Tracing the Impact of COVID-19 on Early Language and Literacy Development from Pre-K Through First Grade
COVID-19 disrupted early educational experiences for a generation of children, but research on how missing school impacted academic development for young children is limited. This paper investigated the longitudinal impact of COVID-19 on the language and literacy development of children in a Florida...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SAGE Publishing
2025-05-01
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| Series: | AERA Open |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584251338816 |
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| author | Elizabeth Burke Hadley Siyu Liu Eunsook Kim Meaghan McKenna Katharine Hull |
| author_facet | Elizabeth Burke Hadley Siyu Liu Eunsook Kim Meaghan McKenna Katharine Hull |
| author_sort | Elizabeth Burke Hadley |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | COVID-19 disrupted early educational experiences for a generation of children, but research on how missing school impacted academic development for young children is limited. This paper investigated the longitudinal impact of COVID-19 on the language and literacy development of children in a Florida school district, specifically following children who were in pre-K in March 2020 through the end of first grade. This COVID-19 cohort (n = 1,167) was compared with a pre-COVID-19 cohort (n = 1,211) using propensity score matching, multilevel regression models, and linear growth modeling. Results indicated that the negative impacts of COVID-19 on language and literacy emerged late and increased over time for young children but were not driven primarily by remote learning. Young children showed especially severe learning loss in unconstrained literacy skills (e.g., comprehension) versus constrained skills (e.g., phonics). COVID-19 impacts were not moderated by child characteristics (e.g., poverty or race/ethnicity). |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-979babab0e3c40ea85912a552bbbc7c1 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2332-8584 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | AERA Open |
| spelling | doaj-art-979babab0e3c40ea85912a552bbbc7c12025-08-20T01:52:38ZengSAGE PublishingAERA Open2332-85842025-05-011110.1177/23328584251338816Tracing the Impact of COVID-19 on Early Language and Literacy Development from Pre-K Through First GradeElizabeth Burke HadleySiyu LiuEunsook KimMeaghan McKennaKatharine HullCOVID-19 disrupted early educational experiences for a generation of children, but research on how missing school impacted academic development for young children is limited. This paper investigated the longitudinal impact of COVID-19 on the language and literacy development of children in a Florida school district, specifically following children who were in pre-K in March 2020 through the end of first grade. This COVID-19 cohort (n = 1,167) was compared with a pre-COVID-19 cohort (n = 1,211) using propensity score matching, multilevel regression models, and linear growth modeling. Results indicated that the negative impacts of COVID-19 on language and literacy emerged late and increased over time for young children but were not driven primarily by remote learning. Young children showed especially severe learning loss in unconstrained literacy skills (e.g., comprehension) versus constrained skills (e.g., phonics). COVID-19 impacts were not moderated by child characteristics (e.g., poverty or race/ethnicity).https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584251338816 |
| spellingShingle | Elizabeth Burke Hadley Siyu Liu Eunsook Kim Meaghan McKenna Katharine Hull Tracing the Impact of COVID-19 on Early Language and Literacy Development from Pre-K Through First Grade AERA Open |
| title | Tracing the Impact of COVID-19 on Early Language and Literacy Development from Pre-K Through First Grade |
| title_full | Tracing the Impact of COVID-19 on Early Language and Literacy Development from Pre-K Through First Grade |
| title_fullStr | Tracing the Impact of COVID-19 on Early Language and Literacy Development from Pre-K Through First Grade |
| title_full_unstemmed | Tracing the Impact of COVID-19 on Early Language and Literacy Development from Pre-K Through First Grade |
| title_short | Tracing the Impact of COVID-19 on Early Language and Literacy Development from Pre-K Through First Grade |
| title_sort | tracing the impact of covid 19 on early language and literacy development from pre k through first grade |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584251338816 |
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