Table 1.

Description of studies examining school performance in children and adolescents.

First Author (Year)	Region, Country	Selection of Sample	Main Findings
Amelia et al. (2020) [10]	Cimahi, Indonesia	Teachers (4) and students (6) from junior high school in Cimahi	According to results, five out of six students scored above MCC (minimum completeness criteria), showing that e-learning did not disturb the learning of mathematics. Achievement and learning activities could be increased through good communication between teachers and students.
Andrew et al. (2020) [21]	UK	Parents of children aged 4–15	There was a decrease in hours engaged with learning activities in children, from 90% before lockdown to 60% during lockdown. Secondary school students presented the bigger decrease from 6.59 to 4.15 h. The majority of them spent around 2 to 4 h in learning activities, while a substantial minority (20%) spent less than 2 h.
Bansal et al. (2020) [36]	India	Parents with children using remote learning	Responders believed that remote learning was beneficial because it was safe (89.9%), helped with keeping in touch with teachers and classmates (61.6%), and with learning material (63.1%).
Becker et al. (2020) [12]	US	Adolescents (118 with ADHD) from the 9th through 11th grades and their parents	During the COVID-19 pandemic, 72% of the adolescents spent 3 h or less on schoolwork on an average school day. Specifically, more difficulties and fewer routines were reported from adolescents with ADHD than those without. Adolescents with ADHD experienced more difficulty in concentrating and remote learning, higher negative affect, and fewer adolescent routines due to COVID-19.
Bobo et al. (2020) [13]	France	Parents of children and adolescents with ADHD	Children with ADHD struggled to complete school-related tasks as reported by their parents, with the role of inattention being one of the main factors in children’s learning difficulties.
Bubb and Jones (2020) [22]	Norway	Parents, teachers, and pupils (6–16 years)	The youngest pupils showed more enthusiasm in more creative tasks assigned by teachers during homeschooling. In total, 79% of younger pupils agreed that they had learned many new things, while 65% of older students agreed. However, a significant percentage of pupils (34% of younger students and 21% of older) reported not learning many new things because the tasks were repetitive and simple. In addition, 62% of older pupils stated that they had more homework, and they were more concentrated at home. Parental support enhanced pupils work at home and their independence concerning their tasks.
Dong et al. (2020) [11]	China	Parents through Wenjuanxing platform	The parents generally had negative beliefs regarding online learning and preferred learning in school, at least for younger ages. They believed that their children could not self-regulate and lacked discipline in doing their homework. Furthermore, the lack of professional knowledge in supporting their children during online learning was considered an aggravating factor. During the COVID-19 pandemic, only a small percentage of parents stated that online learning had better learning outcomes (11.0%) and generated improvement in several skills including language development (21.2%), literacy (25.2%), social skills (24.8%), independent skills (17.8%), arts (21.1%), and physical health (10.9%).
Goodrich et al. (2020) [14]	US	Elementary school teachers	According to the teachers, students presented larger academic gaps in the fall of 2020 when compared to typical years, with many of them not ready for transitioning to the next grade. Moreover, 73.9% and 69.7% of teachers indicated difficulties in reading and mathematics, respectively, which was larger than typical years. Similar findings reported by teachers for students with disabilities, where 58.5% of teachers confirmed achievement gaps larger than typical years.
Kuhfeld et al. (2020) [43]	US	Seventh-grade students who took the MAP Growth assessments in 2017–2018	Students attending school in fall 2020 were estimated to return with approximately 70% reading gains relative to a typical school year. However, in mathematics students’ estimation was smaller, fluctuating from 37% to 50% compared to a typical school year. Although those projections may not be universal, the majority of students were making gains in reading.
Maldonado and De Witte (2020) [35]	Belgium	Schools in Flanders	In 2020, students experienced significant learning losses in all subjects, while mathematics scores presented the biggest decrease in school averages (SD = 0.19) and Dutch scores (SD = 0.29) compared to previous years.
Moghli and Shuayb (2020) [15]	Jordan, Lebanon, and the Occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip	Teachers (274), students (105), and parents (299)	According to teachers, a significant rate of dropout was noted in non-formal schools, with 77% of the students not participating in distance learning. The majority of them were boys (70%), with more than half (53%) being children with special educational needs. In addition, 15% of students reported a decline in their academic performance.
Putri et al. (2020) [16]	Indonesia	Teachers and parents of two primary schools in Tangerang, Indonesia.	Some of the challenges faced by students included the limitation of social contact and communication, and difficulties appeared in students with special educational needs and increased time in front of screens.
Sintema (2020) [48]	Zambia	Teachers at a public secondary school in Chipata District of Eastern Province in Zambia	According to the teachers’ views, the possibility of a decline in performance of secondary school students in national examination was likely to occur. The reduction of face-to-face interaction with the teachers was considered an aggravating factor due to lack of consultation from the teachers, especially in science subjects.
Tomasik et al. (2020) [23]	Switzerland	Pupils from MINDSTEPS system (grade 3 to 9)	In terms of learning gains, students in secondary school remained unaffected, while primary school students presented a decrease in learning.
Zhang Qing et al. (2020) [7]	China	Middle school students	There was a positive correlation between emotional and learning management skills (r = 0.498, p < 0.01). Learning management skills were predicted by positive emotional ability, while low- and high-scoring groups presented significant differences in learning management skills (t = –14.69, p < 0.001).
Zhao Ying et al. (2020) [8]	China	Students (738), parents (1062), and teachers (210)	According to teachers, online learning increased students’ interest, mostly in younger students. Furthermore, half of the teachers expressed that homeschooling would have a negative impact on academic performance of their students. Schooling in classrooms was considered a more preferable way of learning, as stated by both parents and teachers.
Banerjee et al. (2021) [17]	UK	Parents of children and young people (CYP) with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)	A significant number of parents (n = 18) reported that their children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities were affected emotionally and academically by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Baschenis et al. (2021) [18]	Italy	Students with and without dyslexia	Children with dyslexia presented more difficulties in online classes and in reading, comprehension, and mathematics, as confirmed by their parents. More than half (59 to 63%) did not reach the expected goals of reading skills.
Catalano et al. (2021) [44]	NY, US	K-12 teachers from New York State, largely from Long Island and New York City	According to teachers, students failed to regularly complete their assignments (nearly 30%), with this being seen mostly in students from less privileged areas. Concerns were raised for educational outcomes in students with disabilities (SWDs) and English language learners (ELLs).
Clark et al. (2021) [37]	China	Students who were in the last semester of their middle school education	During lockdown, student academic results improved by 0.22 SD through online learning, especially for those students who received online lessons from experts rather than their own teachers. Students using computers presented better performance than those using smartphones for online classes. Although students with high performance maintained their performance throughout lockdown, those with low performance benefited more.
Cui et al. (2021) [38]	China	Parent-child pairs of elementary school	The majority of students performed poorly in online classes and their performance decrease was statistically significant as time lapsed (p = 0.047). Greater performance in online classes was presented by students in grade 1 (23/46, 50%) and in grade 6 (13/31, 41.9%).
Engzell et al. (2021) [24]	Netherlands	Students in grades 4–7	A learning loss equal to 0.08 SD was revealed according to the results. That loss was higher in students with parents with low education levels (60%), enhancing the inequality among families and children during the pandemic.
Gore et al. (2021) [50]	Australia	Students	According to the results, Year 3 students coming from less advantaged schools presented lower achievement growth in mathematics. There were no significant differences among indigenous students and students from regional locations.
Hernawati et al. (2021) [39]	Indonesia	Students from sixth grade in elementary school Kamarung 1	Students’ learning outcomes increased after using videos as a learning technique, as opposed by the post-test and pre-test score evaluations.
Lichand et al. (2021) [45]	Brazil	Observations for middle and high school students	The distance learning increased dropout risk by 365%, with the enhancing number of COVID-19 cases in the area promoting school closure. Students learned only 27.5% of the study material, while the average standardized test scores presented a decrease of 0.32 SD. Remote learning affected students’ learning more than the impact of COVID-19 infection cases. The re-opening of schools increased the test scores of high school students by 20%.
Ma et al. (2021) [40]	China	Parents of children aged 7–15	Most of the parents (44.3%) reported that online learning was effective in gaining knowledge and improving skills, not only for practical skills but also in communication.
Mælan et al. (2021) [25]	Norway	Students in eighth to tenth grade	Students with low achievements tended to present lower efforts and self-efficacy, making it difficult for them to follow the class curriculum when schools reopened.
Meeter (2021) [26]	Netherlands	Pupils in grades 2 through 6	At the end of the year, students presented higher scores in mathematics than the previous year, with weaker students and students from less fortunate populations presenting the highest scores.
Patarapichayatham et al. (2021) [46]	US	Students from pre-kindergarten to grade 6	School closure due to COVID-19 pandemic caused greater learning losses in mathematics than reading, with results varying throughout the grades. According to the school status, in low poverty schools students presented more learning losses than in high poverty schools.
Poulain et al. (2021) [27]	Germany	Children	Children spent significantly more time doing schoolwork when receiving online learning materials regularly than those who received them irregularly.
Sabates et al. (2021) [49]	Ghana, Malawi	Children	During the transition period, a learning loss of 66% was estimated. That estimation created wider gaps in learning losses due to lack of home support and economic resources.
Scarpellini et al. (2021) [28]	Italy	Mothers of primary and middle school students	In primary school, the majority of students completed the homework (90.5%) which consisted mainly of revisions (74.3%) and no grade attribution (43.8%), with 11.5% of students not receiving any grades. On the contrary, in middle school students’ tests were planned (77.7%) and their grades varied from previous performance, with lower grades being almost twice as likely in students in primary school (OR = 0.49, CI 0.30–0.78).
Schult et al. (2021) [29]	Germany	Fifth graders	Compared to previous years, the competence of incoming fifth graders in 2020 was on average lower (−0.07 SDs for reading comprehension, –0.09 SDs for operations, and –0.03 SDs for numbers). High-achieving students presented greater differences in reading comprehension, with lower achievements in mathematics.
Sibley et al. (2021) [47]	US	Adolescents and young adults (A/YAs) with ADHD	During the first month of the pandemic, A/YAs with ADHD reported that social isolation (41.5%), boredom (21.3%), and difficulties in online learning (20.2%) were risk factors for depression and dropping out. On the contrary, more unstructured time to relax (39.4%), spending more time with family (29.8%), and more time available to complete academic work (21.3%) were marked as beneficial. A/YAs with higher IQs struggled more during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Soriano-Ferrer et al. (2021) [19]	Spain	Children with dyslexia and their mothers	Children and adolescents with dyslexia showed less reading activity and motivation during quarantine. The majority of parents reported that their children presented difficulties in establishing reading routines and were negatively affected due to the quarantine.
Spitzer and Musslick (2021) [30]	Germany	Students from grades 4 to 10	In 2020, during the school closure the performance of students increased compared to the former year. Low-achieving students presented greater improvements in performance.
Siachpazidou et al. (2021) [31]	Greece	Parents of children aged 4 to 12	School closure due to COVID-19 restrictions was believed by parents (48%) to be damaging for academic performance of their children.
Steinmayr et al. (2021) [32]	Germany	Parents	The frequency of student–teacher communication was associated with all academic outcomes in both samples. An exception was seen in elementary school. Distant teaching activities related to different academic outcomes of children in elementary school and secondary school.
Tus (2021) [41]	Philippines	Parents of junior high school students in private schools	The mean score of academic performance was satisfactory, revealing that students performed well during online classes.
Vainikainen et al. (2021) [33]	Finland	Pupils in grades 4 to 10 (N = 61,974) and parents of children in grades 1 to 10 (N = 39,186) through the Qualtrics survey system	According to pupils and parents, learning outcomes during distance learning did not vary among schools, with distance learning being less structured in primary grades and younger pupils requiring more support in the learning process.
van der Velde et al. (2020) [34]	Netherlands	Secondary education students	During lockdown, students from the highest educational scale were ahead of schedule more than students for lower scales compared to previous years. Students being more focused at home resulted in more accurate answers in study trials.
Yayci et al. (2021) [42]	Turkey	Parents of elementary school children	Half of the students had less than 60 min of average academic activity time per day, and only two of the students did not have any academic activity.