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By the end of 2021, more than 168 million students across the globe had missed a year of face-to-face schooling due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In NSW, Australia, most students engaged in learning from home for eight weeks during 2020 and a further 14 weeks during 2021. This study provides robust empirical evidence on how two years of disruptions to schooling affected student learning. Drawing on matched data for 3,827 Year 3 and 4 students from 101 NSW government schools, this paper compares student achievement growth in mathematics and reading for 2019 (pre-pandemic) and 2021 (second year of the pandemic) student cohorts. While overall there was no significant difference between cohorts, when analysed by socio-educational advantage, we were surprised to find that students in the lowest band achieved approximately three months' additional growth in mathematics. Arguably, grave concerns about the potentially dire impact of COVID-19 on the learning of disadvantaged students were met by investments that made a difference. We argue that targeted funding and system-wide initiatives to support more equitable outcomes should remain a priority after the pandemic if Australia is to meet its aspirations for excellence and equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to higher education remains elusive for many young people despite substantial investment in outreach interventions, most of which target students in underrepresented equity groups. This paper explores an alternative approach to widening participation in Australia that focuses on teacher professional development to support student aspirations. We examine school teachers' responses to a course designed to develop their conceptual understanding of aspirations and provide a framework for developing aspirations-related initiatives with their students and colleagues. The course pilot was evaluated drawing on surveys (N = 49) and interviews (N = 21). Teachers reported that they gained the following: (1) access to robust evidence of factors affecting aspirations; (2) relevant theoretical perspectives to conceptualise aspirations in new ways; and (3) insights on practical strategies with which they might nurture student pathways to higher education. To support widening participation in higher education, we argue that the scope of current outreach initiatives offered by universities must broaden to capitalise on the untapped potential of teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efforts to contain the COVID-19 virus resulted in various stay-at-home orders and school closures around the globe, causing unprecedented disruption to the lives of children and generating grave concern for their well-being. This study draws on phone interviews with 12 teachers and 6 school leaders from 13 government schools in New South Wales, Australia, to provide insight into how students fared on their return to school after the first wave of COVID-19 in 2020. The interviews highlighted negative consequences for many students including increased stress and anxiety and decreased engagement. This evidence suggests that even a comparatively short period of school closure can drive troubling changes in students' well-being and behaviour following their return to school. Given far more challenging conditions arising from the pandemic, both elsewhere in Australia and globally, we argue that attending to student well-being is as important as ensuring academic achievement and must be a key focus of policy makers and education systems moving forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has put unprecedented pressure on teachers around the world, raising significant concerns about their workload and wellbeing. Our comparison of 2019 (pre-pandemic) and 2020 (first year of the pandemic) survey data (n = 362) from teachers in New South Wales, Australia, demonstrates that their morale and efficacy declined significantly during COVID-19, even with the relatively short period of school closure (8 weeks) during 2020. Interviews with teachers and school leaders (n = 18) reinforced these findings and highlighted the depth to which teachers felt dispensable and unappreciated, despite working incredibly hard for their students. The pressure to adapt to online teaching and learning, in trying circumstances, also challenged their confidence in their teaching. We argue that practical and emotional support for teachers both during periods of remote learning and upon students' return to the classroom is essential to support teacher's wellbeing and a robust teaching workforce into the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a correction notice for an article titled "Was COVID-19 an unexpected catalyst for more equitable learning outcomes? A comparative analysis after two years of disrupted schooling in Australian primary schools." The original publication contained an incorrect abstract, and the correct abstract is provided in this correction notice. The study analyzes the impact of two years of disrupted schooling on student learning in mathematics and reading. Surprisingly, students in the lowest socio-educational band showed approximately 3 months' additional growth in mathematics. The authors argue that targeted funding and system-wide initiatives are necessary to support more equitable outcomes in education. [Extracted from the article]

Students from regional and remote areas remain significantly under-represented in higher education despite decades of equity policy designed to encourage participation. One explanation is that policy initiatives often overlook the realities in local rural contexts that can make higher education less desirable. Applying the theoretical lens of 'doxic' and 'habituated' aspirations, this paper analyzes interviews with 13 students, 10 parents/carers, and 4 teachers from one regional and one remote community in NSW, Australia. We document the emotional and material realities shaping young people's imagined futures in these communities, highlighting the commitment to a rural lifestyle in one, and the desire to escape the other community in decline. We argue that developing successful initiatives to address equitable participation in higher education requires a departure from hegemonic discourses of 'rurality' and greater recognition of and respect for the diverse needs and desires of regional and remote students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic produced widespread disruption to schooling, impacting 90% of the world's students and moving entire school systems to remote and online learning. In the state of New South Wales, Australia, most students engaged in learning from home for at least eight weeks, with subsequent individual and intermittent school closures. However, while numerous claims have circulated in the popular media and in think tank reports, internationally, about the negative impacts on learning, there is limited empirical evidence of decreased student achievement. Drawing on data from more than 4800 Year 3 and 4 students from 113 NSW government schools, this paper compares student achievement during 2019 and 2020 in a sample of matched schools to examine the effects of the system-wide disruption. Somewhat surprisingly, our analysis found no significant differences between 2019 and 2020 in student achievement growth as measured by progressive achievement tests in mathematics or reading. A more nuanced picture emerges when the sample is examined by dis/advantage (ICSEA) and Year level. The Year 3 cohort in the least advantaged schools (ICSEA < 950) achieved 2 months less growth in mathematics, while the Year 3 students in mid-ICSEA schools (950–1050) achieved 2 months' additional growth. No significant differences were identified for Indigenous students or students located in regional locations. These results provide an important counter-narrative to widespread speculation about alarming levels of 'learning loss' for all students. While the lower achievement growth in mathematics for Year 3 students in lower ICSEA schools must be addressed as a matter of urgency to avoid further inequities, most students are, academically, where they are expected to be. Our findings are a testament to the dedicated work of teachers during the 2020 pandemic to ensure that learning for most students was not compromised, despite unusually trying circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite numerous equity initiatives aimed at increasing participation in higher education, students from regional and remote communities continue to be underrepresented in Australia. This paper presents a scoping review of empirical studies, published between 1991 and 2016, that examined aspirations for higher education of students from regional and remote areas. Analysis of the 65 articles revealed an emphasis on enablers and barriers to participation in higher education including: cost and distance, supportive environments, attachment to home, schooling and academic achievement, knowledge of pathways, and individual characteristics. However, much of the research offers a homogeneous view of regional and remote communities which elides location-specific characteristics that are powerful in shaping educational aspirations. We argue that there is a critical need for greater understanding of the diversity of experiences, influences, and aspirations among students within rural and remote communities to underpin the provision of appropriate infrastructure and support for their higher education aspirations. We identify some key avenues for further research into the aspirations of students in rural and remote communities and the ways in which this research can inform and improve outreach activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While access to higher education has increased for Indigenous Australians, participation and completion rates remain lower than those of non-Indigenous Australians. A sound evidence base is needed to ground equity initiatives if they are to address the specific needs of Indigenous students. This paper presents the results of a scoping review of empirical research focusing on the participation of Indigenous students in higher education. The purpose of the scoping review was to synthesise empirical research on aspirations for, and barriers and enablers to, higher education that were published between 2000 and 2016 ( n = 57), and identify areas where further research is needed. Despite a recent increase in research on this topic, relatively little attention has been paid to Indigenous students' aspirations while they are at school. We argue that future research should take account of school students' aspirations for higher education, including primary school students; the similitude of barriers and enablers across the student life cycle; differences within Indigenous community and among Indigenous students; and, the insights emerging from Indigenous methodologies and scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]