- Younger pupils have fallen behind in maths and reading as a
reult of the pandemic, but promising signs that recovery has
begun
A major new piece of research published today by the Education
Endowment Foundation assesses the impact of disruptions to
learning on younger pupils’ reading and maths skills.
The study, by the National Foundation for Educational Research
(NFER), looks at data from reading and maths assessments taken by
more than 10,000 Key Stage 1 pupils (five to seven-year-olds)
from 168 representative schools in the autumn term of 2020 and
the spring and summer terms of 2021. Their attainment was
compared with that of a representative sample of Year 1 and 2
children prior to the pandemic to give estimates of the “Covid
gap”. It is the final report in the research project and follows
two sets of interim findings from this study.
The study finds little progress for Year 1 pupils in reading —
attainment in reading was, on average, three months lower in both
spring and summer 2021 than pre-Covid levels. However, while Year
1 pupils were about three months behind previous cohorts in maths
in spring 2021, the Covid gap was estimated to be just one month
in summer 2021, suggesting that so far, efforts to support
education recovery have been effective in maths.
For Year 2 pupils, the Covid gap in reading and maths was three
and two months respectively in spring 2021. In summer 2021, Year
2 children were still two months behind in reading but had
recovered to above expected standards in maths.
The research also looks at the impact of disruptions to learning
on the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their
classmates. The analysis shows that in both reading and maths, in
both year groups, there was a substantial gap in attainment
between disadvantaged children and their peers. This was
equivalent to around seven months’ progress in the spring of
2021, and is wider than pre-pandemic levels. For Year 2 pupils,
the disadvantage gap increased in mathematics and remained stable
in reading between autumn 2020 and spring 2021. However, the
disadvantage gap in maths and reading closed slightly for Year 1
pupils between the spring and summer terms 2021.
Today’s report provides some promising evidence that recovery for
younger learners is already underway and, through suitably funded
long-term support, learning recovery is possible. It also
confirms that disadvantaged pupils have been the worst affected
by school closures, suggesting that support should be targeted at
this group.
It also suggests that supporting reading development in younger
pupils may require significant efforts. The EEF has a suite of
resources to support literacy
development in Key Stage 1 pupils. These include a specialised guidance
report, complete with eight evidence-informed recommendations
to help teachers maximise the impact of their literacy teaching.
Relevant strands of the recently updated Teaching and Learning
Toolkit also provide information around approaches to
teaching early reading.
To further support schools in their recovery efforts, today’s
report also includes a detailed breakdown of the curriculum areas
where pupils excelled or struggled. This builds on previous
diagnostic guides for Year 1 and Year 2, produced for
schools by NFER as part of this research. The analysis suggests
that, broadly, the areas that children in both year groups found
difficult were the same as those that previous cohorts struggled
with pre-pandemic, such as making inferences from complex texts
and multiplication and division questions.
Professor Becky Francis, CEO of the Education Endowment
Foundation, said:
“Whilst these findings are encouraging, it is clear that
continued efforts are needed to support recovery. Each new piece
of research can help us to better understand the scale of the
challenge facing our teachers.
“Important work is already being done in schools to ensure
that children’s progress is brought back on track and their
wellbeing is restored in the wake of the pandemic. There are
signs that this is already paying off, particularly in
maths.
“However, schools need ongoing access to resources and
capacity which will allow them to perform at their best, and to
ensure that pupils surpass “recovery” and achieve the full extent
of their potential.”
Dr Ben Styles, head of Classroom Practice and Workforce
at NFER said:
“Our research illustrates the challenges faced by pupils,
particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, over the last
20 months. We are, however, now seeing the first encouraging
signs of recovery – especially in maths.
"Significant and sustained investment will be required to
enable children to fully recover – both in academic terms and in
terms of their wellbeing and mental health, and we will continue
to monitor the government’s commitment to deliver on its recovery
pledge”.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
- The full report will be available at 0001 on Friday
here.
- Testing was carried out by schools already using NFER’s
tests. The spring 2021 distribution of standardised scores was
weighted to represent schools in England by a school-level
attainment measure and compared with the 2017 and 2019
standardisation samples. Differences in mean standardised score
points were converted into effect sizes and mapped onto months’
progress using EEF’s standard conversion table.
