To contain the initial spread of the SARS-CoV2 virus and the COVID-19 disease, many countries opted to close schools. However, the importance of schooling to mitigate inequalities motivated many economies to reopen schools after having formulated various COVID-19 mitigation and containment strategies. Using an exploratory sequential mixed method design, we explore the measures undertaken by countries when reopening schools and how these measures varied cross-nationally. We find that countries formulated a wide number (total: 242) and range of school reopening measures to mitigate the spread of the virus in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. From a policy diffusion theoretical perspective, findings from our statistical analyses suggest that cross-national diversity in policies is related to both internal and external country factors such as peer emulation mechanisms, income, and past pandemic experiences. We urge international agencies for more explicit guidelines for effective school reopening measures.

为了控制SARS-CoV2病毒和COVID-19疾病的最初传播，许多国家选择关闭学校。但是，学校教育对减轻不平等现象的重要性促使许多经济体在制定了各种COVID-19缓解和遏制策略后重新开放学校。使用探索性顺序混合方法设计，我们探索了国家在重新开放学校时采取的措施以及这些措施在跨国范围内的变化。我们发现，在COVID-19大流行的最初几个月中，许多国家制定了大量（总计242个）学校重新开放措施，以减轻该病毒的传播。从政策扩散理论的角度来看，我们的统计分析结果表明，跨国政策的多样性与内部和外部国家因素（例如同伴模仿机制，收入和过去的大流行经历）有关。我们敦促国际机构制定更明确的指导方针，以采取有效的学校重开措施。