The Impact of Lockdown on the Reading Competence of Students in the Canary Islands in PISA

Abstract

The OECD’s PISA report evaluates, among other competencies, the reading performance of teenagers globally, including Spain, in which representative scores are obtained from all autonomous communities. This study focuses on analysing the relationship between the COVID-19 lockdown and the reading literacy of students in the Canary Islands in PISA 2022, while also considering factors such as parental education level and student gender. The sample comprised 1,686 students. For the analysis, 58 variables from the contextual questionnaire were examined using CHAID decision trees. The model accounted for 39.88% of the variance in reading scores and revealed a coherent relational pattern: the interplay between family educational capital and home support conditions during the lockdown shaped distinct reading achievement pathways. Students whose mothers had at least upper secondary education tended to achieve higher scores, particularly when this educational capital was accompanied by family support practices that facilitated learning continuity. In contrast, the combination of low maternal education levels and limited access to learning materials was associated with the lowest scores, highlighting how constraints within the home environment exacerbated pre-existing inequalities. Furthermore, boys consistently performed worse than girls. Educational policy should prioritise targeted support for students from less advantaged backgrounds to mitigate the inequalities identified.