scholarly journals Governance Indicators and Responsiveness to Population Decline: School Closures in Practice and Discourse in Saxony-Anhalt

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (3-4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter Bartl ◽  
Reinhold Sackmann
Keyword(s):  
School System ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Transformation Process ◽  
School Closure ◽  
School Type ◽  
Welfare Regimes ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
School Closures ◽  
Spatial Inequalities

The subject of this analysis is the practice of school closures, since it constitutes a key response to demographic decline and is usually hotly disputed in regional discussions on demographic change. Our research is guided by two questions: How do political and administrative responses to demographic decline emerge? How is the practice of school closure publicly portrayed and discussed in the newspapers? We assume that in democratic welfare regimes, the spatial allocation of school infrastructures is mediated by the use of key administrative indicators allowing the calculation and public deliberation of questions related to education infrastructure policy. However, in transformation societies, a democratic political culture of “governing by numbers” only develops as a result of collective learning processes in which the participants acquire what we refer to as “democratic numeracy”. In the stratified German school system, social prestige is conferred unequally among the different school types, with the grammar school (Gymnasium) being the most prestigious school type. It is therefore likely that the elements of the school system are not affected equally by policy responses to demographic decline and public attention, which results in spatial inequalities. Empirically, the article follows a mixed-methods approach, whilst emphasising a quantitative and qualitative content analysis of school closures in the regional press of Saxony-Anhalt from 1990 to 2014. The results show that, in the transformation process, the relevance of indicator-based governance of the school infrastructure increases both in practice and in discourse. However, as the participants gain in democratic numeracy, the use of numbers becomes politicised. With respect to the pattern of school closures, grammar schools receive a disproportionately large share of public attention. This has a positive effect on their survival chances and diminishes differences in spatial distances between grammar schools and integrated secondary schools.

scholarly journals Large Socio-Economic, Geographic, and Demographic Disparities Exist in Exposure to School Closures and Distance Learning

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary Parolin ◽  
Emma Lee
Keyword(s):  
Distance Learning ◽  
Limited English Proficiency ◽  
The United States ◽  
School Closure ◽  
School Type ◽  
Educational Performance ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
School Closures ◽  
Math Scores

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted many school districts to turn to distance or at-home learning. Studies are emerging on the negative effects of distance learning on educational performance. Less is known, however, about the socio-economic, geographic, and demographic characteristics of students exposed to distance-learning across the United States. We introduce a U.S. School Closure & Distance Learning Database that tracks in-person attendance across more than 100,000 schools from January through October 2020. We measure year-over-year change in in-person attendance for each school throughout 2020 to estimate whether the school is engaged in distance learning after the onset of the pandemic. Our findings reveal large socio-economic, geographic, and demographic disparities in exposure to distance learning. In October 2020, schools recording the lowest third-grade math scores are nearly twice as likely to be closed compared to schools recording the highest math scores. The average racial composition of closed schools is 25 percentage points less white compared to schools operating in-person (40% versus 65%). Moreover, closures are more common in schools with a higher share of students who experience homelessness, are of limited English proficiency, are eligible for free or reduced-price school lunch, live in single-parent families, or are racial/ethnic minorities. Distance learning is more common in high schools and middle schools relative to elementary schools, but disparities in exposure to distance learning are comparable across school type. Given the potential negative consequences of school closures on educational performance, the vast inequalities in exposure to distance learning portend rising disparities in learning outcomes.

scholarly journals The Impact of COVID-19 School Closure on Child and Adolescent Health: A Rapid Systematic Review

Children ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 415
Author(s):  
Sonia Chaabane ◽  
Sathyanarayanan Doraiswamy ◽  
Karima Chaabna ◽  
Ravinder Mamtani ◽  
Sohaila Cheema
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Adolescent Health ◽  
Children With Disabilities ◽  
Child And Adolescent ◽  
Emergency Department Visits ◽  
School Closure ◽  
School Closures ◽  
Child And Adolescent Health ◽  
The Impact

School closures during pandemics raise important concerns for children and adolescents. Our aim is synthesizing available data on the impact of school closure during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on child and adolescent health globally. We conducted a rapid systematic review by searching PubMed, Embase, and Google Scholar for any study published between January and September 2020. We included a total of ten primary studies. COVID-19-related school closure was associated with a significant decline in the number of hospital admissions and pediatric emergency department visits. However, a number of children and adolescents lost access to school-based healthcare services, special services for children with disabilities, and nutrition programs. A greater risk of widening educational disparities due to lack of support and resources for remote learning were also reported among poorer families and children with disabilities. School closure also contributed to increased anxiety and loneliness in young people and child stress, sadness, frustration, indiscipline, and hyperactivity. The longer the duration of school closure and reduction of daily physical activity, the higher was the predicted increase of Body Mass Index and childhood obesity prevalence. There is a need to identify children and adolescents at higher risk of learning and mental health impairments and support them during school closures.

scholarly journals Effects of School Holidays on Seasonal Influenza in South Korea, 2014–2016

2020 ◽  
Vol 222 (5) ◽  
pp. 832-835 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sukhyun Ryu ◽  
Sheikh Taslim Ali ◽  
Benjamin J Cowling ◽  
Eric H Y Lau
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Seasonal Influenza ◽  
School Closure ◽  
Surveillance Data ◽  
Influenza Surveillance ◽  
School Closures ◽  
School Aged Children ◽  
Severe Influenza ◽  
Influenza Transmission

Abstract School closures are considered as a potential nonpharmaceutical intervention to mitigate severe influenza epidemics and pandemics. In this study, we assessed the effects of scheduled school closure on influenza transmission using influenza surveillance data before, during, and after spring breaks in South Korea, 2014–2016. During the spring breaks, influenza transmission was reduced by 27%–39%, while the overall reduction in transmissibility was estimated to be 6%–23%, with greater effects observed among school-aged children.

scholarly journals Modeling the impact of school reopening and contact tracing strategies on Covid-19 dynamics in different epidemiologic settings in Brazil

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcelo Eduardo Borges ◽  
Leonardo Souto Ferreira ◽  
Silas Poloni ◽  
Ângela Maria Bagattini ◽  
Caroline Franco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Transmission Rate ◽  
Disease Incidence ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
School Closure ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
School Closures ◽  
Infection Transmission ◽  
The Impact

Among the various non–pharmaceutical interventions implemented in response to the Covid–19 pandemic during 2020, school closures have been in place in several countries to reduce infection transmission. Nonetheless, the significant short and long–term impacts of prolonged suspension of in–person classes is a major concern. There is still considerable debate around the best timing for school closure and reopening, its impact on the dynamics of disease transmission, and its effectiveness when considered in association with other mitigation measures. Despite the erratic implementation of mitigation measures in Brazil, school closures were among the first measures taken early in the pandemic in most of the 27 states in the country. Further, Brazil delayed the reopening of schools and stands among the countries in which schools remained closed for the most prolonged period in 2020. To assess the impact of school reopening and the effect of contact tracing strategies in rates of Covid–19 cases and deaths, we model the epidemiological dynamics of disease transmission in 3 large urban centers in Brazil under different epidemiological contexts. We implement an extended SEIR model stratified by age and considering contact networks in different settings – school, home, work, and elsewhere, in which the infection transmission rate is affected by various intervention measures. After fitting epidemiological and demographic data, we simulate scenarios with increasing school transmission due to school reopening. Our model shows that reopening schools results in a non–linear increase of reported Covid-19 cases and deaths, which is highly dependent on infection and disease incidence at the time of reopening. While low rates of within[&ndash]school transmission resulted in small effects on disease incidence (cases/100,000 pop), intermediate or high rates can severely impact disease trends resulting in escalating rates of new cases even if other interventions remain unchanged. When contact tracing and quarantining are restricted to school and home settings, a large number of daily tests is required to produce significant effects of reducing the total number of hospitalizations and deaths. Our results suggest that policymakers should carefully consider the epidemiological context and timing regarding the implementation of school closure and return of in-person school activities. Also, although contact tracing strategies are essential to prevent new infections and outbreaks within school environments, our data suggest that they are alone not sufficient to avoid significant impacts on community transmission in the context of school reopening in settings with high and sustained transmission rates.

scholarly journals Why did some parents not send their children back to school following school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional survey

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. e001014
Author(s):  
Lisa Woodland ◽  
Louise E Smith ◽  
Rebecca K Webster ◽  
Richard Amlôt ◽  
Antonia Rubin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
School Closure ◽  
Special Educational Needs ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
School Closures ◽  
Vulnerable Children ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Educational Potential ◽  
Voluntary Basis

BackgroundOn 23 March 2020, schools closed to most children in England in response to COVID-19 until September 2020. Schools were kept open to children of key workers and vulnerable children on a voluntary basis. Starting 1 June 2020, children in reception (4–5 years old), year 1 (5–6 years old) and year 6 (10–11 years old) also became eligible to attend school.Methods1373 parents or guardians of children eligible to attend school completed a cross-sectional survey between 8 and 11 June 2020. We investigated factors associated with whether children attended school or not.Results46% (n=370/803) of children in year groups eligible to attend school and 13% (n=72/570) of children of key workers had attended school in the past 7 days. The most common reasons for sending children to school were that the child’s education would benefit, the child wanted to go to school and the parent needed to work. A child was significantly more likely to attend if the parent believed the child had already had COVID-19, they had special educational needs or a person in the household had COVID-19 symptoms.ConclusionsFollowing any future school closure, helping parents to feel comfortable returning their child to school will require policy makers and school leaders to communicate about the adequacy of their policies to: (A) ensure that the risk to children in school is minimised; (B) ensure that the educational potential within schools is maximised; and (C) ensure that the benefits of school for the psychological well-being of children are prioritised.

scholarly journals Experiences of second-generation students of Punjabi Sikh ancestry in the British Columbia school system

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Amardeep Sull
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
School System ◽  
Second Generation ◽  
School Experiences ◽  
Large Majority ◽  
School Type ◽  
Minority Population ◽  
Small Minority ◽  
Columbia School ◽  
Majority Population

Punjabi Sikhs migrating to Canada form a disproportionately large population of the migrants from South Asia. There has been limited research or current literature on the schooling experiences of the second-generation children of these migrants despite the large numbers of this group migrating to Canada. The effects of minority status within the K-12 British Columbia school system regarding school experiences of second-generation students of Punjabi Sikh descent are presented throughout this research process. The investigation focused on the research participants’ perceived school experiences and whether there were differences based on the school type’s demographic composition of responders. I categorized these school types into three: small minority population, large minority population, and large majority population. I hypothesized that schools with large majority populations would have greater perceived satisfaction with school experiences. I found that I could further analyze by subscale and total scale groupings, based on my original correlational analysis. I found differences on school experiences (SE) and home experiences (HE) subscales based on school type, school type being differentiated by schools with a minority population, a large minority population, or a large majority population of the responder demographic of second-generation students of Punjabi Sikh descent. I found that responders from small minority population schools and large minority population schools showed a statistically significant difference in responses than responders from large majority population schools.

How did Autistic Children, and their Parents, Experience School Transition during the COVID-19 Pandemic?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aimee Code ◽  
Umar Toseeb ◽  
Kathryn Asbury ◽  
Laura Fox
Keyword(s):  
School Transition ◽  
School Closure ◽  
School Transitions ◽  
Autistic Children ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
School Closures ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
New School ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resultant school closures, social distancing measures, and restrictions placed on routine activities, the start of the academic year in September 2020 was a unique time for those transitioning to a new school. This study aimed to explore the experiences of parents who supported autistic children making a school transition in 2020, and to examine what impact parents perceived the COVID-19 pandemic had on their child’s school transition. Emphasis was placed on identifying facilitating factors that had benefitted school transitions, and barriers, which had negatively impacted these experiences. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 13 parents of autistic children in the UK. Reflexive thematic analysis was carried out to identify themes in interview data. Parents reported a variety of experiences, and factors that were perceived as facilitatory to some were observed to be barriers by others. For some parents, the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted aspects of school transitions. For example, school closure in March 2020, being unable to visit their child’s new school, and social distancing measures were discussed as being barriers to an easy transition. However, other parents identified these factors as being facilitatory for their child or reported that these circumstances created opportunities to approach the school transition in a unique, improved manner. This paper sheds light on the heterogeneity of experiences and perceptions of parents of autistic children, and highlights the need to examine the impact of COVID-19 on school transitions, including practices which may be advantageous to retain.

Mass School Closures and the Politics of Race, Value, and Disposability in Philadelphia

2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-44
Author(s):  
Julia A. McWilliams ◽  
Erika M. Kitzmiller
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
School Choice ◽  
Individual Case ◽  
The United States ◽  
School Closure ◽  
Urban District ◽  
School Closures ◽  
School Communities ◽  
State And Local

Background With the expansion of charter school networks, population losses in urban district schools and stretched budgets have encouraged struggling districts to adopt closure-as-reform. School closings have received considerable attention in the media as a controversial reform, reconfiguring the educational landscapes of over 70 post-industrial cities like Chicago, Detroit, and New Orleans. However, in the last decade, few scholars have considered the project of examining closures—their process and their effects—empirically. Purpose In this article, we examine the rollout of 30 school closures in Philadelphia in 2012 and 2013 to explain how school closures have become yet another policy technology of Black community and school devaluation in the United States. Moving beyond educational studies that have focused on the outcomes of mass school closures like student achievement and cost savings, we argue that a thorough theorization of how race, violence, and community values relate to school closure as process could help to explain the ways in which contemporary educational policy reforms are creating new modes of communal disposability in cities’ poorest zip codes. Setting/Participants Data collection occurred in two comprehensive high schools in Philadelphia slated for closure in 2012 and 2013: Johnson High and Franklin High. Participants at both schools included students, teachers, parents, community members, and district officials. Research Design The authors spent several years in their respective schools recording observations of instructional practice, community meetings, and district events and interviewing key informants such as students, teachers, administrators, and district officials. The first author spent three years at Johnson High School, from September 2011 to June 2013. The second author spent five years at Franklin High School, from September 2008 to June 2013. She also spent hundreds of hours at the high school examining archival materials and interviewing students, teachers, and alumni about their experiences in the school and community. In addition to their individual case studies, the authors jointly transcribed and coded over two dozen community and district meetings’ video recordings during the 2012 and 2013 closures. In the aftermath of the school closures process, we used a comparative ethnographic method to compare and contrast the events that occurred at these two schools. Findings Suturing anthropologies of violence and education to frame the analysis, we explore moments of collision between policy discourses deployed by state and local officials that crafted closures as inevitable and threatened school communities’ articulations of the racialized implications of the closures. We further localize our analysis to demonstrate how two school communities—one majority Asian and another majority Black—with similar performances and characteristics met dramatically different fates. Given the lack of transparency in how decisions were made around which schools to close, the ways in which these communities read and responded to the closure threat offer a window into the ways in which race informed the valuation process across schools. Conclusions/Recommendations We conclude with a plea to state and federal policymakers to consider the long-term ramifications of school choice expansion and state disinvestment for the health and stability of traditional public schools. We encourage policymakers to move in a more reparative direction, prioritizing the needs of those “unchosen” by choice and imagining a system that might serve all students more equitably.

scholarly journals Reactive school closure weakens the network of social interactions and reduces the spread of influenza

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (27) ◽  
pp. 13174-13181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Litvinova ◽  
Quan-Hui Liu ◽  
Evgeny S. Kulikov ◽  
Marco Ajelli
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Influenza Season ◽  
School Closure ◽  
Transmission Model ◽  
Modeling Framework ◽  
School Closures ◽  
Student Absenteeism ◽  
Contact Survey ◽  
Closure Policy ◽  
The Impact

School-closure policies are considered one of the most promising nonpharmaceutical interventions for mitigating seasonal and pandemic influenza. However, their effectiveness is still debated, primarily due to the lack of empirical evidence about the behavior of the population during the implementation of the policy. Over the course of the 2015 to 2016 influenza season in Russia, we performed a diary-based contact survey to estimate the patterns of social interactions before and during the implementation of reactive school-closure strategies. We develop an innovative hybrid survey-modeling framework to estimate the time-varying network of human social interactions. By integrating this network with an infection transmission model, we reduce the uncertainty surrounding the impact of school-closure policies in mitigating the spread of influenza. When the school-closure policy is in place, we measure a significant reduction in the number of contacts made by students (14.2 vs. 6.5 contacts per day) and workers (11.2 vs. 8.7 contacts per day). This reduction is not offset by the measured increase in the number of contacts between students and nonhousehold relatives. Model simulations suggest that gradual reactive school-closure policies based on monitoring student absenteeism rates are capable of mitigating influenza spread. We estimate that without the implemented reactive strategies the attack rate of the 2015 to 2016 influenza season would have been 33% larger. Our study sheds light on the social mixing patterns of the population during the implementation of reactive school closures and provides key instruments for future cost-effectiveness analyses of school-closure policies.

Predicting School Closures in an Era of Austerity: The Case of Chicago

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 415-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Weber ◽  
Stephanie Farmer ◽  
Mary Donoghue
Keyword(s):  
Central Business District ◽  
Capital Budgeting ◽  
School Closure ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
School Closures ◽  
Public Facilities ◽  
Rational Decision Making ◽  
Multinomial Logit Models ◽  
Business District ◽  
Closure Decisions

What factors do administrators consider when (dis)investing in public facilities? We model school closure decisions in Chicago from 2003 to 2013 with multinomial logit models that estimate the decision to close or “turnaround” schools as a function of building, student, geographic, political, and neighborhood factors during two mayoral administrations. The results from our specifications validate the “official” rationale for closures and turnarounds: Low test scores are associated with closures and turnarounds under Mayor Daley, and underutilization is associated with closures under Mayor Emanuel. However, our findings also reveal some distance between technical-rational decision making and the realities of capital budgeting under austerity. The race of students and proximity to both the Central Business District and charter schools also predicted closures. This suggests multiple, potentially conflicting, interests that school districts balance to serve the needs of school-age populations and taxpayers and also the potential for burdening already vulnerable populations with the negative effects of disinvestment.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document