Did students learn less during the COVID-19 pandemic? Reading and mathematics competencies before and after the first pandemic wave. Issue 4 (2nd October 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Schult, Johannes; Mahler, Nicole; Fauth, Benjamin; Lindner, Marlit A.
• Is Part Of: School effectiveness and school improvement. Volume 33:Issue 4(2022)
• Page Start: 544
• Page End: 563
• Publication Date: 2022-10-02
• Subjects: COVID-19 -- school closures -- mathematics competencies -- reading competencies -- large-scale assessments; Schools -- Evaluation -- Periodicals; School management and organization -- Periodicals; 371.20705
• DOI: 10.1080/09243453.2022.2061014
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0924-3453

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted classes in spring 2020. Temporary school closures supposedly led to a considerable learning loss, particularly for low-achieving students. Teachers faced challenges of remote learning environments. Students spent less time learning. The present study investigates the competencies of fifth graders in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, using large-scale assessments in reading and mathematics from annual mandatory tests in September (each n > 80, 000). Competence scores were slightly lower in 2020 (after 2 months of school closures) compared with the three previous years (–0.07 SD for reading comprehension, –0.09 for operations, and –0.03 for numbers). Regarding mathematics, low-achieving students seem to have a learning backlog that deserves attention in future education. School characteristics such as the average sociocultural capital and the proportion of students with a migration background played a minor role in mediating the schools' learning loss. Still, lower sociocultural capital was positively associated with larger learning loss in mathematics.