Who is doing better? Exploring the effect of COVID-19 on students’ academic performance across the test score distribution

Previous studies have found a negative effect on average student performance on standardised tests following the Covid-19 crisis. However, the effects might differ depending on the student’s position in the achievement distribution. Understanding distributional effects allows us to determine how to better direct resources to students most affected. Using a quantile treatment effects model, we estimate the effects of Covid-19 on academic performance of students in the Colombian standardised high school exit examination. Our estimates show a U-shaped pattern: the negative effect is smaller for students located at the tails of the test score distribution.