Assessing the Equity Audit

Following representations from the EIS, the Scottish Government commissioned a national Equity audit, to be carried with the involvement of Education Scotland, to explore the impact of the pandemic on equity in education. Here, Education Scotland outlines their view of the results and, on the facing page, the EIS offers its own view on national audit of equity in education.

Education Scotland on the Equity Audit

In March 2020, the decision was taken to close school buildings to the majority of learners as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Early evidence provided an indication that the impact of this was disproportionately felt by those living in socio-economic deprivation. The Equity Audit, carried out by Scottish Government and Education Scotland was commissioned to find out more about this impact and the mitigations which were put in place. The Equity Audit reviewed national and international literature and gathered interview data from learners, families and schools. Five key areas emerged from both the literature and lived-experience interviews.

Health and wellbeing support.

Most school staff and partners noted increased mental health concerns in young people. Social isolation and missing friends were the two most commonly shared stories from participants, with almost all learners keen to get back into school to re-connect with friends.

“I am lucky I have a garden and a brother, but he is not like a friend. I wanted a friend beside me.” (P7 Pupil)

Digital infrastructure and connectivity.

As well as for those living in socio-economically disadvantaged communities, connectivity was a particular issue for remote/rural communities. The provision of technology and dongles by Scottish Government, local authorities and partners was welcomed. However, some learners and families found the technology difficult to use which impacted on learner experience.

Support to parents and families.

Collaboration with partners enabled schools to put in place tailored responses for vulnerable families including food, emotional and financial support. In supporting families with learning at home, schools used the knowledge of their community to determine whether digital platforms, paper learning packs or other creative approaches would best suit. Communication was key and the availability of school staff to answer questions ‘in the moment’ made a positive impact. “[The] School thought outside of the box about all the different needs of the families. At the school there was access to stationery, FareShare food boxes, and hygiene supplies.” (Parent)

Teaching provision and the quality of learning.

The majority of interviewed participants held the view that school building closures had a negative effect on pupil progress and attainment. Learners who were most negatively affected by school building closures included those affected by poverty. However, increased opportunities for families learning together and for senior phase learners in particular, to access their learning at a time of their choosing were seen as positives.

Teaching support was cited as vital for improving learning outcomes, particularly for those who are socio-economically disadvantaged. School staff were universally praised and thanked for the efforts they made to support learning and families.

Supporting recovery in 2021

Education Scotland is committed to widening access for all learners via The National e-Learning Offer, which provides live, recorded and supported learning resources for learners at all levels. The Digilearn team continue to provide a range of strategies, tools and guidance to support learning and teaching remotely. Glow and Scotland Learns activities have been developed to help families and practitioners support learning at home and during the recovery period.

Support continues to be offered by locality teams who are working with individual schools, clusters and local authorities to ensure the most effective experience for learners. This is augmented by the attainment advisor team whose specific focus on equity provides additional support for staff working with learners who live in socio-economic disadvantage. Evidence from the equity audit will also be used to inform engagement with partners as potential models for the future evolution of the Scottish Attainment Challenge are considered.

The National Equity Audit: What now for Education Recovery?

When the pandemic first shook the foundations of Scottish Education to the core, the EIS had clear sight of the fact that the shocks it administered would be felt most deeply by the most disadvantaged children and young people.

Aware that those already living in poverty would bear the loss of in-person learning within school buildings most acutely, and that those young people’s families would be least able to compensate that loss, we called for Equity Audits to be conducted – to assess where the equity gaps had widened, with a view to these being filled through prioritisation and additionality of resources. Though not as swiftly as we wanted, the Scottish Government committed to undertaking an Equity Audit and its findings were published in January 2021.

The report highlighted that digital poverty prevented many young people from accessing online elements of the remote learning offer. Lack of access to the requisite devices and internet connectivity were barriers evidenced for young people from low-income families. The Audit also indicated that young people from the least affluent families spent the least amount of time engaged in remote learning. It referenced how young people from lower income families have more responsibilities to undertake that are unrelated to their school education, so have less time in the first place to devote to learning at home.

On mental health, the Audit highlighted that 20% of young people experienced dips in mental health, with socioeconomic factors influential in how this was experienced. Young people from better-off families worried about the impact of school closure on their academic performance; those from poorer families were anxious about the impact of the virus on their family members, this disparity underlining the health inequalities between more and less affluent communities that have been exposed more starkly by Covid.

Regarding learning and achievement, almost all Headteachers and teachers consulted as part of the Equity Audit were of the view that pupils who experience socio-economic disadvantage had made less progress in Literacy and Numeracy than predicted before lockdown. The impact on children and young people from travelling families, children with additional support needs and children with English as an additional language has been similarly detrimental in this regard.

In many ways, the Audit findings were predictable. But what now regarding education recovery?

Far from adopting the reductionist, formulaic approaches based on bald calculations of ‘lost’ learning time to be repaid with extra hours of Literacy and Numeracy recently touted by some, the national response has to be an holistic one. Art, music, dance and drama have significant roles to play in nurturing young people’s health and wellbeing through the recovery period – the whole child needs to be at the heart of our education recovery strategy.

If it is to succeed, the strategy will require massive investment and this will need to be sustained.

Critical to equitable education recovery will be additional staff to reduce class sizes and increase support for individual pupils. There are currently thousands of teachers on temporary contracts or unemployed but every single available pair of hands should be to the wheel in the recovery period and beyond.

We need additional specialist staff to provide vital support to young people with additional needs; and we need targeted, enhanced support for the poorest children and families.

And equity-related professional learning for teachers of the type offered by the EIS PACT Project will be even more important.

But all of this requires investment.

If the Scottish Government is serious about recovery, and is still serious about equity and excellence, it needs to dig deep and fund a sustainable, education led recovery.