Effects of COVID-19 on the educational performance of children with special educational needs and disabilities: A systematic review according to children’s/youth’s and caregivers’ perspectives

Abstract

This paper aims to provide a first systematic research overview of the effects of the pandemic on the educational performance of children with SEND according to children’s/youths and caregivers’ perspectives following the PRISMA statement. The studies, published between February 2020 and June 2022, were identified through the search of SCOPUS, EBSCO, PubMed, PsycInfo and two preprint-servers related to Education. In determining which studies to include in the review, the selection criteria were based on (1) articles focusing on ages 4–18 years, (2) articles focusing on children with special educational needs and (3) articles focusing on student achievement during COVID-19. The exhaustive reading and quality assessment left a final sample of nine scientific papers. According to children’s/youth’s and caregivers’ perspectives, there is clear evidence for a negative effect of COVID-19 on the educational performance of children with SEND in the areas of (1) speech and language development (2) home learning (3) academic achievement (4) learning performance and (5) remote learning. The most important findings are to be found in the difficulties faced by children in homework completion, in paying attention during online learning, in efficiently completing tasks, in managing their time and in making progress on their IEP goals during school closures.