Students in The Netherlands lost on average 3.16 percentile points (0.08 SD) in achievement during the 8-week COVID-19 lockdown¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q3 · i0 negligible
Currency · newest study 2021 · checked against its sources 2026-10-23 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person · recheck by 2026: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q3 i0 During the 2020 lockdown, Dutch primary students in grades 4 to 7 lost on average 3.16 percentile points (0.08 SD) on a composite of math, spelling, and reading, compared with progress in the same period of the three previous years. → Engzell P. 2021

Evidence¶

Engzell P. 2021¶

Engzell P., Frey A., Verhagen M. D. (2021). Learning loss due to school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2022376118

q3 · i0 · causal · r2

Difference-in-differences analysis of biannual national test scores (n ≈ 350,000 students aged 8 to 11) comparing progress between the 2020 midyear and end-of-year tests to the same interval in 2017 to 2019, adjusting for a linear year trend and time between tests. The study finds students "lost on average 3.16 percentile points in the national distribution, equivalent to 0.08 standard deviations (SD)" — a printed effect size of 0.08 SD, below d = 0.2.

"Students lost on average 3.16 percentile points in the national distribution, equivalent to 0.08 standard deviations (SD)"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

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• Science and French scores also decreased significantly after the 2020 school closures, by roughly 0.22-0.33 and 0.19-0.30 standard deviations respectively — related
• COVID-19-related school closures in spring 2020 had a negative overall effect on student achievement (median −0.08 SD across eleven studies) — a broader claim this one bears on
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