The impact of COVID-19 school disruption on learning outcomes:the 2001 Foot and Mouth Disease experience gives reason for optimism

The COVID-19 crisis has led to disruption to schooling across the world. Though it is recognised that pupils are suffering immediate learning loss, there exists a lack of understanding as to how this disruption might affect longer-term educational outcomes. William Cook considers this question by examining the effect of school disruption in England as a result of restrictions put in place to manage the Foot and Mouth Disease epidemic in 2001. He finds that primary schools that had been significantly disrupted by the measures exhibited achievement falls in the year immediately after the outbreak, driven by sizeable falls in maths performance in particular. The negative effects weaken in subsequent years, suggesting that the effects of school disruption may fade out as cohorts progress through schooling.