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Concerned about misconceptions being routinely perpetuated by journalists and politicians when talking about educational impact of lockdown (unintentionally, no doubt). This obscures the issue and hinders effective planning. Have noticed the following unhelpful errors.
Conflation of online provision with live lessons. The latter is a sub-category of the former, which also includes things uploaded to online platforms in advance like pre-recorded video, written instructions, activities. This article falls into this trap. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/jun/15/2m-children-in-uk-have-done-almost-no-school-work-in-lockdown?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Tweet
Unsupported assumption that live lessons are more effective. This almost certainly depends on student, teacher and content, and there are good arguments for 'on demand' approach. Overall, @EducEndowFoundn report finds 'no clear difference' between the two. https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/public/files/Publications/Covid-19_Resources/Remote_learning_evidence_review/Rapid_Evidence_Assessment_summary.pdf
Equation of time with learning. We see this in quotes from PM in this piece. Clearly time and learning are linked, but simply making kids spend more time doing school work will not necessarily be the best approach. We need to consider likely effectiveness. https://schoolsweek.co.uk/boris-johnson-promises-huge-amount-of-catch-up-for-pupils-to-be-announced-next-week/
Equation of disadvantage with lack of engagement. I don't deny the correlation, but living in a low income household does not automatically mean failing to engage with remote learning and higher income does not necessarily mean good work. It needs assessment at individual level.
Demands for intervention before assessment. We see this in the PM's idea here that individual catch-up plans can be created before the summer. This worries me - such a plan is likely to either address the wrong issues or be so vague as to be worthless. https://www.tes.com/news/coronavirus-pm-crucial-teachers-make-catch-plan-summer
Assumption that gaps can be identified quickly. See suggestion here that they can be assessed through one meeting. Curriculum is far too detailed for this. Granular assessment of gaps will take time in classroom and is best addressed there responsively. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/jun/17/government-to-fund-private-tutors-for-english-schools
This isn't just pedantry. It's about being strategic about a massive issue. Precise and accurate use of language helps us to plan on the basis of the best available evidence. Errors in how we describe problem lead to poorly informed decisions. There's too much at stake for that.
