School disruption and pupil academic outcomes – evidence from the 2001 foot and mouth disease epidemic in England

Cook, Will (2020): School disruption and pupil academic outcomes – evidence from the 2001 foot and mouth disease epidemic in England. Published in: Covid Economics No. 40 (30 July 2020): pp. 229-243.

Abstract

The Covid-19 crisis has led to disruption to schooling across the world. Though it is recognized that pupils are suffering immediate learning loss, there exists a lack of understanding as to how this disruption might affect longer-term educational outcomes. This study considers this issue by examining the effect of school disruption in England due to restrictions put in place to manage the Foot and Mouth Disease epidemic in cattle in 2001. Using a difference in difference approach, I analyze whether primary schools that had been significantly disrupted by the epidemic experienced lower performance in standardized tests in English, maths and science for 11 year olds in the year of the outbreak and in subsequent years. I find that primary schools that had been significantly disrupted by the measures to contain the epidemic exhibited achievement falls in the year immediately after the outbreak, driven by sizeable falls in maths performance. The negative effects weaken in subsequent years suggesting that the effects of school disruption may fade out as cohorts progress through schooling.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Covid, school disruption
• Subjects: I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education and Research Institutions > I21 - Analysis of Education

References

Andrew, A., Cattan, S., Costa-Dias, M., Farquharson, C., Kraftman, L., Krutikova, S., Phimister, A., Sevilla, A. (2020) Learning during the lockdown: real-time data on children’s experiences during home learning, IFS Briefing Note BN288 (Available at https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/14848 )

Anders, J., Macmillan, L., Sturgis, P. & Wyness, G. (2020) Homeschooling during lockdown deepens inequality, LSE Covid-19 Blog (Available at https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/covid19/2020/06/05/homeschooling-during-lockdown-will-deepen-inequality/ )

Burgess, S. & Sievertsen, H. (2020) The long-term consequences of missing a term of school, IZA Commentary (Available at https://wol.iza.org/opinions/the-long-term-consequences-of-missing-a-term-of-school )

Carlsson, M., Dahl, G., Öckert, B., Rooth, D. (2015). The Effect of Schooling on Cognitive Skills, The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 97(3), pages 533-547

Chetty, R. (2020) The Economic Impacts of COVID-19 Real-Time Evidence From Private Sector Data, Princeton University seminar (Available at https://bcf.princeton.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/chetty.pdf )

Cullinane, C. and Montacute, R. (2020) Covid-19 and social mobility, Sutton Trust Research Brief (Available at https://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/COVID-19-Impact-Brief-School-Shutdown.pdf )

DfES (2002) Implications of foot & mouth disease for schools, DfES guidance note, (Available at https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20020601225953/http://www.dfes.gov.uk:80/footandmouth/#perform)

Gray, J., Schagen, I., & Charles, M. (2004) Tracking pupil progress from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 2: how much do the ‘route’ taken and the primary school attended matter?, Research Papers in Education, 19:4, 389-413

Goulas, S. & Megalokonomou, E. (2020) School attendance during a pandemic, Economics Letters, Volume 193 Lavy, V. (2015), Do Differences in Schools' Instruction Time Explain International Achievement Gaps? Evidence from Developed and Developing Countries. Economic Journal, 125: F397-F424.

Lucas, M., Nelson, J. and Sims, D. (2020). Schools’ Responses to Covid-19: Pupil Engagement in Remote Learning. Slough: NFER. (Available at https://www.nfer.ac.uk/media/4073/schools_responses_to_covid_19_pupil_engagement_in_remote_learning.pdf )

Meyers, K. & Thomasson, M. (2017) Paralyzed by Panic: Measuring the Effect of School Closures during the 1916 Polio Pandemic on Educational Attainment, NBER working paper 23890 (Available at https://www.nber.org/papers/w23890.pdf )

Mort , M., Convery, I., Baxter, J. & Bailey, C. (2005) . Psychosocial effects of the 2001 UK foot and mouth disease epidemic in a rural population: qualitative diary based study, BMJ 2005; 331 :1234