COVID-19 learning deficits arose early in the pandemic and have neither closed nor substantially widened since then¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · quant-synthesis r3 · q2–q3
Currency · newest study 2023 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · recheck by 2028: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q3 i? The magnitude of learning deficits shows no significant change over months since the pandemic onset (βmonths = −0.00, P = 0.097), indicating deficits opened early and persisted. → 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 · i? · quant-synthesis · r3

Bivariate ordinary least squares regression of deficit magnitude on measurement date across 291 estimates, with standard errors clustered at the study level (42 clusters), shown in Fig. 4. The slope is not significantly different from zero (P = 0.097).

"We find no evidence that the slope coefficient is different from zero (βmonths = −0.00, t(41) = −7.30, two-tailed P = 0.097, 95% CI −0.01 to 0.00)."

Bastian A. Betthäuser 2023 (2)¶

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

q2 · i? · quant-synthesis · r3

Supplementary within-country analyses for the United States, the UK and the Netherlands replicate the persistent-deficit pattern. The authors caution that estimates are based on distinct samples of students, not followed cohorts.

"As shown in Supplementary Fig. 8, the pattern of persistent learning deficits also emerges within each of the three countries for which we have a relatively large number of estimates at different timepoints: the United States, the UK and the Netherlands."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• The achievement divide between high and low achievers widened significantly over the last two years of the pandemic — reports the opposite
• Low achievers experienced larger initial pandemic impacts and less improvement during 2021-22 — reports the opposite
• 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
• Significant achievement gaps between COVID-year students and pre-pandemic peers persisted at the end of 2022-23 — related
• Learning deficits during the pandemic are larger in maths than in reading — related
• Schools reported that about 40 percent of their students experienced considerable or major academic losses since March 2020 — related
• COVID-19 school closures in Pennsylvania are likely to have caused substantial learning losses, with harms concentrated in populations also disproportionately harmed by the disease — related
• The study tracked the achievement gap between COVID-year student cohorts and their pre-pandemic peers — related
• Learning deficits are appreciably larger in middle-income countries than in high-income countries, with no evidence available from low-income countries — related
• Observed COVID-19 achievement declines were more substantial than declines during other recent disruptions such as natural disasters — related
• Estimated Covid-19 learning deficits are more pronounced in studies using experimental/quasi-experimental designs than in descriptive or correlational studies — related
• One year or more after the first lockdown, students had not recovered the learning deficits caused by Covid-19 school closures — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• First graders who missed kindergarten during COVID closures showed the greatest school-readiness loss in basic counting and numeracy skills against pre-pandemic cohorts: d = 0.16 after three months of closures and d = 0.23 for the cohort entering school a year later — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Teaching and learning conditions did not statistically significantly explain cross-national differences in the pandemic-related widening of the socio-economic performance gap — related
• COVID-19 third-grade school closures in Southern Germany showed no significant short-term or long-term effect on reading fluency — a narrower finding that bears on this claim