Thread by @pmdfoster, Given massive disparities in provision for kids during #coronavirus will it be [...]

Given massive disparities in provision for kids during #coronavirus will it be possible to run fair exams in Sept 2021? How will me make up some of the re-widening of the 'disadvantage' gap caused by #COVID19
crisis? My latest with @bethanstaton 1/ https://www.ft.com/content/50fcc605-674d-4630-9718-d3890eccffbf

How coronavirus is exacerbating gaps in school provision

Experts fear that the lockdown will have a permanent impact on the most disadvantaged

https://www.ft.com/content/50fcc605-674d-4630-9718-d3890eccffbf

First the 'attainment gap' itself which @EducEndowFoundn @BeckyFrancis7 estimates will give up gains of last decade...it was always there, but most disadvantaged least able to cope with overnight move to distance learning hit hardest. /2

And of course, as Jane Fletcher of @aldridgeonline points out the kids most in need of remedies - extra classes, summer schools etc - are those least like/able/equipped to take advantage - Aldridge found 27% fewer pupil premium kids attending online class. Now fixing...not easy/3

Then there is the HUGE gap between

a) private v state kids

b) better-off state kids v disadvantaged state kids

As @profbeckyallen
@TeacherTapp finds...6% state secondary schools say they hosted a live-streamed lesson, compared with 74% in the private sector /4

So given that all students are marked against their year cohort in GCSE's can there really be 'fair' exams in 2021?

At moment presumption is to get kids back in Sept and 'fix' the learning loss, but as I researched this piece, started to wonder if that is really possible /5

Point 1, do we really think schools are going back fully in September? That's current plan/ambition but if its not possible in June/July (govt currently has ambition for 'some' face time for Y10s) why will it be possible in Sept or Nov? /6

As @profbeckyallen asks: “If we’ve had significant disruption that has impacted some kids much more than others, to what extent can you make that up? There is a limit, if private school kids had 100s of face-to-face teaching hours and state school kids have had next to none.” /7

One thought - and Dept of Education are talking to OfQual on this I understand - is to shrink the curriculum so there is less to catch up on.

OR maybe have 'options', so students all answer core stuff, but can choose to answer Qs on topics they have had time to cover? /8

But even so, as @natalieperera1 of @EduPolicyInst notes: “The way in which children are learning at the moment is massively variable. There’s no consistency and there’s no framework from the government about what should be expected.” /9

These are huge issues and they cut across state and private provision.

State school kids are getting 'online' learning - work is being set, marked and returned - but at hugely varying levels, depending on access to devices/parental support etc. /10

The Institute for Fiscal Studies, a think-tank, found that children from the richest fifth of families were spending over 75 minutes more than their peers in the poorest fifth of households on educational activities. /11 https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/14848

Learning during the lockdown: real-time data on children’s experiences during home learning -

On 20 March 2020, UK schools closed their gates to all but the children of essential workers and those deemed most vulnerable. As of 15 May, this remained the case; should the progress of the...

https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/14848

I find myself wondering (no intel here!) whether, having done one 'coronavirus' year where GCSEs and A-Level grades are done by teacher assessment, there won't become a growing clamour for a second one from parents who feel their kids aren't getting fair shot. /12

No need for anyone to really talk about this (speaking personally as father of a Year 10) because all kids need a target to aim at - whether or not their final grades come from exam or teacher assessment. TBH I'd be sad to lose exams as think they're good life experience /13

But either way, the future is clouded in more uncertainty than the current government strategy admits.

I don't think this all 'goes away' in September - or existing inequalities everyone is trying to redress get exacerbated.

Watch this space. ENDS

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