{"schema_version":"ICEQC_NEWS_ARTICLE_V1","id":"iceqc-news-711d4bcae923f007","slug":"2021-11-09-applying-a-risk-based-standard-to-pandemic-learning-recovery","language":"en","publication_status":"READY_FOR_IMPORT","publication_date":"2021-11-09","last_modified_date":"2021-11-09","title":"Applying a risk-based standard to pandemic learning recovery","summary":"Clarifies the practical meaning of applying a risk-based standard to pandemic learning recovery and the evidence required to support a reliable assurance conclusion.","category":{"code":"STANDARDS_INTERPRETATION","label":"Standards Interpretation"},"article_type":"Standards interpretation","publisher":"International Council for Education Quality Certification (ICEQC)","jurisdictional_scope":"International","historical_reference_basis":"Continuing global education disruption","reference_authority":"competent international public-health and education authorities","sections":[{"heading":null,"paragraphs":["Current consideration of a risk-based standard to pandemic learning recovery is informed by the continuing global education disruption, with consequences for governance, evidence and the treatment of affected learners. In reviewing the issue under review, the central issue is the meaning of the expectation in practice, including its scope, the evidence needed to demonstrate it and the circumstances in which it may not apply. Systems may organise responsibility differently while remaining accountable for comparable public results."]},{"heading":"Meaning in practice","paragraphs":["The circumstances described by the continuing global education disruption are developing and may differ materially between locations. Decisions on a risk-based standard to pandemic learning recovery should therefore be based on verified information available for the affected community and should be reviewed as conditions change. Temporary measures require recorded authority, learner communication and an end or review point; urgency does not remove the need to preserve safety, fair treatment and reliable records."]},{"heading":"Responsibilities and material risks","paragraphs":["The system and institutional dimensions of a risk-based standard to pandemic learning recovery should be considered together. The analysis of the stated expectation proceeds on the basis that continuity arrangements should preserve safe access to learning while protecting academic standards, records, welfare and fair treatment under constrained conditions. In relation to applying a risk-based standard to pandemic learning recovery, public authorities establish the legal and policy setting; providers remain accountable for the quality and integrity of provision within their control. Each level should be able to demonstrate the decisions and controls for which it is accountable.","The technical issue within the assurance question concerns the basis on which a conclusion is reached. For the relevant requirement, materiality should be judged by the possible effect on learning, safety, rights, recognition, public resources and the reliability of a consequential decision. A conclusion should identify both its evidential basis and the part of the stated scope for which assurance cannot be given."],"bullets":["How many learners may be affected?","Is the issue recurring or systemic?","What is the possible effect?","Can the harm be corrected?","Who has authority to accept the residual risk?"]},{"heading":"Basis for a reliable conclusion","paragraphs":["Responsibility for a risk-based standard to pandemic learning recovery should be visible at the point where consequential decisions are made. In reviewing the relevant requirement, conformity should not be inferred from a policy document alone; operating records and outcomes should show that the stated arrangements are in use.","Risk assessment of the stated expectation should give particular attention to temporary measures becoming permanent without review, uncontrolled changes to assessment, and loss of contact with learners. A provider should also consider unsafe or unsuitable learning arrangements and unequal access to replacement provision. Stronger controls are required where learners may not detect an error or where later correction cannot restore the lost opportunity."]},{"heading":"Maintaining effective oversight","paragraphs":["Collection should follow a stated evidential need, not the accidental availability of particular records. For a risk-based standard to pandemic learning recovery, the most relevant material is likely to include data backup and recovery tests, records of affected learners and essential services, alternative delivery and accessibility arrangements, and review of temporary measures and return criteria. In relation to applying a risk-based standard to pandemic learning recovery, independent records should be reconciled, with disagreement and uncertainty reported alongside the finding.","Implementation of the assurance question can be tested without imposing unnecessary reporting. In reviewing the issue under review, responsible bodies should define escalation thresholds before reviewing cases, consider severity, reach, duration, recurrence and detectability, and record the reason for the final classification. Reuse of existing information is appropriate only where its purpose, scope and reliability correspond to the decision under review.","Interpretation of the issue under review should produce a test that another competent reviewer can apply to comparable evidence."]},{"heading":"Maintaining effective oversight","paragraphs":["Interpretation of a risk-based standard to pandemic learning recovery should avoid two errors: treating a formal commitment as proof of effect, and treating one adverse case as proof that every part of the system has failed. Oversight of the assurance question should reflect the principle that continuity should not be measured only by whether teaching activity continues. A decision concerning the control should recognise that a prescribed method should not be treated as the only acceptable method where another approach establishes the same outcome with equivalent evidence.","Decisions concerning the stated expectation should remain traceable to the information available for the stated reference period. A revision should state whether the change concerns the underlying condition, the evidence, the method or the interpretation.","Public reporting on the issue under review should distinguish established fact, analytical judgement and planned action.","Progress on applying a risk-based standard to pandemic learning recovery under review is not the amount of policy or documentation produced. The relevant measure is demonstrated public benefit, including detection and correction of material variation."]}],"word_count":780,"content_hash":"sha256-065263a46dae4ffa4e8c0f0d0735794bacd9928b4dbd5eef27c44d4dc4a3e155","seo_keywords":["applying a risk-based standard to pandemic learning recovery","education quality standards","education quality","ICEQC"],"schema_type":"TechArticle"}