COVID-19 widened the socio-economic performance gap on average, deteriorating more among disadvantaged students, significantly in mathematics and science¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2026 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Performance as affected by COVID-19 deteriorated on average more among the lowest-quartile ESCS students than the highest-quartile students, with a statistically significant negative gap difference in mathematics and science. → Giang Pham 2026

Evidence¶

Giang Pham 2026¶

Giang Pham, Franziska Maria Locher, Dimitra Kolovou, Eliane Arnold. (2026). COVID-19: A cross-national analysis with PISA data. Learning and Instruction 105 (2026) 102366. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2026.102366

q2 · i? · associational · r2

Country-level analysis of the Pandemic-Related Performance Gap (difference between ATEs of lowest and highest ESCS quartiles) across 47 countries, illustrated with bootstrap confidence intervals in Fig. 3a. The article states "This negative difference is statistically significant in mathematics and science".

"In all domains, performance as affected by COVID-19 deteriorated on average more among the most disadvantaged students than among the most advantaged students (Pandemic-Related Performance Gap)."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Socioeconomic Status — moderator: an instructional effect differs by group

Related Claims¶

• Teaching and learning conditions did not statistically significantly explain cross-national differences in the pandemic-related widening of the socio-economic performance gap — related
• Socio-economic inequality in learning increased during the pandemic for most estimates, across subjects, grades and pandemic stages — related
• The achievement divide between high and low achievers widened significantly over the last two years of the pandemic — related
• Children from low-SES families were more negatively affected by COVID-19 school closures than children from high-SES families — related
• School-level socio-economic disadvantage significantly predicted immigrant students' self-efficacy and achievement but not valuing in exploratory multilevel tests — related