Can Summer Schools Help Disadvantaged Pupils Bounce Back from Covid?

Loic Menzies, Chief Executive, at The Centre for Education and Youth, suggests an idea for recovery of pupils who have fallen behind during the Lockdown.

As a trainee teacher, I often needed a bit of extra cash to pay for my rock climbing habit. Fortunately, I was training at the height of London Challenge so my schools’ pockets were rather deeper than they are at the moment. That meant I could opt to sacrifice a few days’ holiday and teach some lessons over the break in return for an extra payment. A few days of these payments easily funded a drive up to the Lake District and a pitch for my tent, with a few pounds left over for a pint or two of Wainwright Ale at the Old Dungeon Ghyll pub.

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      string(337) "The Covid-19 Pandemic has created an unprecedented challenge for educators, parents and children with a key question: “How do we sustain children’s learning when they are away from school”. Every teacher knows that when children are off school in the summer their learning moves backwards. Where that learning ..."
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      string(5753) "The Covid-19 Pandemic has created an unprecedented challenge for educators, parents and children with a key question: “How do we sustain children’s learning when they are away from school”. Every teacher knows that when children are off school in the summer their learning moves backwards. Where that learning was embedded and established it can be retrieved, though it does take time. However, where learning is not sufficiently embedded it is likely that it will be lost altogether and need to be retaught. The biggest losses will be for the most disadvantaged children who may not have access to books or support at home.In the US the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) research into Summer Learning Loss¹ based on a 10-week vacation period showed on average, students show a drop of between 3-5 RIT points, relative to gains of 4-16 RIT points during the school year. In effect students lose nearly 20 percent of their school-year gains in reading and 27 percent of their school-year gains in math. By the summer after seventh grade, students lose on average 36 percent of their school-year gains in reading and a whopping 50 percent of their school-year gains in math. In other words, summer learning loss increases with age through elementary and middle school. RIT scores use the Rasch Unit Scale to allow analysis across a range of different testing schemes and there is no equivalent system in the UK but teacher assessments show equivalent changes as evidence in my own research.Drawing on my own recent research into the development of reading skills, particularly what parents would understand as reading comprehension – not just what the words say and mean but the deeper meaning of stories and characters that bring books to life – it is clear that with a prolonged absence from school, without action at an individual local and national level, reading standards will decline and with it the life opportunities of a whole cohort of children will be damaged.Reading Gains Of Up to 35%The one-year research project undertaken in 8 schools in Slough from January 2019 was designed to improve these higher order skills and was highly effective, increasing the % of pupil achieving at or above the expected level by more than 35% in in Year 3 and 25% in Year 4 in just 5months. However, with the break over the summer holidays (7 weeks allowing for start and end of term loss), pupils achieving at or expected levels declined significantly. Despite their hard work and the commitment of their teachers by the end of November they were still performing less well than they had in Junein fact the percentage of pupils achieving the expected level or better was down by more than 20% in Year 4 and almost 15% in Year5 taking us back towards pre-project levels.If this can happen in 7 weeks how much learning and progress will be lost over 12 weeks or longer and for children in the most disadvantaged families where books, time and opportunity for reading with an adult are often missing to what extent will they stop engaging in reading all together beyond completing set tasks for school.In the current situation it is likely that children will be off school for a sustained period and we cannot fully predict the impact of this however we can be certain that it will have a negative impact.Some early predictions show a very challenging picture. Based on data from the US where summer holidays are usually longer than in the UK the following slide shows a predicted additional impact from the Covid-19 closures. ²Schools are doing all they can with teachers setting on-line lessons and signposting digital learning platforms but I believe that unless we highlight the importance of reading and help parents understand that reading is not an individual and private activity but one that requires discussion and reflection in order to acquire and sustain the skills of “being a reader”.Reading AccuratelyMany parents regard reading as the skill of decoding words and knowing what the words mean – this of course is central to the process of reading but being able to do this does not make a child a reader. When I was a headteacher I had to frequently remind parents that the reading we set for homework required them to listen to, read with and discuss books because once children could read independently they saw no reason to listen to them – they would say that they didn’t want to read aloud, that they liked to read in bed at night, all of which may be true but it leads to children reading inaccurately and skipping over things they don’t understand and missing the opportunity to draw on the deeper meaning in a book.The most crucial years for this are Year 3 to 6 when children should be gaining these higher order reading skills but this is exactly when parents see them as independent readers and spend less time reading with them.Children’s attitudes to reading and reading frequency is an important predictor of pupils’ proficiency as readers and there is a significant decline in pupils who value reading for fun between the ages of 8 and 9. 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Special Needs

Huge Reading Gains With Structured Parental Involvement Could Counter Covid-19 Effect

17 Apr 2020

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Special Needs

The Advantages Of Tutoring For Disadvantaged Children

5 Oct 2020

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      string(5865) "ResourceBUDGET 2006Original DocumentBudget 2006. Schools in England have been promised a £34bn increase in funding over the next five years by future Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, in his last Budget as Chancellor.KeywordsBudget, school fundingSummarySchools in England have been promised a £34bn increase in funding over the next five years by future Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, in his last Budget as Chancellor. Commitments announced:· To raise investment per state school pupil from £5,000 to £8,000 in five years, eradicating the funding gap and ensuring that state school pupils get the same standard of education as private school pupils.· Direct funding to head teachers to increase to £440m next year, targeted at the most deprived areas. A typical payment to secondary school heads would rise from £98,000 now to £150,000. By next year, heads are likely to receive nearly double their current funding levels, with direct payments of £190,000. Primary heads will also receive more in direct funds – from a typical £31,000 now to £44,000.· A £30.5m funding package over the next two years to help recruit 3000 extra science teachers and pay for after-school science clubs.· Science results to be benchmarked from 2007. Pupils will also be offered the chance to take all three science subjects at GCSE, spelling the end of the ‘double science’ GCSE, which is widely regarded as an insufficient basis for science A-levels· A £25 million package for Further Education colleges in England, to be backed by £11m worth of adult learning grants from next year, to help with living costs and to enable workers to go back to studyBudget breaks down:· Personalised Learning: £220m in 2006-07, and £365m in 2007-08, to be paid direct to schools to help them to provide greater personalisation of learning in and beyond the school day, especially for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. This increase is on top of funding for personalisation in the Dedicated Schools Grant of £220m in 2006-07, rising to £565m in 2007-08, announced last year; so that in 2007-08, schools will receive a total of £930m to deliver tailored support to meet children’s particular needs and interests.· Schools Capital: Further capital investment in school buildings and ICT, increasing by £1.6 billion to £8.035 billion by 2010-11. This new investment is on top of funding allocated to schools capital projects of £5.879 billion in 2006-07 and £6.435 billion in 2007-08. It builds on the Government’s existing long-term commitment to transform buildings and ICT and provide 21st-Century facilities for pupils across the country.· School Science: £18 million to support teaching and learning in school science, £9 million in 2006-07 and £9 million in 2007-08. This will be combined with funding already from existing DfES resources to create a £30.5 million package over the next two years to support achievement of the 10 year Science Framework. This investment will help us to increase the number of science teachers as well as the number of young people taking physics, chemistry and mathematics A-levels, and getting the top grades in science GCSEs.· Enterprise Education: confirming that £2 million announced at the PBR will be used to create 23 enterprise summer school pathfinders to be delivered by Young Enterprise to 1000 pupils across the UK in summer 2006. The summer schools will help young people build a range of key skills, develop stronger links between business and schools and give pupils and students a better understanding of their future role and responsibility in the economy.· ICT: £10 million (£5m in 2006-07 and £5m in 2007-08) for ICT to ensure access to the internet for the most disadvantaged secondary school pupils. The investment will ensure that pupils benefiting from the home computer scheme announced in Budget 2005 have access to the internet.· Youth Opportunities: £2million for the Youth Opportunities Challenge Fund. Through this competition we can recognise the achievement of young people and build on what they’ve achieved through the Youth Opportunity and Youth Capital Funds. This builds on the £115m already allocated over 2 years for the YOF/YCF – ensuring young people are at the heart of the decision making process to ensure they receive the services they want and will use.· Capital grants: £8.4 million of new capital grants in both 2006-07 and 2007-08 to help small and medium sized employers establish workplace nurseries. This will help make life easier for working parents and their children, and benefit employers who will find it easier to attract and retain staff.· Media projects: £3 million in both 2006-07 and 2007-08 to help young people to participate in media related activity and to set up their own media projects such as local community radio. This will help them to acquire both media related skills and to develop broader skills, with a focus on strengthening local communities.· New learners: £25million will be provided to fund new learner entitlements for all 19-25 year olds studying advance level courses from 2007/8. 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Leadership

Budget 2006

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      string(5778) "Schools serving more deprived pupils in England have already seen the largest falls in spending per pupil over the last decade, according to this report by the lnstitute for Fiscal Studies.School spending per pupil in England fell by 9% in real terms between 2009–10 and 2019–20. This represents the largest cut in over 40 years, though these cuts come on the back of a significant increase in spending per pupil of over 60% during the 2000s. Recent cuts have mainly been driven by cuts to school sixth-form funding and big reductions in the spending role of local authorities. Cuts look similar whether we compare against general inflation or school-specific cost changes over the last decade.The government has allocated an extra £7.1 billion for schools in England through to 2022–23. This will increase spending per pupil by 9% in real terms between 2019–20 and 2022–23 (as measured against expected general inflation) and near enough reverse the cuts of the 2010s. If we account for expected increases in teacher pay, the real-terms increase in spending per pupil will be lower, at 6%. In either case, school spending per pupil in 2022–23 is set to be no higher in real terms than in 2009–10.Secondary school spending per pupil fell by 9% in real terms between 2009–10 and 2019–20, partly reflecting cuts of over 25% to sixth-form funding per student. In contrast, primary school spending per pupil has grown by 4%. As a result, the per-pupil funding difference between secondary and primary schools fell from 30% at the end of the 2000s to 16% in 2019–20. This continues a long-run trend, with this funding difference already down from over 50% during the 1980s. Whilst empirical evidence shows high benefits to spending at younger ages, it is not clear evidence supports such a dramatic shift.This report analyses the extent to which plans are targeted at the likely challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as pre-existing challenges such as the teacher labour market and the state of school buildings.Key Findings:School spending per pupil in England fell by 9% in real terms between 2009–10 and 2019–20. This represents the largest cut in over 40 years, but came on the back of a significant increase in spending per pupil of over 60% during the 2000s. Over the 2010s, cuts in spending per pupil were lower in Wales (5%), but similar in Northern Ireland (10%). In contrast, spending per pupil in Scotland rose by 5% in real terms over the 2010s, reflecting extra funding to pay for increases in teacher pay totalling more than 10% over 2018 and 2019. Spending per pupil is highest in Scotland (£7,300), of similar levels in Wales and England (£6,100) and lowest in Northern Ireland (£5,800). The government has allocated an extra £7.1 billion for schools in England through to 2022–23. This will increase spending per pupil by 9% in real terms between 2019–20 and 2022–23 (as measured against expected general inflation) and near enough reverse past cuts. If we account for expected increases in teacher pay, the real-terms increase in spending per pupil will be lower, at 6%. In both cases, school spending per pupil in 2022–23 would be no higher in real terms than in 2009–10. Secondary school spending per pupil in England (£6,000) was about 16% higher than in primary schools (£5,200) in 2019–20. This is down from a secondary/primary funding difference of 30% in 2010–11, partly reflecting large cuts to school sixth-form funding. It also continues a long-run trend, with the funding difference down from over 50% during the 1980s. Whilst empirical evidence shows high benefits to spending at younger ages, it is not clear evidence supports such a dramatic shift. The school funding system in England provides greater levels of spending to more deprived schools to help narrow the achievement gap between rich and poor. During the 2000s, the funding advantage enjoyed by the most deprived schools grew from 20–25% in 2000–01 to 35% by 2010–11. Despite the introduction of the Pupil Premium in 2011, the deprivation funding premium shrank back to 25% in 2018–19. This can be partly explained by faster falls in deprivation inside London and a school funding system that did not adjust to such changes. In the long run, the new National Funding Formula should ensure the funding system is more responsive. However, the new formula will deliver funding increases of 3–4 percentage points less to schools in poorer areas up to 2021. We also see faster falls in spending per pupil of 13% for deprived secondary schools outside London since 2010–11. These patterns run counter to the objective of using school funding to ‘level up’ poorer regions. Given lost schooling and a likely widening of educational inequalities during lockdown, the government has announced a range of measures to help schools. These include a one-off extra £80 per pupil aged 5–16 and a national tutoring programme. Whilst the focus on tutoring is well aligned with empirical evidence, the plans are modest compared with the likely reductions in skills. Only the National Tutoring Programme is targeted at more disadvantaged pupils, making it harder to address the inequalities that have widened during lockdown. Faster falls in spending per pupil over the last decade, slower increases under the National Funding Formula, a likely widening of educational inequalities and higher costs associated with higher teacher starting salaries, given that deprived schools are more likely to employ new teachers, all provide a case for greater"
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Leadership

2020 Annual Report on Education Spending in England: Schools

22 Sep 2020