Formal and Informal Education During the Lockdown: A Growing Inequality of Learning Opportunities

Authors

  • Xavier Bonal Sarró UAB
  • Sheila González Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7203/RASE.14.1.18177

Keywords:

Learning gap, cumulative disadvantage, digital divide, school closure, afterschool activities, informal education

Abstract

The lockdown of schools in Catalonia to confront the effects of COVID-19 forced schools and families to react very rapidly to a new scenario of teaching and learning processes without previous planning. This paper assesses the impact of the school lockdown on the learning gap between children from different social backgrounds in Catalonia. Based on data from an online survey (n= 35.419) to families with children aged 3 to 18 years old carried out between 26 and 30 of March, our analysis shows that learning opportunities among children vary significantly between children with different characteristics. During the lockdown, some schools were able to adapt to the new circumstances with better means than others. Likewise, the structure and size of families’ forms of capital explain that middle-class families were able to maintain higher standards of education quality, while children from socially disadvantaged families had few learning opportunities both in terms of time and learning experiences (schoolwork and maintenance of after-school activities). In the final part of the paper we highlight the importance of the role of the school to ensure learning opportunities for children from low socioeconomic backgrounds and discuss some policy implications of our findings. 

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Xavier Bonal Sarró, UAB

Catedrático de Sociologia, Departamento de Sociología, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

References

Abadzi, H. (2009). Instructional time loss in developing countries: Concepts, measurement, and implications. World Bank Research Observer, 24(2), 267–290. https://doi.org/10.1093/wbro/lkp008

Alegre, M.A. (2016). Are Summer Programs Effective In Improving Learning And Educational Outcomes In Students? Barcelona: Ivàlua-Fundació Jaume Bofill Retrieved from

http://www.ivalua.cat/documents/1/05_07_2016_10_24_36_Summer_programs_Whatworks_03_.pdf 

Alegre, Miguel A., & Benito, R. (2012). Climas y (sobretodo) culturas escolares: cómo se explican y qué permiten explicar. In C. Gómez-Granell & P. Mari-Klose (Eds.), Familia y Relaciones Intergeneracionales: un Espacio de Oportunidades para la Educación de los Hijos e Hijas. Barcelona: Institut d’Infància i Món Urbà.

Blank, G. (2017). The digital divide among Twitter users and its implications for social research. Social Science Computer Review, 35(6), 679–697. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894439316671698

Borse, R. H., Behravesh, C. B., Dumanovsky, T., Zucker, J. R., Swerdlow, D., Edelson, P., Meltzer, M. I. (2011). Closing schools in response to the 2009 pandemic influenza a H1N1 virus in New York City: Economic Impact On Households. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 52(SUPPL.1), 168–172. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciq033

Bradley, J. L., & Conway, P. F. (2016). A dual step transfer model: Sport and non-sport extracurricular activities and the enhancement of academic achievement. British Educational Research Journal, 42 (4), 703-728 https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3232

Burgess, S., & Henrik Sievertsen, H. (01/04/2020). The impact of COVID-19 on education. VOX, CEPR Policy Portal. Retrieved from https://voxeu.org/article/impact-covid-19-education

Cattaneo, M. A., Oggenfuss, C., & Wolter, S. C. (2017). The more, the better? The impact of instructional time on student performance. Education Economics, 25(5), 433–445. https://doi.org/10.1080/09645292.2017.1315055

Chen, W. C., Huang, A. S., Chuang, J. H., Chiu, C. C., & Kuo, H. S. (2011). Social and economic impact of school closure resulting from pandemic influenza A/H1N1. Journal of Infection, 62(3), 200–203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinf.2011.01.007

Coe, R., Weidmann, B., Coleman, R., Kay, J., Ellis-thompson, A., Gnanapragasam, A., Zaman, M. (2020). Impact of School Closures on the Attainment Gap. London: Education Endowment Foundation.

Dahmann, S. (2015). How Does Education Improve Cognitive Skills? Instructional Time versus Timing of Instruction. SOEP — The German Socio-Economic Panel Study at DIW Berlin. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2630179

Goldstein, D. (5h june 2020). Research Shows Students Falling Months Behind During Virus Disruptions. The NY Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/05/us/coronavirus-education-lost-learning.html?smid=tw-share

Goodman, J. S. (2014). Flaking out: Student absences and snow days as disruptions of instruction time. NBER Working Paper Series (Vol. 20221). https://doi.org/10.3386/w20221

Gromada, A., & Shewbridge, C. (2016). Student Learning Time: A Literature Review. OECD Education Working Papers, No. 127. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-098285-4.00004-2

Hanushek, E. A. (2015). Time in Education: Introduction. Economic Journal, 125(588), F394–F396. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecoj.12266

Huebener, M., Kuger, S., & Marcus, J. (2017). Increased instruction hours and the widening gap in student performance. Labour Economics, 47, 15–34.

Iqbal, S., Azevedo, J., Geven, K., Hasan, A., Patrinos, H., & P, A. (2020). We should avoid flattening the curve in education – Possible scenarios for learning loss during the school lockdowns. Education for Global Development. Retrieved from https://blogs.worldbank.org/education/we-should-avoid-flattening-curve-education-possible-scenarios-learning-loss-during-school

Jaume, D., & Willén, A. (2019). The long-run effects of teacher strikes: Evidence from Argentina. Journal of Labor Economics, 37(4), 1097–1139. https://doi.org/10.1086/703134

Kay, J. (2020). Remote Learning. London: Education Endowment Foundation.

Kuhfeld, M., & Tarasawa, B. (2020a). Projecting the potential impacts of COVID-19 school closures on academic achievement. NWEA Research. Retrieved from

https://www.nwea.org/research/publication/projecting-the-potential-impacts-of-covid-19-school-closures-on-academic-achievement/

 

Kuhfeld, M., & Tarasawa, B. (2020b). The COVID-19 slide: What summer learning loss can tell us about the potential impact of school closures on student academic achievement. NWEA Research. Retrieved from https://www.nwea.org/research/publication/the-covid-19-slide-what-summer-learning-loss-can-tell-us-about-the-potential-impact-of-school-closures-on-student-academic-achievement/

 

Lauer, P. a, Wilkerson, S. B., Apthorp, H. S., & Martin-glenn, M. (2003). The Effectiveness of Out-of-School-Time Strategies in Assisting Low-Achieving Students in Reading and Mathematics: A Research Synthesis. Aurora, CO: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning. Retrieved from http://sspw.dpi.wi.gov/files/sspw/pdf/ostfullsum.pdf   

Marcotte, D. E., & Hemelt, S. W. (2008). Unscheduled School Closings and Student Performance. Education Finance and Policy, 3(3), 316–338. https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp.2008.3.3.316

Meyer, F., Meissel, K., & McNaughton, S. (2017). Patterns of literacy learning in German primary schools over the summer and the influence of home literacy practices. Journal of Research in Reading, 40(3), 233–253. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9817.12061

Mora, T., & Escardíbul, J. O. (2018). Home Environment and Parental Involvement in Homework During Adolescence in Catalonia (Spain). Youth and Society, 50(2), 183–203.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X15626050

Oreopoulos, P., Page, M. E., & Stevens, A. H. (2006). The intergenerational effects of compulsory schooling. Journal of Labor Economics, 24(4), 729–760. https://doi.org/10.1086/506484

Potter, D., & Morris, D. S. (2017). Family and Schooling Experiences in Racial/Ethnic Academic Achievement Gaps: A Cumulative Perspective. Sociological Perspectives, 60(1), 132–167. https://doi.org/10.1177/0731121416629989

Sadique, M. Z., Adams, E. J., & Edmunds, W. J. (2008). Estimating the costs of school closure for mitigating an influenza pandemic. BMC Public Health, 8, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-8-135

Scheerens, J. (2014). Effectiveness of Time Investments in Education. Enschede: Springer.

Shores, K., & Steinberg, M. (2018). The Impact of the Great Recession on Student Achievement: Evidence from Population Data. CEPA Working Paper 17-09. Retrieved from http://cepa.stanford.edu/wp17-09

Vallespín, I. (8th April 2020) Educació detecta 55.000 famílies sense ordinador o sense connexió per poder seguir les classes a distància. El País. Retrieved from

https://cat.elpais.com/cat/2020/04/08/catalunya/1586359707_283384.html 

Van Lancker, W., & Parolin, Z. (2020). COVID-19, school closures, and child poverty: a social crisis in the making. The Lancet Public Health, 5(5):e243-e244. doi:10.1016/S2468-2667(20)30084-0   

Von Hippel, P. T. (2019). Is summer learning loss real? Educationnext.Org, 8–14. Retrieved from https://www.educationnext.org/is-summer-learning-loss-real-how-i-lost-faith-education-research-results/

Downloads

Published

2021-01-28

How to Cite

Bonal Sarró, X., & González, S. (2021). Formal and Informal Education During the Lockdown: A Growing Inequality of Learning Opportunities. Revista De Sociología De La Educación-RASE, 14(1), 44–62. https://doi.org/10.7203/RASE.14.1.18177
Metrics
Views/Downloads
  • Abstract
    4877
  • PDF (Español)
    2577

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 1 (2021): EDUCATION DURING THE LOCKDOWN

Section

SPECIAL ISSUE

License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Reconocimiento-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 4.0 Internacional.

Metrics

Similar Articles

<< < > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.