CHILDREN’S academic growth was stunted by school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, with losses ranging from the equivalent of 3 months’ and 14 months’ worth of skill development in literacy and numeracy, respectively, a 2026 longitudinal cohort study has found.
Sufficient participation in remote learning did not significantly protect children against so-called “learning stagnation”.
Literacy and Numeracy Skills
The study followed a diverse cohort of children from low-income families for several years before and after COVID-19-induced school closures, using data from the Tulsa SEED study.
More than 600 children were assessed from ages 4-6-years-old in 2017 to 2019, to ages 8-11-years-old in 2021 to 2023.
The cohort was 51% girls, 54% Latine, 20% Black, and 11% White.
Longitudinal models predicted changes in literacy and numeracy trajectories from before school closures to after reopening.
Researchers found that the children’s literacy and numeracy skills improved less during school closures than would have been expected based on their pre-COVID development rates, deemed “learning stagnation”.
Alarmingly, sufficient participation in remote learning barely protected against stagnation.
After schools reopened, children’s literacy and numeracy skills improved at a slower rate than pre-closure.
Tulsa SEED Study
The Tulsa SEED study found that during the first few months of remote learning in 2020, more than 40% of children spent an hour or less on distance learning activities per day.
In 2021, this rate was down to less than 15% and more than 60% of children spent more than an average of two hours per day on distance learning.
Communication also increased throughout the remote learning period.
In 2020, approximately half of children communicated with their teachers once per week or less.
Whereas, the following year, less than 20% communicated with their teachers once per week or less.
The study highlighted the numerous challenges that children faced during the pandemic, although, initial barriers to engagement with distance learning did appear to subside.
Researchers emphasised the importance of teachers understanding the multifaceted challenges students faced during the pandemic, as well as the resilience they developed throughout remote learning.
References
Wright AM et al. COVID-19-induced school closures and disadvantages children’s post-COVID academic growth: A longitudinal cohort study. Child Dev. 2026;DOI:10.1093/chidev/aacaf030.
Tulsa SEED Study Team. Distance leaning and child wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic: A snapshot from Tulsa, OK. 2021. Available at: https://www.ou.edu/content/dam/Tulsa/ecei/docs/Distance%20Learning%20and%20Child%20Wellbeing.pdf. Last accessed 5 March 2026.
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