Schooling During a Pandemic
The Experience and Outcomes of Schoolchildren During the First Round of COVID-19 Lockdowns
This report offers an initial overview of the available information regarding the
circumstances, nature and outcomes of the education of schoolchildren during the first
wave of COVID-19 lockdowns of March-April 2020. Its purpose is primarily descriptive:
it presents information from high quality quantitative studies on the experience of
learning during this period in order to ground the examination and discussion of these
issues in empirical examples. Information is presented on three interrelated topics:
the nature of the educational experience during the period of lockdowns and school
closures; the home environment in which education took place for the vast majority
of schoolchildren; the effects on the mental health and learning outcomes for children
during this period. The data come primarily from 5 countries (France, Germany, Ireland,
the United Kingdom and the United States) with additional information on some aspects
for 6 additional countries (Australia, Belgium (Flanders), Canada, Finland, Italy
and the Netherlands).
This report will be of interest to policy makers, academics, education stakeholders
and anyone interested in a first international empirical analysis of the effects of
the pandemic on the lives and education of schoolchildren.
Published on October 18, 2021