The Impact of COVID-19 in Brazil Through Educational Neuroscience Lens

Background: Educational neuroscience has made important contributions to show how the Covid-19 pandemic impacted schooling. In countries like Brazil, with significant educational inequality, the suspension of in-person classes worsened these disparities, as low-income families faced difficulties accessing remote learning. Methods: This study evaluated executive functions (EF) and academic skills in reading, writing, and math for 178 public school students from 1st to 9th grade in São Paulo, Brazil, comparing them with pre-pandemic norms to assess possible differences. EF were assessed using the Hayling Test, Digit Span Task, and Verbal Fluency, while academic skills were measured by the School Performance Test II. To analyze differences between the sample of this study and the pre-pandemic normative samples, one-sample t-tests were performed. Due to the small sample size, segmented by school grade and age, the bootstrapping resampling method was used, and the effect size was measured with Cohen's d. Results: A one-sample t-test showed significant differences between times, with lower post-pandemic performance in verbal fluency (9 to 14 years old), working memory (10 to 14 years old), and inhibitory control across all age groups. Writing skills were lower from 5th to 8th grade and reading from 4th to 8th. Math skills were lower in 4th, 8th, and 9th grades. Better post-pandemic performance was seen in working memory (6 and 7 years old). Conclusions: Findings indicate that students in upper grades of elementary school during the pandemic were most impacted by the suspension of in-person teaching, highlighting the importance of schooling and the need for recovery efforts at these levels.