Do School Closures During the COVID-19 Pandemic Enlarge Educational Inequality?

• In Event: Braving the Challenges of the Pandemic: Research on Navigating Learning Environments in Times of Emergency

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to provide evidence on learning losses and increased educational inequality due to COVID-19-related school closures. We identified 25 international studies on student achievement during the crisis by means of a systematic review. Although most of the studies confirmed the common assumption that pandemic-related school closures increase educational inequality, a significant number of eleven studies failed to prove any additional educational disadvantage for students from socioeconomically disadvantaged families due to COVID-19. Interestingly, these studies were predominantly from German speaking countries. Increasing inequality due to school closures during the pandemic was more likely in mathematics than reading and more likely in primary schools than at secondary schools.

Authors

• Christoph Helm, Johannes Kepler University of Linz

• Stephan Gerhard Huber, Johannes Kepler University of Linz

• Denise Demski, Ruhr-Universität Bochum