Just the right amount of caution? Remote instruction and student performance in Sweden during the COVID-19 pandemic

This study investigates how distance learning during COVID-19 affected educational outcomes of lower secondary students in Sweden. In contrast to most previously studied contexts characterized by prolonged and fully remote school closures, Sweden represents a school system with a high level of digital preparedness, in which distance learning was implemented for a limited period, often combined with in-person instruction, and accompanied by exemptions for students with special needs. Using a difference-in-differences design with entropy balancing, we compare pre-pandemic and pandemic-affected cohorts. Our findings suggest that students in schools that adopted remote instruction performed similarly on standardized tests to those in schools that maintained in-person teaching throughout the pandemic. Moreover, progression to upper secondary school was not negatively affected. In some cases, we even find positive effects of remote instruction.