Purpose: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has prompted changes to child assessment procedures in schools such as the use of face masks by assessors. Research with adults suggests that face masks diminish performance on speech processing and comprehension tasks, yet little is known about how assessor masking affects child performance. Therefore, we…

One part of COVID-19's staggering impact on education has been to suspend or fundamentally alter ongoing education research projects. This article addresses how to analyze the simple but fundamental example of a multi-cohort study in which student assessment data for the final cohort are missing because schools were closed, learning was virtual,…

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the role of the Early Language Comprehension Individualized Instruction (ELCII) program in supporting kindergarteners' learning of inference-making during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two different cohorts of pre- and in-pandemic students completed the ELCII program, which was designed to teach them how to make…

Early numeracy skills are vital for kindergarten students because they provide the foundation for acquiring mathematics skills in both kindergarten and subsequent years. Teacher support to intervene on kindergarteners at-risk for poor mathematics learning outcomes is a promising approach to address this achievement gap. The current study…

This brief provides an overview of the four attendance-focused interventions districts partnering with the National Center for Rural Education Research Networks (NCRERN) implemented and evaluated through randomized controlled trials in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years. The tested interventions were personalized messaging, mentoring, family…

Young students at risk for reading difficulties are likely to have long-term reading difficulties if they are not provided with evidence-based, supplemental instruction. This pilot study evaluated the feasibility of a Tier 2 reading intervention ("Reading RULES! Kindergarten"; RRK) and its promise to improve outcomes for kindergarten…

Objective: This study examines media use of children from low-income homes during school closings during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: Caregivers of 151 kindergartners from low-income homes completed questionnaires as part of a larger study. Caregivers reported how much time children spent watching TV/videos and using apps on the most recent…

This instrumental case study is focused on understanding more about literacy instruction in K-3 classrooms during the pandemic-impacted 2020-2021 school year. The study aims to examine (a) how teachers described their literacy instruction before and during the COVID-19 pandemic; (b) the types of literacy instructional practices teachers…

The COVID-19 pandemic drastically disrupted the functioning of U.S. public schools, potentially changing the relative appeal of alternatives such as homeschooling and private schools. We study changes in families' choices of school sector using longitudinal student-level administrative data from Michigan and nationally representative data from the…

The present study examined parents' and teachers' perceptions of student learning in Spanish-English Dual Language Education (DLE) programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants included 72 parents of students from kindergarten to second grade and eight teachers in two schools in the southeastern U.S. Parents retrospectively reported…

As part of a federally funded grant, we conducted Math for All professional development workshops at elementary schools in the Midwest to support teachers' implementation of high-quality, standards-based mathematics education for a wide range of students, including those with disabilities. Our research included week-long instructional logs…

To address lingering pressures in the aftermath of the pandemic, California public schools received record funding, largely bolstered by nearly $60 billion in federal and state one-time stimulus funds. This report takes a comprehensive look at the allocation and uses of these federal and state educational recovery funds in California.