Covid-19-related learning loss: Evidence of downstream negative effects of emergency remote teaching on performance in subject-specific English proficiency
Courtney M.G.R. Acuyo Cespedes A. Kalemeneva D. de Crombrugghe D.P. Zhakibayeva A. Baikenova A.
2025Springer Science and Business Media B.V.
Prospects
2025
The recent shift to emergency remote teaching (ERT) due to the pandemic resulted in learning losses for students worldwide. However, no studies have examined the effects of exposure to ERT on students’ subject-specific English proficiency. Based on a battery of equated tests and repeated cross-sectional data from 18,769 university applicants spanning 7 years (2018–2024), this study gauges both the immediate and downstream effects of ERT on students’ academic performance in mathematics (math) and critical thinking in English as a foreign language. We find evidence for immediate learning loss in critical thinking for senior high school students who were recently exposed to ERT, and substantive downstream learning loss in math for children exposed to ERT when they were, on average, aged 13. Based on our findings and a review of the literature, we speculate about the reasons for these results and offer suggestions for policy, practice, and future remedial education programs.
Academic performance , Covid-19 pandemic , Critical thinking , Emergency remote teaching , Learning loss , Mathematics , University applicant students
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Institutional Research and Analytics, Strategy and Delivery Office, Nazarbayev University, 53 Kabanbay Batyr Ave., Astana, Z05H0P9, Kazakhstan
Center for Preparatory Studies, Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan
School of Economics and Management, Narxoz University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Institutional Research and Analytics
Center for Preparatory Studies
School of Economics and Management
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