Education and Employers
Research Digest - February 2022

Publications

Apprenticeship Outreach: Engaging with under-represented groups to improve social mobility 

Katherine Doherty & Erica Holt-White 

The report shows that access to apprenticeships for young people and those from disadvantaged backgrounds is an ongoing problem, particularly among the most sought-after apprenticeship opportunities. There is a decline in the number of apprenticeships, a trend further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with an accentuated decline among younger age groups. Overall, the report shows that there are some fantastic examples of work being undertaken to ensure all young people are
aware of the benefits of apprenticeships, but more work needs to be done in identifying and sharing best practices in apprenticeship outreach, as well as growing the approach at greater numbers of employers.

SDG 4 data digest 2021 national SDG 4 benchmarks: Fulfilling our neglected commitment 

UNESCO 

This publication describes the steps taken since 2017 to agree on benchmarks on a selected set of seven SDG 4 indicators: early childhood education attendance; out-of-school rates; completion rates; gender gaps in completion rates; minimum proficiency rates in reading and mathematics; trained teachers; and public education expenditure. The report further documents the targets that countries have set for six SDG 4 indicators, setting these voluntary national contributions to the achievement of the global education goal will inspire countries to focus on concrete objectives that will improve the lives of their children and youth. We hope that countries will use this process to learn from each other and develop policies that will enable them to reach these objectives faster.

Prioritizing learning during Covid-19  

Global Education Evidence Advisory Panel 

This report seeks to provide practical guidance to education policymakers around the world to respond to these complex challenges. We do not attempt to provide a single recipe for responding to the educational impacts of Covid-19–every policymaker faces different constraints. Rather, we set out the evidence on the extent of the damage to education in different contexts, what the evidence suggests the long-term impacts will be if this damage is not addressed, how the response has varied in different contexts, and what are effective strategies for repairing the damage and mitigating the impact of
future waves. Policymakers can then choose the strategy that best addresses their context by formulating an evidence-based learning recovery program (The World Bank, UNESCO & UNICEF, 2021). 

Communicating career technical education: Learner-centered messages for effective program recruitment 

Advance CTE 

Families face numerous choices and challenges to learn about and pursue engaging secondary education experiences that cultivate the knowledge and skills needed for a path to a meaningful career. Career Technical Education (CTE) is more valuable than ever, and it is critical that education leaders and advocates are equipped with effective messages and support to elevate CTE as the ideal option for each learner. This research
re-examines themes and messages previously tested in 2017 to evaluate message resiliency; tests the impact of recent economic events on the perception of CTE; and
identifies variances in message emphasis among historically marginalized populations, in particular Black and Latinx families and families with low income.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education: International evidence from the responses to educational disruption survey (REDS) 

Sabine Meinck, Julian Fraillon, & Rolf Strietholt 

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted education provision at an unprecedented scale, with education systems around the world being impacted by extended school closures and abrupt changes to normal school operations. The Responses to Educational Disruption Survey (REDS) investigated how teaching and learning were affected by the health crisis, and how education stakeholders responded to the educational disruption across and within countries. The study aimed to provide a systemic, multi-perspective, and comparative picture of the situation at the secondary education level (grade eight) in 11 countries spanning Africa, Asia, the Arab region, Europe, and Latin America.

Early learning in Ethiopia: Effects of pre-primary education on school readiness early learning partnership Ethiopia phase

Tassew Woldehanna & Pauline Rose

This report aims to identify the contribution of pre-primary education to school
readiness and the progress children make once in primary school (with respect to early
numeracy). For this, we compare children who participated in O-Class with those who
did not. We pay particular attention to the role of child and family characteristics in
predicting children’s learning outcomes in the context of COVID-19, and how the
effects vary for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. The analysis further
compares the school readiness of two cohorts of children who entered primary school before COVID-19 and those who entered after COVID-19. 

What is competence? A shared interpretation of competence to support teaching, learning and assessment 

Sylvia Vitello, Jackie Greatorex & Stuart Shaw 

The aim of this report is to build a shared understanding of competence by providing clarity around the concept and its implications for educational practice. We present an
understanding of competence that is research-based, relevant and appropriate for diverse educational contexts. This will help to create stimulating, thoughtful and productive discussions about competence, and advance how we engage with competence when developing educational programmes. This report is intended to have broad applicability, having relevance for competence in diverse areas and modes of education (e.g., primary to higher education; vocational and general education; face-to-face delivery; digital; blended; hybrid).

How learning continued during the covid‑19 pandemic: Global lessons from initiatives to support learners and teachers 

Stéphan Vincent-Lancrin, Cristóbal Cobo Romaní & Fernando Reimers 

This report compiles the 45 education continuity stories that were published on the OECD and World Bank websites. They documented in real-time the innovative initiatives undertaken to keep learners (or teachers) learning during the first wave of the pandemic (March to December 2020). Coming from the five continents, these initiatives were implemented in low, middle and high-income countries, by central or local governments, non-governmental organisations and private companies. 

Engaging employers in vocational education and training in Brazil: Learning from international practices 

OECD 

The report discusses how an expanded and diversified provision of VET can cater to students with different needs, and the importance of supporting schools to deliver VET programmes that correspond with labour market needs and of facilitating access to the VET teacher profession by employees with relevant industry experience. 

Investigating the potential use of long-term school and college destination measures

Jenna Julius, Jude Hillary & Henry Faulkner-Ellis 

The report discusses an exploratory study that investigated the potential for using DfE’s new Longitudinal Educational Outcomes (LEO) dataset to track the labour market outcomes of young people (up to age 30) who completed their education in English education system. It also seeks to provide information about the value that schools and colleges can add to young people’s destinations. 

Comments

Do disadvantaged children receive enough financial education in school? 

John Jerrim   

How did the attainment gap change during the pandemic?  

Natasha Plaister & Dave Thomson    

Young People’s Transitions to an Uncertain Labour Market  

Ewart Keep 

Bridging the Gap Between Home and School 

 Nakul Grover 

Access to Higher Education Courses

Aunam Quyoum

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