Primary school mathematics during Covid-19: No evidence of learning gaps in adaptive practicing results
Open accessAbstract
During the spring of 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic induced many governments to close schools for many months. In the Netherlands, primary schools were closed during a lockdown lasting from March until June. While education was continued online, evidence so far suggests that learning has suffered from the lockdown. Here, we report results from Dutch primary schools that relied on adaptive practicing software for teaching mathematics. The software, installed on tablets that could be taken home by the pupils, continued to be used during school closures. Performance was tracked throughout the lockdown for 53,656 pupils in grades 2 through 6 from 810 schools, and compared to performance of similar pupils in the preceding year. While performance up to the lockdown was similar for school year 2019-20, during the lockdown learning was faster that it had been in 2018-19, contradicting results reported so far. These enhanced gains were correlated with increased use, and remained after the lockdown ended. Pupils ended the year with a higher proficiency score than was reached in earlier years. This was the case for all grades but more so for lower grades, for strong and weak students but more so for weak students, and less so for students in schools with disadvantaged populations than in schools with non-disadvantaged populations.
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Positive effects of COVID-19-related school closures on student achievement were almost exclusively reported by studies using data from learning apps or online learning environments.
“Positive effects of the COVID-19-related school closures on student achievement were almost exclusively reported by studies using data from learning apps or online learning environments (Meeter, 2021;Spitzer & Musslick, 2021;van der Velde et al., 2021).”
From The Impact of COVID‐19‐Related School Closures on Student Achievement—A Meta‐Analysis (2022) · cites this paper as Meeter, 2021
In the Netherlands Snappet study, positive effects between Cohen's d ~0.045 and ~0.18 were noted for all pupil groups regarding attainment during closed schools.
“Positive effects between Cohen's d ~0.045 and Cohen's d ~0.18 are to be noted for all groups of pupils also with regard to attainment, in the time of closed schools [7] (p.6).”
From Effects of Pandemic-Related School Closures on Pupils’ Performance and Learning in Selected Countries: A Rapid Review (2021) · cites this paper as [7]
In the Netherlands Snappet study, the greatest positive effects were in lower grades, especially in the area of learning.
“The greatest positive effects can be seen in the lower grades, especially in the area of learning [7] (p. 6).”
From Effects of Pandemic-Related School Closures on Pupils’ Performance and Learning in Selected Countries: A Rapid Review (2021) · cites this paper as [7]
In the Netherlands Snappet study, for weaker pupils from lower grades, positive effects of school closures were demonstrated up to the end of the 2020 school year.
“In the case of weaker pupils from lower grades, positive effects of the school closures up to the end of the 2020 school year were demonstrated [7] (p.8).”
From Effects of Pandemic-Related School Closures on Pupils’ Performance and Learning in Selected Countries: A Rapid Review (2021) · cites this paper as [7]
Positive effects during the school closures were found in only one of the available studies, in the area of mathematics.
“Positive effects were found during the school closures in only one of the available studies.These were in the area of mathematics [7].”
From Effects of Pandemic-Related School Closures on Pupils’ Performance and Learning in Selected Countries: A Rapid Review (2021) · cites this paper as [7]
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“Benzer olarak Meeter (2021), Spitzer ve Musslick (2021) araştırmalarında COVİD-19 pandemi sürecinde uzaktan eğitimle verilen derslere düzenli katılan öğrencilerin akademik başarılarının arttığı bulgusuna ulaşmışlardır.”
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- Authors
- Meeter, M.
- Affiliations
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Meeter, Martijn
- ORCID
- Meeter, Martijn
- Publisher
- Center for Open Science
- Published
- 2021-01-18
- OpenAlex
- W4237459334
- Cited by
- 16
- References
- 13
- Citations by year
- 2024: 3 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 7
- Type
- posted content
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Locations
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Education during COVID-19 pandemic
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Intelligent Tutoring Systems and Adaptive Learning
- Social Sciences › Education › Mathematics Education and Teaching Techniques
- Keywords
- COVID-19 lockdown, school closures, primary school mathematics, adaptive learning software, learning gaps, online learning, tablet-based learning, mathematics proficiency, academic performance, disadvantaged students, learning gains
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