
The paper presents the results of a study of the impacts of the school closures in Austria in Spring 2020 on school students' learning experience, parents' experience of support, self-organisation skills. In addition to surveying school students and parents, we surveyed 141 teachers of eleven schools in Vienna in three waves, during the school closure, after the partial re-opening, and just before the summer break. In addition, to gain more insight into the situation of more marginalised and at-risk students, we interviewed specialised teachers, school social workers and psychologists. As expected, teachers were not generally well prepared for the sudden switch to remote and digital learning formats, andholistic and inclusive teaching styles in particular were impeded. Teachers also were concerned that students from poorer and less educated backgrounds would suffer disproportionately, both emotionally and in their learning success. Although they made efforts to work more intensively with these groups, capacities and support by schools was often deemed insufficient for all.
The project was funded by the Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF) through its Covid-19 Rapid Response Call in 2020.