Learning deficits during the pandemic are larger in maths than in reading¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · quant-synthesis r3 · q3 · i0 negligible
Currency · newest study 2023 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · recheck by 2028: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q3 i0 The mean difference in deficit magnitude between maths and reading is δ = −0.07 (P = 0.000), with deficits larger in maths; medians are reading −0.09 and maths −0.18. → Bastian A. Betthäuser 2023

Evidence¶

Bastian A. Betthäuser 2023¶

Bastian A. Betthäuser, Anders M. Bach-Mortensen & Per Engzell. (2023). A systematic review and meta-analysis of the evidence on learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nature Human Behaviour. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-022-01506-4

q3 · i0 · quant-synthesis · r3

Bivariate comparison of deficit magnitude by subject using common-effects models with study-clustered standard errors, shown in violin plots (Fig. 6a; medians reading −0.09, maths −0.18). The printed mean difference "δ = −0.07" is statistically significant and robust to dropping individual countries.

"the estimated learning deficits during the COVID-19 pandemic are larger for maths than for reading (mean difference δ = −0.07, t(41) = −4.02, two-tailed P = 0.000, 95% CI −0.11 to −0.04). This difference is statistically significant and robust to dropping estimates from individual countries"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• School-aged children experienced a substantial overall learning deficit during the COVID-19 pandemic (pooled d = −0.14), equivalent to about 35% of a school year's learning — related
• COVID-19 learning deficits arose early in the pandemic and have neither closed nor substantially widened since then — related
• Average fall 2021 reading scores in Grades 3–8 were .09–.18 SD lower than same-grade peers' fall 2019 scores — related
• No evidence that COVID-19 learning deficits differ between primary and secondary students — related
• Learning deficits are appreciably larger in middle-income countries than in high-income countries, with no evidence available from low-income countries — related
• Estimated Covid-19 learning deficits are more pronounced in studies using experimental/quasi-experimental designs than in descriptive or correlational studies — related
• Estimated learning deficits are smaller in European studies than in studies from the rest of the world — related
• Learning deficits in math/science were larger than in other subjects (about 0.17 SD smaller achievement) — related