In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a mandatory shift from in-person instruction to online learning for many young children. Teachers needed to adjust to virtual teaching, children were isolated from their peers, and parents played a bigger role in learning during the pandemic. In 2021, the shift back to in-person learning occurred. Research has…

This study examined the impact of COVID-19 on academic "redshirting" in kindergarten, the practice of holding a child back for a year and enrolling them in kindergarten at age 6, using student-level data on all Delaware kindergarten students from fall 2014 through fall 2022. The rate of redshirting declined by 40% in fall 2020, then…

Families face challenging decisions about early care and education (ECE) for their children. Decisions about what is best for each child and family are constrained by family and contextual factors and are prone to disruptions. This study provides a descriptive look at patterns of ECE settings children were in the year prior to kindergarten,…

Over the past three years, there have been changes in learning observed due to COVID-19 pandemic-related disruptions that affected young learners who needed support during instruction, raising concerns about their learning progress. As such, this qualitative phenomenological study explored and described the parent and teacher perspectives on the…

Because the COVID-19 pandemic has been implicated in increased mental health concerns for families of low income, we aimed to describe maternal perspectives about the pandemic's impact on their kindergartener's mental health during the 2020-2021 school year. We conducted 22 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with U.S. mothers with low income who…

Kindergarten students commonly receive a limited amount of exposure to scientific concepts and informational texts. The present study used a multiple probe design across participants to determine the effects of shared reading instruction on three kindergarten students' science-related vocabulary acquisition in a virtual classroom during the…

"Research Findings": The purpose of this qualitative study is to understand parents' perceptions of changes in early care and education (ECE) in the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea. Thirty-three parents of young children who attend three different types of ECE programs (i.e. kindergartens, childcare centers, and…

This study examined the impact of a virtual parenting intervention designed to support parents of incoming kindergartners (N = 45) by bolstering their parental self-efficacy during the summer of 2020, immediately following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, this group-based intervention provided parents with weekly psychoeducation…

The home is an important setting for young children's learning and development. We examined home literacy practices and technology usage among families with children ages 5-6 years old (N = 47) before as compared to during COVID-19 with bivariate analyses. Variations by household income were also investigated. Parents completed surveys on home…

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…

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…

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…

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…

This article examines kindergarten children's experience of the COVID-19 pandemic. It aims to understand the children's thoughts, emotions, and coping strategies regarding the presence of the COVID-19 virus in their daily lives, using the salutogenic approach to study their sense of coherence and promote relevant professional instruction.…

This embedded case study sought to answer the question of what obstacles and opportunities presented when a reading initiative aimed at increasing the amount of time students spent reading independently was implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. Four embedded grade level cases from a small rural elementary school were explored over the course…