This research study examined the difference between a formal pre-kindergarten (pre-K) experience and a non-formal pre-kindergarten experience and the impact it had on the academic achievement of kindergarten students. The study also examined the impact these experiences had on kindergarten students as it relates to the Phonological Awareness…

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, children have presented with increased psychiatric symptoms. Little research has been done regarding early childhood mental health, particularly those from vulnerable socioeconomic contexts who are exposed to adversity. We aimed to assess mental health and the impacts of the pandemic on this population. A survey…

Learning to read is essential, especially for our youngest learners, as the foundational skills for learning to read can determine the future success of our students. The disruptions to learning from the COVID-19 pandemic have affected education. Researchers are still working to understand the depth of learning loss students have experienced.…

Education is a continually evolving profession in which students should always be the top priority. Throughout the history of the American education system, attempts have been made to prioritize the needs of students. These attempts often miss the mark in terms of student needs, and it, unfortunately, becomes more of a political cause than a way…

Researchers have studied stress and burnout in the field of education for decades. The problem addressed in this study was that early childhood (EC) teachers of kindergarten through second grade in a large, northeastern, suburban public school district have returned to in-person instruction with many challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic.…

Before the 2020-2021 school year, policymakers and parents confronted the uncertain trade-offs implied by the health, educational, and economic consequences of offering instruction remotely, in person, or through a hybrid of the two. Most public schools in the United States chose remote-only instruction, and enrollment fell dramatically (i.e., a…

Before the 2020-21 school year, educators, policymakers, and parents confronted the stark and uncertain trade-offs implied by the health, educational, and economic consequences of offering instruction remotely, in person, or through a hybrid of the two. Most public schools in the U.S. chose remote-only instruction and enrollment fell dramatically…

We used a cluster-randomized controlled trial to examine the impacts of a technology- and game-based social-emotional program, the "Adventures Aboard the S.S. GRIN" ("Adventures"), on students' social skills development. Eighty-eight third-grade classrooms (N = 1645 third-grade students) across four California public school…

This study was conducted in a middle-class area where school districts are largely average. The purpose of this study was to better understand how families choose among the options available to their child for entering kindergarten. These options include the neighborhood public school, open enrollment into another public school, homeschooling, or…

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, distance learning became popularized throughout the country as various schools were forced to transition to an online platform unexpectedly. This case study explored caregivers' digital literacy self-efficacy and its connection to their academic involvement to primary grade students during distance learning in…

For years, parents and policymakers have raised concerns about teacher shortages. These concerns escalated during the COVID-19 pandemic, amid reports of teachers leaving the profession, fewer new teachers entering, and schools struggling to hire teachers. The Explanatory Statement accompanying the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020…

Research has linked social presence in virtual teaching and learning to greater retention of students, increased student satisfaction, and higher levels of perceived learning. Teachers and families also benefit from increased social presence and community. However, challenges exist to implementing effective virtual teaching and learning at all…

K-2 Educators in public schools encountered several difficulties when trying to acquire and integrate the new technologies needed to use blended learning methods during the COVID-19 epidemic. The problem was that educators of K-2 students in public schools serving low-income communities were unprepared to acquire and use blended learning…

In this brief we examine how variability in students' math and reading test scores changed across the pandemic, including whether increased dispersion was concentrated at one part of the test score distribution. Using reading and math assessment data from a sample of 8 million students in grades 3-8 in 24,000 public schools who took MAP Growth…

The purpose of this technical appendix is to share more detailed results and to describe more fully the sample and methods used in the research included in the brief, "The Widening Achievement Divide during COVID-19." The authors investigated two main research questions in this brief: (1) To what degree have students' reading and math…