Develop

Learning Disruption Research

When the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, it had a global impact on K-12 students as school operations were disrupted, schools closed, and instruction shifted from face-to-face to online. UNESCO (2022) estimated that globally the pandemic impacted over a billion learners. When schools did reopen, schools continued to be impacted by COVID-19 with many continuing to offer instruction online. Throughout this period of disruption, the terms learning disruption, learning loss, and learning gap began to emerge with a focus on trying to understand the long-term impact on learning in a post-COVID recovery state. Aurini & Davies (2021) noted, “While most schools provided at-home learning platforms in the spring of 2020, their consistency, duration, and effectiveness are unclear” (p. 168). While it is too soon to understand long-term impact of COVID-19 on learning, Aurini and Davies (2021) indicated, “Several bodies of research show that long stretches of non-school time can generate learning losses and sometimes exacerbate achievement gaps” (p. 180). Research about absenteeism, economic disadvantages, summer learning loss, and impact on learning disrupted by natural disasters can provide hope for addressing learning disruptions (Aurini & Davies, 2021; Hanover Research, 2020; Harmey & Moss, 2021, International Literacy Association, 2020; Kuhefeld et al., 2020). For a CASS system education leader, this scenario became even more complex as they are also tasked with meeting competencies as identified by Alberta Education (2020a) and Alberta Education (2020b).

In the Superintendent Leadership Quality Standard (SLQS), system education leaders must demonstrate the competency of leading learning, “A superintendent establishes and sustains a learning culture in the school community that promotes ongoing critical reflection on practice, shared responsibility for student success and continuous improvement” (Alberta Education, 2020b, p. 4). In the Leadership Quality Standard, system education leaders must demonstrate the competency of leading a learning community, “A leader nurtures and sustains a culture that supports evidence-informed teaching and learning” (Alberta Education, 2020a, p. 3). The complexity lies at the intersection of addressing learning disruption, during a global pandemic, while maintaining competency as identified in the quality standards. How can a system education leader address learning disruption to minimize long-term impact on student achievement? Solutions can be found in research about system education leadership.

Education System Coherence

Fullan and Quinn (2016) described coherence as a state for system education leaders to strive to achieve. Coherence occurs when there is a “shared depth of understanding about the purpose and nature of the work” (p. 1). Drivers that move systems toward coherence are: capacity building, collaboration, pedagogy and systemness. Fullan and Quinn explained, “capacity building refers to the skills, competencies, and knowledge that individuals and groups need in order to be effective at accomplishing the goals at hand” (p. 6). Fullan and Quinn described collaboration is the willingness of the group to engage in the work together. They equated collaboration with social capital, that being the ability to work together in a focused manner to achieve goals. Fullan and Quinn explained when systems focused on research-based pedagogy, the synergy that results captures the passion of the group and can provide deeper learning. Finally, Fullan and Quinn described systemness as the most difficult to achieve. It required a combination of factors such as the pursuit of common goals, building professional capacity, being data-informed, building on strategies, and ensuring feedback and supportive interventions are in place along the journey.

Moral Imperative

Fullan and Gallagher (2020) explained the importance of systems thinking and the “new” moral imperative which “integrates equity, excellence, and well-being for all” (p. 72). They explained, “The art of system change is to help people individually and collectively access and understand how the system operates, so that they can behave differently to stave off bad outcomes and increase good ones” (p. 31). For example, if systems focus only on learning disruption, learning will be disrupted. A focus on equity, excellence, and well-being for all will result in people working collectively to achieve the goals. “In order for the system to be effective, education leaders need to interact with the system up and down and sideways” (p. 37). Addressing learning disruption means activating the system to work towards achieving a common goal.

District Level Leadership and System Achievement

Research demonstrates the importance of district level leadership to improve student achievement in school districts. After a period of learning disruption, district level leadership that is in alignment and focused on supporting and improving student achievement is critical. Brandon et al. (2013) studied seven Alberta school districts to determine system education leadership practices that supported the advancement of student achievement. Five themes were identified through their research to correlate system education leadership and student achievement: vision and direction setting, capacity building, professional development, evidence/use of data, and relationships. Similarly, Leithwood (2010) identified several characteristics about how system education leadership can influence student achievement. A few of the characteristics included: district-wide focus on student achievement, approaches to curriculum and instruction, investment in instructional leadership, and district-wide, job-embedded professional development for teachers and leaders. Subsequently, Leithwood et al. (2019) conducted a study in 45 school districts and concluded similar results. The evidence was strong enough for them to suggest school districts use the characteristics as a model or framework to determine school district improvement efforts. Overall, in order to address learning disruption, research suggests district level leadership must be purposeful and focused to demonstrate improved student achievement.

Summary

This eLeadership Guide will examine how Alberta school divisions took action to address the learning disruption caused by the global pandemic. Stories of practice will demonstate education system coherence, moral imperative, and how district leadership infuenced the continuation of learning even during global pandemic.

References

Alberta Education. (2020a). Leadership quality standard. https://www.alberta.ca/assets/documents/ed-leadership-quality-standard-english.pdf

Alberta Education. (2020b). Superintendent leadership quality standard. https://www.alberta.ca/assets/documents/ed-superintendent-leadership-quality-standard-english.pdf

Aurini J. & Davies S. (2021). COVID-19 school closures and educational achievement gaps in Canada: Lessons from Ontario summer learning research. Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue canadienne de sociologie. 58, 165–185. https://doi.org/10.1111/cars.12334

Brandon, J., Hanna, P., Rhyason, K. (Eds.). (2013). Vision in action: Seven approaches to school system success. CASS.

Fullan, M. & Gallagher, M. (2020). The devil is in the details: System solutions for equity, excellence, and student well-being. Corwin.

Fullan, M. & Quinn, J. (2016). Coherence: The right drivers in action for schools, districts, and systems. Corwin.

Hanover Research. (2020). Best practices for learning loss recovery. https://wvde.us/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Learning-Loss-Recovery-Best-Practices.pdf

Harmey, S. & Moss, G. (2021). Learning disruption or learning loss: Using evidence from unplanned closures to inform returning to school after COVID-19. Educational Review, DOI: 10.1080/00131911.2021.1966389

International Literacy Association. (2020). Meeting the COVID-19 challenges to literacy instruction: A focus on equity-centered strategies [Literacy leadership brief]. https://literacyworldwide.org/docs/default-source/where-we-stand/ila-meeting-the-COVID-19-challenges.pdf

Kuhfeld, M., Soland, J., Tarasawa, B., Johnson, A., Ruzek, E., & Liu, J. (2020). Projecting the potential impact of COVID-19 school closures on academic achievement. Educational Researcher, 49 (8), 549–565. DOI: 10.3102/0013189X20965918

Leithwood, K. (2010). Characteristics of school districts that are exceptionally effective in closing the achievement gap. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 9, 245-291.

Leithwood, K., Sun, J., & McCullough, C., (2019). How school districts influence student achievement. Journal of Educational Administration, 57(5), 519-539. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-09-2018-0175

Rincón-Gallardo, S., & Fullan, M. (2016). Essential features of effective networks in education. Journal of Professional Capital and Community, 1(1), 5-22. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPCC-09-2015-0007

UNESCO. (2022). Education: From disruption to recovery. Retrieved June 14, 2022 from https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse