| Title: |
Changes in Children's Kindergarten Readiness in the Wake of COVID-19: Statewide Evidence from Louisiana |
| Language: |
English |
| Authors: |
Anna J. Markowitz; Walter Herring; Isabelle Fares |
| Source: |
Teachers College Record. 2025 127(6-7):66-86. |
| Availability: |
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com |
| Peer Reviewed: |
Y |
| Page Count: |
21 |
| Publication Date: |
2025 |
| Sponsoring Agency: |
Institute of Education Sciences (ED); Administration for Children and Families (DHHS), Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) |
| Contract Number: |
R305B200005; 90YE0216 |
| Document Type: |
Journal Articles; Reports - Research |
| Education Level: |
Early Childhood Education; Elementary Education; Kindergarten; Primary Education |
| Descriptors: |
COVID-19; Pandemics; School Readiness; Kindergarten; Young Children; Literacy; Mathematics; Learning Strategies; Interpersonal Competence; Emotional Intelligence; Physical Development; Low Income Students; Minority Group Students |
| Geographic Terms: |
Louisiana |
| Assessment and Survey Identifiers: |
Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) |
| DOI: |
10.1177/01614681251368327 |
| ISSN: |
0161-4681; 1467-9620 |
| Abstract: |
Background/Context: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted family life in myriad ways, including increasing family stress and reducing access to early care and education experiences. Such factors suggest that children's early learning and development may have been negatively impacted, which would have long-term implications for necessary school support. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: This study estimates statewide changes in kindergarten readiness in Louisiana from 2019 to 2021 to understand both the immediate impact of COVID-19 and the potential for longer-term implications. Given the unequal burden of the pandemic, variability by economic disadvantage and race/ethnicity is explored. Research Design: This report uses statewide kindergarten entry assessment data from Louisiana (N = [approximately]50,000 each year, 42% Black, 10% Hispanic, 43% White) to estimate mean school readiness in the literacy, mathematics, approaches to learning, social-emotional, and physical domains, as well as variability by child race and family economic disadvantage each year from 2019 to 2021. It then uses regression to account for potential changes in school characteristics. Conclusions/Recommendations: We find a 15% decrease in literacy, and declines from 5% to 15% across math, social-emotional, approaches to learning, and physical domains from 2019 to 2020, and very little evidence of a rebound in 2021. Consistent with evidence of a double pandemic of systemic racism alongside COVID-19, decreases in readiness were larger among Black children than White children from 2019 to 2020, suggesting that COVID-19 widened existing inequality. We were unable to explore racial inequality in 2021. Continued assessment and deployment of targeted supports will be essential to ensure pandemic-linked challenges do not exert a lasting influence, as well as a whole-child emphasis. |
| Abstractor: |
As Provided |
| IES Funded: |
Yes |
| Entry Date: |
2025 |
| Accession Number: |
EJ1484577 |
| Database: |
ERIC |