Investigating the impact of the COVID-19 school closures and computerized reading instruction in COVID and pre-COVID times on elementary student literacy achievement

ABSTRACT

The goal of this work was to examine the effects of computerized instruction in elementary school children in the context of COVID-19 school closure and pre-COVID-19 times. Specifically, this project investigated how the program i-Ready may facilitate reading skills during COVID-19 school closure and pre-COVID in-person learning. Moreover, this project explored differences in reading skills between children who used i-Ready during the COVID-19 pandemic (i-Ready engaged) and those that did not (i-Ready nonengaged) and whether there were developmental differences in the effectiveness of computerized instruction. This work has implications for understanding the implications of computerized instruction and COVID-19 on early learning. Results demonstrated an effect of Engagement only during the time period in which students attended school or had regular virtual access to their teacher, with the engaged first and fourth graders demonstrating significantly more growth than their nonengaged peers. Additionally, more students demonstrated a lack of growth during the COVID school year than during the prior, NonCOVID, school year. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)