Youngest students, especially youngest Black and Hispanic students, losing most from school disruptions

Complete report

Last year, 28% of Grade K students were “well below benchmark” (the lowest category) in early literacy skills. This year, it was 47%. That is a 68% increase in the percentage of Grade K students at greatest risk for not learning to read. Last year, 26% of Grade 1 students were “well below benchmark” (the lowest category) in early literacy skills. This year, it was 43%. Similar to Grade K, that is a 65% increase in the percentage of Grade 1 students at greatest risk for not learning to read. As a result, a school that needed to offer intensive intervention to 100 Grade K and 100 Grade 1 students in the spring of 2020 is faced with making up for the lost instruction for 168 students (Grade K) and 165 students (Grade 1) in the spring of 2021. Even small increases in the percentage of students well below benchmark—for example, the additional 7–8% in Grades 2 to 5—can overtax school resources. There is considerable urgency to address these lags in reading skills: several research studies show that, without additional remedial support, there is nearly a 90 percent chance that a poor reader in Grade 1 will remain a poor reader. 

At the middle of the last school year, 27% of Black kindergarten students were “well below benchmark” (the lowest category) in early literacy skills. At the middle of this school year, it was 54%. So, as compared to last year, there are now twice as many Black kindergarten students at great risk for not learning to read. Similarly, at the middle of the last school year, 34% of Hispanic kindergarten students were “well below benchmark” (the lowest category) in early literacy skills. At the middle of this school year, it was 59%. At the middle of the last school year, 32% of Black Grade 1 students were “well below benchmark” (the lowest category) in early literacy skills. At the middle of this school year, it was 54%. Similarly, at the middle of the last school year, 30% of Hispanic Grade 1 students were “well below benchmark” (the lowest category) in early literacy skills. At the middle of this school year, it was 49%. As compared to their Hispanic and white counterparts, Black students in the other elementary grades (2–5) have also been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 disruptions to learning.