Jesper Fels Birkelund, both from the Department of Sociology.
One far-reaching and potentially long-lasting consequence of the Corona crisis was the learning loss of students in primary and lower secondary schools. As all Danish schools were closed from 16 March 2020, children’s access to structured and highly routinized learning environments was suddenly blocked and so were their opportunities to learn. Although schools and teachers provided online alternatives to learning, the sudden lockdown of schools was expected to lead to a significant learning loss among students.
Drawing on what we know from previous research on society-wide learning interruptions, the project hypothesized that the learning loss caused by the Corona crisis was particularly pronounced among children from disadvantaged social backgrounds. To estimate the learning loss and examine whether it varied by social background, the project proposed a novel approach that relied on data from the national tests in mathematics and reading to isolate the causal impact of the lockdown. The project’s findings would be able to inform how educational policies should be formed in response to the Corona crisis so as to mitigate the potentially negative consequences for socially disadvantaged children.
I hvilken grad blev skolebørns læring påvirket af nedlukningerne af landets skoler under coronakrisen? Og har nedlukningen ramt børn fra socialt udsatte familier særligt hårdt?
Det er de centrale spørgsmål, som forskningsprojektet 'The Impact of Covid-19 pandemic on Disadvantaged Children's Learning' belyste takket være en bevilling på 725.000 kr. fra Spar Nord Fonden. Bag undersøgelsen stod lektor Kristian Bernt Karlson og postdoc Jesper Fels Birkelund, begge Sociologisk Institut.
Forskerne har analyseret resultaterne fra de nationale tests i matematik og læsning før og efter skolelukningerne i foråret for at afdække det aftryk, som coronakrisen har sat på det faglige niveau blandt skolebørn fra 2. til 8. klasse. Samtidig har undersøgelsen tegnet et billede af de sociale mønstre bag præstationerne ved at inddrage data fra Danmarks Statistik om forældrenes sociale baggrund.
Du kan også læse mere om projektet her: https://www.soc.ku.dk/instituttet/nyheder_/ny-undersoegelse-skal-afdaekke-skoleboerns-laeringstab-under-coronakrisen/
Researchers
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Funded by:
The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Disadvantaged Children's Learning has received one year funding from Spar Nord Fonden
Project: The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Disadvantaged Children's Learning
Period: 2021 to 2022
Contact
Kristian Bernt Karlson
Associate Professor
Department of Sociology
University of Copenhagen
Mail: kbk@soc.ku.dk
Phone: +45 35 32 15 88