COVIDs Continuing Impact on Reading Scores

[Anonymous]

A recent report shows that reading scores for first- and second-grade students in the U.S. are still lagging behind pre-pandemic levels—even though many of these kids were babies or not yet in school when COVID-19 disrupted classrooms. While math scores have started to recover, reading progress has been slower, which has researchers looking beyond school closures alone. Some experts think the gap could be tied to broader changes during the pandemic years, like fewer early learning opportunities, less time spent reading with adults, and reduced social interaction during key early-development stages. Schools are trying to respond with stronger phonics-based instruction and additional literacy support, but the trend is still raising questions about what may be influencing early reading development. Here is the article I read: https://apnews.com/article/reading-test-scores-first-second-grade-03a914085a69edc8fe4dcc7c2530e6c1

My kids were in First and Third grade during the height of COVID, and I am not surprised by the impact on their cohort and others around their ages. But I didn't expect the impact to trickle down so much to kids who were babies/toddlers at the time. Curious what everyone thinks might be contributing to this? What and/or when do you think we will see a return to pre-covid? Or is this the new baseline we need to compare things to going forward?

[Anonymous]

I believed in masking and the COVID vaccine, so it isn't as if I am a kooky anti-science proponent. But as a school psychologist, I’ve noticed something striking in that the first- and second-graders at my school who were about one to two years old when the global lockdowns occurred are significantly behind in reading. Compared with the kindergarteners and the third- through fifth-graders, there seems to be a clear developmental gap.

Their phonological awareness also seems weaker. Many of them struggle more than expected with rhyming and blending sounds, and their ability to follow multi-step directions is often limited. Taken together, these patterns look different from what we typically see in early elementary development.
It makes me wonder whether researchers will eventually find that a combination of social isolation and widespread mask use during a critical period of early language development had lasting effects. Masks can reduce the clarity and volume of speech AND obscure mouth movements that young children rely on for visual cues when learning sounds. Muffled speech and the inability to see how sounds are formed (due to others wearing masks) may have made it harder for some children to develop early language and phonological skills.

Obviously, this could just be a fluke at the two schools I work at, but I just had this conversation with some other school psychologists a week ago who have noticed the same thing.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think this is related to Covid at all. People need to learn how to read on paper and not on e-tablets.

[Anonymous]

This has nothing to do with Covid and it had to do with the curriculum, lack of class work and homework and refusal to remediate if kids aren’t reading by the start of second grade.

[Anonymous]

Weren’t all the 1 and 2 year olds home with their parents during the lockdown? Daycares were not open at that time.

[Anonymous]

Weren't there a lot of kids in this cohort with speech delays a few years ago?

[Anonymous]

Lots of speech delays and attention issues in my kindergarten students the last few years. Definite deficits in non verbal communication too. I’ve had to do lessons on how to play with the blocks and other toys I have in my classroom. It’s sad that kids don’t know how to play because their parents hand over the devices to them.

I had a conference this week where the mom handed her 5 yr old his own phone and he swiped around for 15 minutes not spending more than a minute or two looking at any one video or game. Yep, that is their attention span these days.

[Anonymous]

A lot of children, even children of highly educated, high SES parents, are coming to school without foundational skills—age appropriate self-regulation, fine motor skills that support writing, the ability to engage in productive struggle. It seems like parents are living higher stress lives and less able to engage with their children. We’re also seeing a LOT more anxiety in kids, which is affecting attention and memory in the classroom.

It may have to do with shifting social norms and trauma from the pandemic, but it has nothing to do with schools having been closed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think this is related to Covid at all. People need to learn how to read on paper and not on e-tablets.

Me too. I also think parents could have filled in the gaps at home. Some kids actually dud much better with reading and math because they had time at home to study with parents and other resources.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lots of speech delays and attention issues in my kindergarten students the last few years. Definite deficits in non verbal communication too. I’ve had to do lessons on how to play with the blocks and other toys I have in my classroom. It’s sad that kids don’t know how to play because their parents hand over the devices to them.

I had a conference this week where the mom handed her 5 yr old his own phone and he swiped around for 15 minutes not spending more than a minute or two looking at any one video or game. Yep, that is their attention span these days.

Doubtful. Kids have delays all the time even before Covid. Even if parents do everything right they can still have delays. I’d hand my kid a device in that situation. From 2-5 they had daily speech therapy, sometimes twice a day. After that three times a week after school. School and teachers did nothing to help. Stop posting and ask for an evaluation and speech therapy for those kids. Devices can be helpful if used in the right way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of children, even children of highly educated, high SES parents, are coming to school without foundational skills—age appropriate self-regulation, fine motor skills that support writing, the ability to engage in productive struggle. It seems like parents are living higher stress lives and less able to engage with their children. We’re also seeing a LOT more anxiety in kids, which is affecting attention and memory in the classroom.

It may have to do with shifting social norms and trauma from the pandemic, but it has nothing to do with schools having been closed.

This is not the pandemic. This is the bad preschools who parented to do play based learning and the kids don’t learn the foundations there. Kids need academic based at least at age four.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Weren't there a lot of kids in this cohort with speech delays a few years ago?

There always has been. Mine had serious speech issues before Covid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think this is related to Covid at all. People need to learn how to read on paper and not on e-tablets.

Me too. I also think parents could have filled in the gaps at home. Some kids actually dud much better with reading and math because they had time at home to study with parents and other resources.

No, people would rather complain, both parents and teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think this is related to Covid at all. People need to learn how to read on paper and not on e-tablets.

I agree that it could be caused, at least in part, by an increase in screens and a decrease in paper/books. But that phenomenon, at least in early education, seems to me to have been created or exacerbated by Covid. The need to go virtual meant one to one devices for every student everywhere. We did not have that in the primary grades before Covid. The way technology has been going, we may have ended up here anyway, but it may have taken a little longer. I really think they need to pull back on the technology use in early education. Not eliminate it, but decrease it. Greatly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of children, even children of highly educated, high SES parents, are coming to school without foundational skills—age appropriate self-regulation, fine motor skills that support writing, the ability to engage in productive struggle. It seems like parents are living higher stress lives and less able to engage with their children. We’re also seeing a LOT more anxiety in kids, which is affecting attention and memory in the classroom.

It may have to do with shifting social norms and trauma from the pandemic, but it has nothing to do with schools having been closed.

This is not the pandemic. This is the bad preschools who parented to do play based learning and the kids don’t learn the foundations there. Kids need academic based at least at age four.

Disagree. There is good data on play-based learning. My kids went to an entirely play-based preschool and they both ended up in FCPS AAP in 3rd grade and are both at the top of their classes in HS taking very rigorous course loads.