Peer-reviewed article
The impact of COVID-19 school disruptions on children’s learning
Courtney K. Blackwell, Maxwell Armand Mansolf, Sean Deoni, Jody M. Ganiban, Leslie D. Leve et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view ·Key points
Limitations
Abstract
Introduction: National health policies to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus in the US resulted in widespread school closures and disrupted learning in Spring 2020. Methods: = 282 5-12 year olds enrolled in the NIH Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Research Program to investigate associations between caregiver-reported duration of Spring 2020 learning disruptions and academic achievement. Results: Linear regression analyses estimated that children who experienced more than 4 weeks of instruction disruptions in Spring 2020 scored 4.5 points [95% CI: -8.77, -0.22] lower on age-normed math assessments compared to peers who had four or fewer weeks of disruption, adjusting for sociodemographic variables, pre-pandemic vocabulary, and COVID-19 family hardships and stress. No differences were found for reading. Children whose caregivers had higher levels of pandemic-related traumatic stress and lower educational attainment also had lower math scores, adjusting for all other covariates. Discussion: Results suggest educators and schools focus additional attention on supporting math instruction for children who experienced extended learning disruptions.