Learning loss and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review of evidence

Abstract

This systematic review covers 57 studies that measured the effects of school closures on learning outcomes during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. It makes a distinction between the learning loss associated with school closures and the recovery after schools were reopened. It restricts attention to evaluations with credible control groups and provides the first meta-analysis of learning losses that covers more developing countries (22) than developed ones (16). We find that a year of school closure is associated with learning loss equivalent to 1.1 years’ worth of learning and that school reopening reduced these losses down to 0.5 years. While partial recovery is observed, some learning losses persisted even after schools reopened, underscoring the importance of building resilience in the face of disruptions to education.