Kindergarten closures hit children in low-SES schools hardest in basic counting and numeracy skills (d = 0.2 in 2020; d = 0.3 in 2021), widening inequalities¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q3 · i1 small
Currency · newest study 2023 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i1 The lack of explicit kindergarten instruction manifested most in low-SES schools' basic counting and numeracy skills, one-fifth SD lower in 2020 and almost one-third SD lower in 2021 than before COVID. → Gyöngyvér Molnár & Zoltán Hermann 2023

Evidence¶

Gyöngyvér Molnár & Zoltán Hermann 2023¶

Gyöngyvér Molnár & Zoltán Hermann. (2023). Short- and long-term effects of COVID-related kindergarten and school closures on first- to eighth-grade students' school readiness skills and mathematics, reading and science learning. Learning and Instruction, 83, 101706. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2022.101706

q3 · i1 · associational · r2

SES-grouped regression analysis (Fig. 6) comparing learning loss in schools with high vs low shares of disadvantaged students. The article reports low-SES schools' numeracy loss at d = 0.2 in 2020, growing to 29 points (d = 0.3) in 2021, while reading precursor and reasoning losses showed no SES difference.

"The lack of explicit kindergarten-level instruction manifested the most among students in low-SES schools in terms of basic counting and numeracy skills, a level which proved to be a one-fifth standard deviation lower (d = 0.2) than before the COVID period."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Number Sense — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

• First graders who missed kindergarten during COVID closures showed the greatest school-readiness loss in basic counting and numeracy skills against pre-pandemic cohorts: d = 0.16 after three months of closures and d = 0.23 for the cohort entering school a year later — related
• Achievement gaps between low-poverty and high-poverty elementary schools grew by .10–.20 SD, primarily during 2020–2021 — related
• Children from low-SES families were more negatively affected by COVID-19 school closures than children from high-SES families — a broader claim this one bears on
• No SES difference was found in kindergarten children's learning loss for reading precursors and inductive reasoning — related