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¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · quant-synthesis r3 · q2–q4 · 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¶

q4 i0 Across 42 studies, the pooled effect size of COVID-19 learning deficits is d = −0.14 (95% CI −0.17 to −0.10), which the authors interpret as a loss of about 35% of a school year's worth of learning. → 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

q4 · i0 · quant-synthesis · r3

Pre-registered meta-analysis pooling 291 estimates from 42 studies using a random-effects restricted maximum likelihood model with inverse variance weights. The pooled effect is "d = −0.14, t(41) = −7.30, two-tailed P = 0.000"; heterogeneity was extreme (I² = 99.94%).

"The pooled effect size across all studies is d = −0.14, t(41) = −7.30, two-tailed P = 0.000, 95% confidence interval (CI) −0.17 to −0.10."

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

Interpretive benchmarking against cited literature that students gain about 0.4 standard deviations per school year; the authors use this to translate the pooled deficit into "about 35%, of a school year's worth of learning". This is the authors' interpretation, not a tested result.

"Under normal circumstances, students generally improve their performance by around 0.4 standard deviations per school year 10–12. Thus, the overall effect of d = −0.14 suggests that students lost out on 0.14/0.4, or about 35%, of a school year's worth of learning."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• No evidence that COVID-19 learning deficits differ between primary and secondary students — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• COVID-19 learning deficits arose early in the pandemic and have neither closed nor substantially widened since then — related
• Learning deficits during the pandemic are larger in maths than in reading — related
• Learning deficits are appreciably larger in middle-income countries than in high-income countries, with no evidence available from low-income countries — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Schools reported that about 40 percent of their students experienced considerable or major academic losses since March 2020 — related
• COVID-19 restrictions inhibited implementation of later activities in the learning sequence — related
• The achievement divide between high and low achievers widened significantly over the last two years of the pandemic — related
• Low achievers experienced larger initial pandemic impacts and less improvement during 2021-22 — related
• Covid-19 school closures depressed student achievement on average by about 0.19 standard deviations — related
• Pandemic-related learning delays did not statistically differ across primary, secondary and tertiary education levels — a narrower finding that bears on this claim