The heterogeneity of Covid-19 learning loss across Italian primary and middle schools

This paper investigates the heterogeneous impact of school closures during Covid-19 pandemic in Italy on academic performance across different schools, grades, subjects and groups of students. Our analysis utilises an innovative dataset that combines administrative data on standardised tests in grades 5 and 8 with a specifically-designed survey that collects information about teachers’ practices between February and June 2020. Firstly, by employing a multilevel (mixed-effects) model, we estimate the extent of learning loss and examine its variability across schools, for students in primary and middle levels during the school year 2020/21. The findings confirm that learning loss has been considerable (between 0.05 and 0.27 SD) although heterogeneity across disciplines and grades exists – higher in English in grade 5, and in mathematics and reading in grade 8. Secondly, as a main contribution of the paper, we explore the mechanisms behind the substantial differences observed across schools, which can be explained by the ability of teachers in using digital tools and evaluating their students, as well as by the leadership role exerted by school principals.