Starling-Alves I, Hirata G, Oliveira JBA. Covid-19 school closures negatively impacted elementary-school students' reading comprehension and reading fluency skills.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 2023;
99:102753. [PMID:
36852098 PMCID:
PMC9946888 DOI:
10.1016/j.ijedudev.2023.102753]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2022] [Revised: 01/16/2023] [Accepted: 02/18/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
In Brazil, schools remained closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 for approximately two years. In this study, we investigated how COVID-19 school closures were associated with gaps and losses in Brazilian students' reading skills. We contrasted the reading comprehension and fluency of 2nd- to 4th-graders in 2022 with a 2019 cohort. Furthermore, we investigated how 2022 5th graders' reading comprehension and fluency skills have improved since 2019. Overall, results showed that COVID-19 school closures were associated with gaps but not losses in reading comprehension and fluency. Therefore, these skills should be targets of educational interventions.
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