ERIC Number: EJ1363854
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023-Feb
Pages: 26
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0922-4777
EISSN: EISSN-1573-0905
Available Date: N/A
Reading and Math Skills Development among Finnish Primary School Children before and after COVID-19 School Closure
Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, v36 n2 p263-288 Feb 2023
This study quantified the possible learning losses in reading and math skills among a sample of Finnish Grade 3 children (n = 198) who spent 8 weeks in distance learning during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020. We compared their reading and math skill development trajectories across Grades 1, 2, and 4 to a pre-COVID sample (N = 378). We also examined if gender, parental education, maternal homework involvement, and child's task-avoidant behavior predict children's academic skills at Grade 4 differently in the pre-COVID sample compared with the COVID sample. Children's reading and math skills were tested, mothers reported their education and homework involvement, and teachers rated children's task-avoidant behavior. The results showed, on average, lower reading skills in the COVID sample than in the pre-COVID sample but there were no differences in math skills. Although the COVID sample had lower levels in reading, their developmental trajectories in reading and math skills were not different from the pre-COVID sample before the pandemic in Grades 1 and 2. From Grade 2 to 4, however, the development was slower in reading fluency and comprehension in the COVID sample, but not in math. The predictors of change from Grade 2 to 4 in reading and math skills were not different in the samples. The results showed that the development of reading skills in particular may have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Reading Skills, Mathematics Skills, Grade 3, Elementary School Students, COVID-19, Pandemics, Distance Education, Gender Differences, Parent Background, Educational Background, Homework, Parent Child Relationship, Mothers, Parent Participation, Child Behavior, Prediction, Grade 4, Mother Attitudes, Teacher Attitudes, Child Development, Reading Fluency, Reading Comprehension, Grade 1, Grade 2, Longitudinal Studies, School Closing, Achievement Gains
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Elementary Education; Grade 3; Primary Education; Grade 4; Intermediate Grades; Grade 1; Grade 2
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Finland
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A