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COVID-19-Induced School Closures and Disadvantaged Children's Post-COVID Academic Growth: A Longitudinal Cohort Study. EdWorkingPaper No. 25-1334

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Bibliographic Details
Title: COVID-19-Induced School Closures and Disadvantaged Children's Post-COVID Academic Growth: A Longitudinal Cohort Study. EdWorkingPaper No. 25-1334
Language: English
Authors: Anna M. Wright, Anne Martin, Seth Pollak, Deborah Phillips, Gabriela Livas, Anna D. Johnson, Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University
Source: Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University. 2025.
Availability: Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University. Brown University Box 1985, Providence, RI 02912. Tel: 401-863-7990; Fax: 401-863-1290; e-mail: annenberg@brown.edu; Web site: https://annenberg.brown.edu/
Peer Reviewed: N
Page Count: 46
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Descriptors: COVID-19, Pandemics, School Closing, Disadvantaged Youth, Low Income Students, Reading Achievement, Mathematics Achievement, Distance Education, Achievement Gains, Literacy, Student Diversity, Elementary School Students, Achievement Tests
Geographic Terms: Oklahoma (Tulsa)
Assessment and Survey Identifiers: Woodcock Johnson Tests of Achievement
Abstract: This study draws on unique, repeated-measures data on a diverse (51% female; 53% Latine, 22% Black, 11% White), low-income cohort of children (N = 680) whose academic skills were assessed before and after COVID-19-induced school closures. Longitudinal models predicted changes in children's literacy and math trajectories from before school closures (ages 4-6; 2017-2019) to after school reopening (ages 8-11; 2021-2023) and tested whether children's remote learning participation moderated these changes. Results suggest that academic growth stagnated during school closures, with "losses" ranging from 3 months of literacy growth to 14 months of math growth. Remote learning participation was protective for math only. After schools re-opened, children's growth rates were slower than they had been prior to school closures but bounced back to what we would expect based on their ages. These findings suggest that while being out of school resulted in stagnation in learning, once students were back in school, normal developmental growth in learning resumed, highlighting the resilience of students' ability to learn when in school.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: ED678267
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:This study draws on unique, repeated-measures data on a diverse (51% female; 53% Latine, 22% Black, 11% White), low-income cohort of children (N = 680) whose academic skills were assessed before and after COVID-19-induced school closures. Longitudinal models predicted changes in children's literacy and math trajectories from before school closures (ages 4-6; 2017-2019) to after school reopening (ages 8-11; 2021-2023) and tested whether children's remote learning participation moderated these changes. Results suggest that academic growth stagnated during school closures, with "losses" ranging from 3 months of literacy growth to 14 months of math growth. Remote learning participation was protective for math only. After schools re-opened, children's growth rates were slower than they had been prior to school closures but bounced back to what we would expect based on their ages. These findings suggest that while being out of school resulted in stagnation in learning, once students were back in school, normal developmental growth in learning resumed, highlighting the resilience of students' ability to learn when in school.