March 22 marks the 5th anniversary of the start of the first coronavirus lockdown. Shortly after it ended, in May and June 2020, participants in the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), the largest long-term educational study in Germany, were asked about their experiences during the preceding weeks. The major benefit: because the respondents in the NEPS are followed on their educational path over a period of years, it is possible to record not only how the coronavirus crisis has affected everyday school, work and family life, but also what preconditions people had going into the crisis, what protective factors and what the long-term consequences of the crisis are. The Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi) published its analyses from September 2020 in the “NEPS Corona & Education” report series. The 10 reports can still be used to obtain a differentiated picture of the effects of the coronavirus on the educational biographies of people in Germany.
Through the additional survey in May and June 2020 - i.e. directly after the first lockdown - the researchers determined the experiences and impressions of NEPS participants in the period between the start of the restrictions and the first easing of restrictions during the coronavirus crisis and thus made them usable for educational research.
In the additional surveys, four major areas of everyday life were surveyed: the employment situation at the time, everyday life and learning, trust in politics and society, and health and well-being. Participants were also asked about their expectations for the future and their willingness to take risks.
The study results were made available to the general public from September 2020 in the transfer report series “NEPS Corona & Education”. The 10 editions deal with various aspects and consequences of the lockdown: from school closures and the shift of working life into the home to the social situation of older people and a comparison of the development of mathematical skills in children who have completed secondary school with and without school closures.
The reports (available in German language only):
Report No 1, September 2, 2020: Corona-related school closures - ...and now everything works online? How parents with children in Year 8 experienced the time of school closures in Germany
www.lifbi.de/NCB/01
Report No. 2, September 2, 2020: Work life in the coronavirus crisis: what role do educational differences play?
www.lifbi.de/NCB/02
Report No. 3, October 13, 2020: Childcare during the coronavirus crisis: Who provides care when schools and kindergardens close? How the everyday working life of working parents has influenced childcare during the lockdown
www.lifbi.de/NCB/03
Report No. 4, November 20, 2020: Satisfaction in troubled times: What role communication between parents and schools played during school closures. Parents' assessments of school support and their children's learning success during the lockdown
www.lifbi.de/NCB/04
Report No. 5, January 14, 2021: Learning during lockdown: What prerequisites help students? The importance of reading skills, interest in learning content and willingness to make an effort to cope with learning at home
www.lifbi.de/NCB/05
Report No. 6, March 11, 2021: For whom did coronavirus bring a digitalization boost? Changes in the use of digital technologies during the COVID-19 pandemic
www.lifbi.de/NCB/06
Report No. 7, June 15, 2021: Who is continuing their professional development during the pandemic? Changes in the use of digital learning opportunities during the corona crisis
www.lifbi.de/NCB/07
Report No. 8, July 22, 2021: Senior citizens during the coronavirus crisis: How did the period of the first lockdown affect the life satisfaction, expectations and concerns of older adults compared to younger adults?
www.lifbi.de/NCB/08
Report No. 9, September 13, 2023: And again, schools were closed: How the home learning situation of primary school students differs in the first and second lockdown
www.lifbi.de/NCB/09
Report No. 10, May 8, 2024: Fewer learning gains due to corona-related restrictions in education? A cohort comparison of developments in secondary education
www.lifbi.de/NCB/10