Learning growth and inequality in primary education: Policy lessons from the covid-19 crisis

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Abstract

After more than one and a half years of the Covid-19 crisis and the school closures that followed around the world, concerns around decreases in learning growth and exacerbated inequalities are larger than ever. The discussion in this policy paper is based on analyses with unique data that are used to show how one and a half years of Covid-19 crisis has affected learning growth and pre-existing inequalities in student achievement in Dutch primary education. Underlying these analyses is a dataset that includes more than 30% of Dutch primary school students from about 1,900 schools, with standardised test scores for reading, spelling and mathematics, as well as detailed background information about the
students and their families. The data show a lower learning growth after one and a half years for reading, maths and spelling in the lower grade levels, compared with similar periods before the Covid-19 crisis. We find a slightly higher learning growth for spelling in the higher grade levels. Furthermore, the data show that the decreases in learning growth are notably larger for students with low parental socioeconomic status or income, and for students from single-parent
households
Original languageEnglish
PublisherThe European Liberal Forum (ELF) - FORES
Number of pages15
ISBN (Print)9782390670216
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2021

Publication series

SeriesROA External Reports

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