Overview
These resources highlight research syntheses and recommendations about the effectiveness of potential actions for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The focus is on sources which review the broader literature rather than individual studies; however, in the section characterizing current conditions, there are some working papers which have not yet been peer-reviewed. Note that this does not summarize what various educational agencies are currently doing, since that is both fast-changing and vast in scope, and since it is not always clear what the research basis may be that underpins those decisions.
Major sources
- Practice guides and resources
- WWC: IES What Works Clearinghouse: Distance Learning Resources (US Dept. of Education)
- CCN: Comprehensive Center Network COVID-19 Resources (US Dept. of Education)
- REL: Regional Educational Laboratory COVID-19 Resources (US Dept. of Education)
- EEF: Education Endowment Foundation (UK gov’t.-designated “What Works” center for education)
- Policy briefs
- ERR: EdResearch for Recovery (Annenberg Institute at Brown; Results for America)
- ANS: The Answer Lab (USC Rossier School of Education; Policy Analysis for California Education)
- Research reviews
- CAMP: Campbell Collaboration: 50 Systematic Reviews (international journal of systematic reviews)
- RER: Review of Educational Research (U.S.-based journal of systematic reviews of educational research)
- Working papers
- CALDER: National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (AIR, American Institutes for Research)
- CEDR: Center for Educational Data and Research (University of Washington)
- EPIC: Education Policy Innovation Collaborative (Michigan State University)
- Wheelock Educational Policy Center (Boston University)
Characterizing current conditions
Enrollment, attendance, and engagement
- Missing in the Margins 2021: Revisiting the COVID-19 Attendance Crisis. (Bellwether; 2021 Oct)
- In public PK-12 schools, enrollment decreased by 2.7% (>1.3m students) from 2018-19 to 2020-21, with most of the drops in elementary grades, especially kindergarten. Although reporting on attendance data from 2020-21 is sparse, available data point to overall decreases in attendance, with more absenteeism among English learners, low-income students, Black or Hispanic students, students with disabilities, and younger students. Engagement data suggest decreases in participation in online coursework and time spent on learning activities.
- The Revealed Preferences for School Reopening: Evidence from Public-School Disenrollment. (CEPA; 2021 Aug)
- While U.S. K-12 public school enrollment typically increases by a fraction of a percentage point each year, it fell by 2% in Fall 2020 (a loss of ~1.1 mil students). Compared to in-person instruction, offering remote-only instruction as of Aug / Sep 2020 reduced enrollment by 1.1% overall and by 3-4% in kindergarten. These results suggest long-term negative fiscal consequences if disenrolled students do not return.
- Student Attendance and Enrollment Loss in 2020–21. (AIR; 2021 June)
- According to a survey completed by a representative sample of 565 districts in April 2021, enrollment and attendance rates dropped in 2020-2021, with both rates being higher in districts providing primarily in-person instruction. Enrollment was greater in higher-achieving districts, while attendance was higher in low-poverty districts and districts serving mostly White students. Districts providing remote instruction monitored attendance using teacher reports (94%), learning management systems (89%), and/or homework completion (84%).
Measuring unfinished learning
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of the evidence on learning during the COVID-19 pandemic (Nature Human Behavior, 2023 Jan)
- A meta-analysis of 42 studies published (including preprints) up through August 2022 across 15 countries found that students lost out on about 35% of a school year’s worth of learning. Analyses suggest that learning deficits opened up early in the pandemic and have neither closed nor substantially widened, as of two and a half years into the pandemic. Socioeconomic inequality in education increased, and learning deficits are larger in math than in reading. There was no evidence of variation by grade level, but this may be confounded with longer school closures for older students in some countries.
- Local Achievement Impacts of the Pandemic (Education Recovery Scorecard, 2022 Oct)
- These analyses compared state assessment results from grades 4 and 8 across public school districts in 29 states during Spring 2019 and Spring 2022 by converting them to a common scale based on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The median school district experienced achievement declines corresponding to 0.52 grade equivalents in math and 0.23 grade equivalents in reading. For high-poverty districts (>69% FRL), these declines were 0.66 grade levels in math and 0.31 grade levels in reading; low-poverty districts (<39% FRL) saw declines of 0.45 grade levels in math and 0.25 grade levels in reading.
- While declines were greater in districts which spent more time in remote instruction in 2020-2021, this does not appear to be the primary factor driving achievement declines. Some districts and states (such as California) had longer school closures but smaller achievement losses, while other districts without any remote instruction experienced substantial declines.
- In many districts, the share of the budget corresponding to lost achievement exceeds the share received through federal ARP ESSER funding..
- National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results (administered Jan-Mar 2022; National Center for Education Statistics, results released 2022 Oct)
- Nationwide proficiency rates on the 2022 NAEP Reading Assessment showed a significant decline from 2019 to 2022 by three points in both grades 4 and 8. California’s decline was not statistically significant.
- Nationwide proficiency rates on the 2022 NAEP Mathematics Assessment declined from 2019 to 2022 by five points in grade 4 and by eight points in grade 8. California’s proficiency rates declined by four points in grade 4 and by six points in grade 8.
- Nationwide decreases in 8th-grade reading and math were similar across achievement levels, whereas gaps widened more (by ~5 pts. between the 10th and 90th percentiles) in 4th grade reading and math.
- The Consequences of Remote and Hybrid Instruction During the Pandemic (CEPR, 2022)
- Analyzing test data from 2.1m students in ~10,000 schools revealed that districts offering primarily remote or hybrid instruction in 2020-2021 experienced widening socioeconomic and racial/ethnic gaps in learning during the pandemic. In high-poverty schools (>75% FRL), math growth declined by 0.46 SD from 2017-2019 to 2019-2021, compared to 0.30 SD in low-poverty schools (<25% FRL). While white students’ growth declined by 0.208 SD, Black students’ growth declined by an additional 0.119 SD and Hispanic students’ by an additional 0.092 SD. However, accounting for school-level factors reduced these gaps to 0.036 SD for Black students and to 0.032 SD for Hispanic students. This implies that districts should target the hardest-hit schools for additional support, rather than student subgroups.
- Because these assessments (NWEA MAP) are administered in fall, winter, and spring, declines in achievement could be converted to weeks of instruction or percent of the academic year. Applying this percentage to district budgets revealed that the average district’s planned expenditures from the American Rescue Plan act on academic recovery (28% of total budget) is likely not enough to make up for the amount of unfinished learning (close to 40% of academic year) for students in high-poverty districts which stayed mostly remote in 2020-2021.
- Learning during COVID-19: An update on student achievement and growth at the start of the 2021–22 school year. (NWEA, 2021 Dec)
- Compared to a typical year, math performance in Fall 2021 declined by 9 to 11 percentile points, while reading performance decreased by 3 to 7 percentile points. Overall, math declines were similar across grades 3-8, while reading declines were greater in younger grades. While math decreased by 8-10 points across racial/ethnic groups in grades 7-8, gaps widened in younger grades (e.g., for 3rd grade: Asian: -3, White: -7, Latinx: -13, Black: -14). High-poverty schools showed greater declines in younger grades for math (-14 to -8) and reading (-11 to -4), while low-poverty schools showed similar declines across grade levels in reading (between -2 and -4) but larger declines in math for middle grades (ranging from -4 in 3rd grade to -11 in 8th grade). Students with lower pre-pandemic achievement also showed lower gains, particularly in middle-grade reading and in elementary-grade math.
- Pandemic Schooling Mode and Student Test Scores: Evidence from US States. (NBER; 2021 Nov)
- State standardized test score data from Spring 2021 across 12 states show overall declines in pass rates compared to prior years (by 14.2% in math and by 6.3% in English). The effect of shifting from 0% to 100% in-person learning over the school year would reduce those drops by 10.1% in math and by 3.7% in English.
- Changing Patterns of Growth in Oral Reading Fluency During the COVID-19 Pandemic. (PACE; 2021 Mar)
- Students’ oral reading fluency (gr2-3) is approximately 30 percent behind expectations. Students at lower-achieving schools are falling farther behind, with 10% of students not assessed this fall.
- Learning during COVID-19: Initial findings on students' reading and math achievement and growth (NWEA; 2020 Nov)
- Students (gr3-8) performed similarly in reading but lower in math. Decreases were greater for younger grades and for Hispanic and Black students. Overall, testing rates were 10% lower than in past years.
- Fall 2019 to Fall 2020 MAP Growth attrition analysis (NWEA; 2020 Nov)
- Students who were assessed in 2019 but not in 2020 were more likely to be racial minorities (Black, Hispanic, Asian); among the lowest 30% of scorers in 2019; or attending a district with higher percentages of students who were racial minorities, socioeconomically disadvantaged, classified as English learners, or receiving special education services. The impact of the pandemic is thus likely to be underestimated in analyses based on these assessments.
Staffing
- School District Staffing Challenges in a Rapidly Recovering Economy. (CEDR; 2021 fall).
- An analysis of school district job postings across Washington state in October 2021 revealed the most openings for paraeducators, about twice as many as for teachers. Postings per student are especially high for paraeducators in high-poverty districts. Among teachers, the most openings were for substitutes, then special education teachers. Vacancy rates, which adjust for student enrollment and the number of teacher candidates credentialed by the state in a given category, reveal far higher needs in high-poverty districts, especially for bilingual and special education teachers.
- Stress Topped the Reasons Why Public School Teachers Quit, Even Before COVID-19. (RAND; 2021 Feb).
- According to a nationwide survey of former public school teachers in December 2020, nearly half of those who left after March 2020 and before retirement cited doing so because of the pandemic. Compared to pre-pandemic, Black teachers were overrepresented among teacher leavers during the pandemic, while teachers with less experience (≤3 years) were underrepresented. Stress was the most common reason for leaving early, almost twice as common as insufficient pay. More flexibility was the most common attribute attracting teacher-leavers to their new job.
District operations
- Urban and Rural Districts Showed a Strong Divide During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results from the Second American School District Panel Survey. (RAND; 2021)
- A survey completed by 434 district leaders revealed that in February 2021, only 17% of urban districts were offering fully in-person instruction, compared to 42% of rural districts. Most districts offering any remote instruction defined attendance as a once-per-day check-in. Half of districts shortened school time, especially those offering remote instruction. The majority of districts offered tutoring and increased socioemotional supports. Districts spent the same or more in 2020-2021 than in 2019-2020, but the majority cut certain expenses (such as building, operations, maintenance, transportation, and supplies) to cover pandemic-related costs.
Recommended practices and strategies
General guidance
- The Road to COVID Recovery: Actionable Research on District Strategies for Student Advancement (AIR, Harvard Center for Education Policy Research, NWEA)
- Research on interventions and strategies for districts to implement to aid with COVID recovery.
- Covid Relief Playbook: Smart Strategies for Investing Federal Funding (FutureEd, Georgetown; 2021 Jun)
- Playbook plus one-page summaries of 18 evidence-based practices to improve instructional quality, school climate, attendance, and achievement.
- Restorative Restart: The Path Towards Reimagining and Rebuilding Schools (PACE, 2021 May)
- Summary of 14 action areas describing practices to reverse the effects of the pandemic and to rebuild equitable school systems.
- U.S. Dept. of Education COVID-19 Handbooks
- Vol. 1: Strategies for Safely Reopening Elementary and Secondary Schools (2021 Feb)
- Operational strategies for safe school reopening. Vaccination, mask use, physical distancing, screening testing, ventilation, handwashing and respiratory etiquette, staying home when sick, contact tracing, cleaning and disinfection.
- Vol. 2: Roadmap to Reopening Safely and Meeting All Students’ Needs (2021 Apr)
- Creating safe and healthy learning environments. Addressing lost instructional time. Supporting educator and staff stability and well-being.
- Vol. 1: Strategies for Safely Reopening Elementary and Secondary Schools (2021 Feb)
- National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine
- Reopening K-12 Schools during the COVID-19 Pandemic (2020 Jul).
- Decision to reopen. Precautions for reopening. Partnerships between school districts and public health officials. Access to public health expertise. Decision-making coalitions. Equity in reopening. Addressing financial burdens. High-priority mitigation strategies. Urgent research.
- Reopening K-12 Schools during the COVID-19 Pandemic (2020 Jul).
Budgets
- How Schools Can Help Children Recover from COVID School Closures: A Letter from Education Researchers. (2020 Aug)
- Provide substantial additional resources to prevent looming school budget cuts. Implement universal internet and computer access. Target resources to those most in need. Provide the most personalized and engaging instruction possible under the circumstances, even when it is necessary to be online. Address the learning losses created by the crisis by expanding instructional time in ways that challenge, support, and engage students. Offer tailored, integrated support to each child in order to address social-emotional, physical health, and family well-being. Make decisions about teachers that support pedagogical quality and equity.
- Reducing district budgets responsibly. (ERR; 2020 Jul)
- School resources are particularly important for supporting lower-income students and addressing between-school inequities. Examine tradeoffs if reducing extracurricular activities, support services, or after-school programs, which may affect student engagement, academic performance, and access to peer and adult support.
- Since layoffs have negative consequences for students, consider delaying pay raises or furloughing non-working staff to reduce layoffs. Avoid “last-in-first-out” layoffs, which disproportionately affect schools with underserved students, focusing instead on effectiveness.
- Be strategic about what to adopt (e.g., by diversifying and strengthening the workforce) and what to abandon (e.g., by dropping redundant or ineffective programs).
Systems and operations
- School calendars and schedules
- What Does Research Say About Staggered School Calendars? (ANS; 2020 May)
- Past research has shown that compared to traditional calendars, staggered (“multi-track”) calendars may have small negative effects on student learning and on parents’ and teachers’ ability to work.
- Single‐track year‐round education for improving academic achievement in U.S. K‐12 schools: Results of a meta‐analysis. (CAMP; 2019 Sep)
- Year-round education modestly improves math and reading achievement by amounts similar to summer learning loss. Gains may be greater for middle-school students in math.
- Later school start times for supporting the education, health, and well‐being of high school students: a systematic review. (CAMP; 2017 Dec)
- Later school start times may produce benefits for students, but more evidence is needed.
- What Does Research Say About Staggered School Calendars? (ANS; 2020 May)
- Extended learning opportunities
- Engage Every Student Initiative (US DOE; 2022 Jul)
- Compilation of resources to support effective design and implementation of out-of-school time programs, including:
- Academies for Learning Advancement: Research and Practitioner Perspectives. (CCN resource)
- Investing in Successful Summer Programs: A Review of Evidence Under the Every Student Succeeds Act. (RAND, 2019).
- Many types of summer programs were effective in addressing students’ needs. However, more evidence was “promising” rather than “strong”, and few programs met all measured goals. More evidence exists for programs that target reading achievement than for other outcomes.
- When selecting or developing programs, consider the setting and targeted population. Align expectations for breadth of content addressed to program length. Targeted programming may create stronger benefits.
- Getting to Work on Summer Learning Recommended Practices for Success, 2nd Ed. (RAND; 2018)
- Planning: Commit in the fall; plan in January, designating director with at least 0.5FTE. Plan both academics and enrichment.
- Teacher selection: Hire highly effective teachers by content area and grade level. Offer professional development on summer curricula, minimizing lost instructional time, and checking for student understanding.
- Scheduling: Include 25+ hrs of math and 34+ hrs of language arts instruction. Plan transition times to minimize lost instructional time.
- Attendance: Establish firm enrollment deadline and clear attendance policy. Track no-shows and daily attendance.
- Curriculum & instruction: Anchor program in curricula that align with school-year standards and student needs. Observe and provide feedback on curriculum implementation. Select model for providing enrichment activities.
- Climate: Train staff on importance of positive adult engagement throughout the day. Ensure that site leaders observe in and out of class.
- Sustainability: Hire staff to meet ratios based on projected daily attendance. Weigh cost-efficiencies against program quality.
- Impacts of After‐School Programs on Student Outcomes. (CAMP; 2006 May)
- Limited rigorous evaluations of after-school programs, with primarily null findings. Meta-analyses of five high-quality studies showed that programs had no effect on reading scores, but may have a small impact on raising grades.
- Engage Every Student Initiative (US DOE; 2022 Jul)
- Class size
- Small class sizes for improving student achievement in primary and secondary schools: a systematic review. (CAMP; 2018 Oct)
- Small class size has at best a small effect on reading achievement, with potentially a negative effect on mathematics.
- Small class sizes for improving student achievement in primary and secondary schools: a systematic review. (CAMP; 2018 Oct)
Addressing unfinished learning
- Overall
- Broad-based academic supports for all students. (ERR; 2020 Jul)
- In-person instruction is particularly important for early elementary students. Provide targeted support strategies for families and students. Designate time for teacher collaboration to maximize use of instructional time.
- Large-scale standardized testing is unlikely to be useful for teachers’ instructional planning. Remediation programs should not replace regular instruction.
- What Can Be Done to Address Learning Losses Due to School Closures? (ANS; 2020 Jun)
- Summer programs. Guidance for home-based reading. Online classes with specific expectations to demonstrate active participation.
- School practices to address student learning loss. (ERR; 2020 Jun)
- Promising strategies: High-dosage tutoring. Extended learning time. Systems for detecting and responding to early warning signs with strong norms and routines.
- Avoid: Compressed content, grade retention, enhanced response to intervention (especially if it replaces core instruction).
- Broad-based academic supports for all students. (ERR; 2020 Jul)
- Targeted interventions
- Targeted school‐based interventions for improving reading and mathematics for students with or at risk of academic difficulties in Grades K‐6: A systematic review. (CAMP; 2021 Apr)
- School‐based interventions targeting gr K-6 students at risk of academic difficulties improve reading and math outcomes. Peer‐assisted instruction and small‐group instruction by adults showed the greatest improvements.
- Targeted school‐based interventions for improving reading and mathematics for students with, or at risk of, academic difficulties in Grades 7–12: A systematic review. (CAMP; 2020 Apr)
- Targeted interventions (for students gr7-12) can reduce achievement gaps for students at risk of academic difficulties, with larger effects on math than reading. Small-group instruction has significantly larger effect sizes than computer-assisted instruction and incentives.
- Targeted school‐based interventions for improving reading and mathematics for students with or at risk of academic difficulties in Grades K‐6: A systematic review. (CAMP; 2021 Apr)
- Tutoring
- Learning Recovery: How to Develop and Implement Effective Tutoring Programs. (CCN resource)
- Equalizing Access to Quality and High-Impact Tutoring. (ERR).
- Framework, relevant research, policy considerations. Toolkit, tutoring database.
- Accelerating Student Learning with High-Dosage Tutoring. (ERR; 2021 Feb)
- Tutoring is most effective at high dosage (i.e., 3+ sessions per week), in small groups (i.e., up to 3-4 students), and during the school day (compared to after-school or summer programs).
- Tutors need adequate training and ongoing support, high-quality instructional materials aligned with classroom content, and consistency to build positive relationships with students. Ongoing informal assessments allow tutors to better tailor instruction to individual needs.
- The benefits of tutoring are clearest in reading for early grades (K-2) and in math for older students.
- Prioritization may be need-driven (e.g., targeting students below particular thresholds), curriculum-driven (e.g., for critical milestones such as 1st-grade literacy), or universal (to reduce stigma).
- The Effectiveness of Volunteer Tutoring Programs: A Systematic Review. (CAMP; 2006 Jun)
- Tutoring “can positively influence important reading and language sub-skills for young students” (~1/3 SD). “Highly structured programs had a significant advantage over programs with low structure on the global reading outcome.”
Assessment and differentiation
- A Smart Role for State Standardized Testing in 2021. (Andrew Ho, Harvard Graduate School of Education; 2021 Mar).
- State tests add value beyond classroom and district assessments due to their comparability, alignment, and authority. Comparability allows targeting resources to those needing more support during the pandemic. Credible alignment to standards can reveal disparities and inequities with greater authority.
- States should opt-out of accountability and opt-in to smart metrics for state testing. Districts should allow students and parents to opt out if desired, while including metrics that accommodate students who are not assessed.
- Going forth with standardized tests may cause more problems than it solves. (Erin Furtak, Lorrie Shepard, Bill Penuel, at Univ of Colorado Boulder; 2021 Mar).
- High-stakes testing may compel teachers to teach what is tested and to focus on test preparation, with students being blamed instead of systems. Instead, teachers should use assessment to adjust instruction and focus on strengthening relationships with students.
- What Grading and Assessment Practices Could Schools Use in the Year Ahead? (ANS; 2020 Sep)
- Grade quality, not quantity. Be flexible with timing. Report current evidence of achievement. Use multiple measures. Use performance assessments.
- Compact Guides to Assessment and Feedback in Online Context. (Chartered College of Teaching; 2020 Mar-Apr).
- Tailoring instruction to students’ learning levels to increase learning. (J-PAL; 2019 Jan)
- Targeting instruction to students’ learning levels, rather than age or grade, improves fundamental reading and math skills.
Literacy
- Remote Reading: Elementary. (WWC Infographic)
- Remote Writing: Elementary. (WWC Infographic)
- Remote Writing: Secondary. (WWC Infographic)
- Evidence-Based Literacy Instruction within Remote Learning Environments (CCN; 2020 Jul)
- Designing and delivering literacy instruction for remote learning. Home-school partnerships for literacy. New literacies of online research and reading comprehension.
Math
- Remote Math: Elementary. (WWC Infographic)
- Remote Math: Secondary. (WWC Infographic)
Student engagement, socioemotional learning, and school climate
- Supporting Child and Student Social, Emotional, Behavioral, and Mental Health Needs. (US DOE; 2021 Oct)
- Prioritize wellness. Enhance mental health literacy and reduce barriers to access. Implement continuum of evidence-based prevention practices. Establish integrated framework of support for all. Leverage policy and funding. Use data for decision-making to promote equitable implementation.
- Evidence-Based Practices for Assessing Students' Social and Emotional Well-Being. (ERR; 2021 Feb)
- Consider: Comprehensive system with validated instruments for monitoring student well-being, supplemented with student surveys for understanding mindsets and other unobservable characteristics, as part of a larger student support strategy. Screeners and monitoring strategies can help identify and refer students for targeted support by specialists or connect them to resources.
- Avoid: Survey questions which may re-traumatize, stigmatize, or marginalize students. Poor survey design (e.g., double-barreled questions, double negatives, questions that are difficult for younger students to interpret).
- Research-Based Strategies for Effective Remote Learning: Student Engagement. (REL Appalachia; 2020 Dec)
- Ways to Promote Children's Resilience to the COVID-19 Pandemic. (ChildTrends; 2020 Apr)
- Protective factors: Sensitive, responsive caregiving. Meeting basic needs. Emotional support for children. Support for caregiver well-being. Social connectedness.
- Bringing evidence-based decision-making to school safety. (ERR; 2020 Sep)
- Consider: School-wide mental health trauma programs built around tiered interventions. SEL lessons incorporated into academic classes; small-group counseling; individual check-ins with caring adults. Mechanisms for student input on school rules and classroom processes. Comprehensive, disaggregated, validated school climate data. Train staff to recognize and respond to cues without stereotyping students. Connect with community mental health professionals.
Focal populations
- Supports for Students who are English Learners. (ERR; 2021 Feb)
- Supports for students in immigrant families. (ERR; 2020 Aug)
- Identifying and supporting students experiencing homelessness. (ERR; 2020 Jul)
- Academic supports for students with disabilities. (ERR; 2020 Jun)
- Supporting Students with Disabilities in K-12 Online and Blended Learning. (Deschaine, 2018)
- Describes suggestions for specific roles. Proposes concrete accommodations for different disability categories.
- Understanding teletherapy as an option for K-12 Students with Disabilities. (Mellard, et al., 2018)
- Focuses on OT, PT, and SLP.
- Guidance and support for students moving into postsecondary. (ERR; 2020 Jun)
- Expanding access to meaningful learning for English learners through EdTech (US DOE Office of Educational Technology)
- Brief report (survey of how districts use digital technology to support ELs)
Digital learning
- Distance learning resources. (IES; 2021 Apr)
- Rapid evidence review of distance learning. (IES; 2021 Jan)
- Improving the quality of distance and blended learning. (ERR; 2020 Aug)
- Use asynchronous time for initial expository instruction (e.g., explain ideas, model process). Then focus synchronous class time on interactive instruction which promotes engagement and learning (e.g., discussion, group work, higher-order interactive tasks, direct teacher-to-student feedback).
- Prioritize in-person instruction based on learning opportunities (e.g., lab experiments) and students’ needs (e.g., some students with IEPs, English learners).
- Remote Learning: Rapid Evidence Assessment. (EEF; 2020 Apr)
- Teaching quality matters more than modality. Prioritize technology access, especially for disadvantaged students. Use peer interactions to motivate students & improve learning. Scaffold pupils to work independently. Differentiate approaches by task & content.
- Using Digital Technology to Improve Learning. (EEF; 2019 Dec)
- “To date, technology has been most effective when it is used to supplement or enhance teaching, rather than to replace it.”
- Consider how technology will improve teaching and learning before introducing it. Use technology to improve the quality of explanations and modeling, the impact of pupil practice, and assessment and feedback.
- 21st century adaptive teaching and individualized learning operationalized as specific blends of student-centered instructional events: A systematic review and meta‐analysis. (CAMP; 2019 Jul)
- More student-centered pedagogy improves achievement, especially with more differentiation. But this decreases when giving learners more choice over course design and pacing.
- The effectiveness of online and blended learning: A meta-analysis of the empirical literature. (Means, et al., 2013)
- Blended learning showed an advantage over face-to-face instruction, but purely online instruction did not.
- Expository and collaborative pedagogies showed positive effects; self-paced activities did not.
- Studies where the online / blended version of the curriculum and instructional approach differed from the face-to-face version showed greater benefits for the online / blended approach.
- e-Learning and implications for New Zealand schools: A literature review. (Education Counts; 2010 Jul)
- Tools don’t help if people can’t use them. Teachers’ active presence matters. Educational technology may be more effective if it fosters peer interaction, collaboration, and critical thinking.
- A meta-analysis of three types of interaction treatments in distance education. (RER; 2009 Sep)
- Providing students with opportunities to interact with the content or with other students has a greater effect on achievement than motivational support from the teacher.
- Student-student interaction opportunities had larger effects on attitudes than opportunities for student-teacher and student-content interaction.
- Higher-quality, more-frequent opportunities for student-content interaction improved achievement for asynchronous more than synchronous distance learning.
- How does distance education compare with classroom instruction? A meta-analysis of the empirical literature. (RER; 2004 Sep)
- Distance education is highly variable (can be much better or much worse than classroom instruction). Asynchronous distance education has worse dropout rates.
- Pedagogy matters more than media. Helpful features: PBL, student-teacher communication, giving students advance information.
- The Effectiveness of Interactive Distance Education Technologies in K-12 Learning: A Meta-Analysis. (Cavanaugh 2001)
- Short, small-group enhancements of classroom learning worked better than extended, mostly-online videoconferencing with large groups.
Family engagement / At-home supports
- Leveraging Community Partnerships for Integrated Student Support. (ERR; 2021 Feb)
- Engaging parents and families to support the recovery of districts and schools. (ERR; 2020 Sep)
- Home learning resources for parents. (Education Hub; 2020 Mar-Aug)
- Supporting Mathematical Problem-Solving at Home (gr 4-8). (REL-Northeast Islands; 2020 Jul)
- Supporting Your Child’s Reading at Home (K-3). (REL-Southeast; 2020)
- Developing language. Linking sounds to letters. Blending letters; recognizing and writing words. Reading for understanding
- Tips for Supporting Elementary Writing at Home. (REL-Mid-Atlantic; 2020 Jun)
- Support resources to share with parents. (EEF; 2020 Apr)
- Checklist: Supporting home learning routines
- Supporting the home learning environment. (Chartered College of Teaching; 2020 Mar)
- Working with parents to support students’ learning. (Evidence for Learning)
Staff supports
- Digital Professional Learning for K-12 Teachers: Literature Review and Analysis (WestEd; 2020 Dec)
- Well-designed virtual communities of practice support implementation. Customization (software features, personalized goal-setting, modes for content delivery and assessment) can encourage more active engagement. Learning may be extended through asynchronous access to archived resources, collaboration with colleagues, continuous improvement cycles, and monitoring student progress. Strong and seamless facilitation helps; digital access opens up possibilities for virtual coaches and outside experts, although local facilitators can offer immediate feedback and contextual knowledge. Layer multiple modalities, with job-embedded learning opportunities and opportunities for social interaction.
- Remote Professional Development: Rapid Evidence Assessment. (2020 Sep)
- 1-pg summary. Remote coaching, mentoring, and expert support can be effective alone or to complement PD programs. Video is particularly effective for enabling teachers to reflect on teaching practice, if paired with other resources (e.g., viewing guides, coaching conversations). More interactive content increases time on task and completion rates. Collegial collaboration may improve outcomes through reflective practice and collective problem-solving. Supportive school conditions include leader support, protected time, and effective technology platforms and training.
- District systems to support principal leadership. (ERR; 2020 Sep)
- Principal Supervisors: Dedicate time to instructional leadership growth. Coach with focus on teaching and learning, even amidst operational demands.
- Teaching and Learning: Support use of common, research-based definition of high-quality, culturally responsive teaching. Help foster teacher learning communities with necessary autonomy and resources.
- Human Resources: Recruit and select teachers based mainly on performance. Emphasize recruiting and retaining teachers of color. Partner with principals to match teachers to roles and teams.
- Data Systems: Provide principals with ready access to information about their students and staff, with strengths-based, antiracist approach.
- Operational Staff: Partner with principals to provide high-quality services that ensure that facilities, transportation, and food services support high-quality instruction.
- Sustaining teacher training in a shifting environment. (ERR; 2020 Jul)
This page was last updated on September 12, 2023