Reading fluency during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal and cross-sectional analysis.

BACKGROUND

International studies performed during the periods of social isolation highlighted the potential loss of student's learning skills. The present study fills a gap in Brazilian research on this topic and focuses on the development of reading fluency.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the development of the reading fluency of students in the early years of elementary school during e-learning as a result of the social distancing measures put into effect due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

METHODS

Students from grades 2 to 5 were recorded. The number of words read per minute and of those read correctly per minute were analyzed. Descriptive statistical analysis was performed, using analysis of variance (ANOVA) for repeated measures with Bonferroni correction in the longitudinal study, and the

RESULTS

In the cross-sectional study, 162 students participated. Only the comparison between the 2nd grade classes of 2020 and 2021 showed a statistically significant difference. In the prepandemic classes, the students had better results in reading accuracy than the students assessed during the pandemic. The longitudinal study included 75 students, who improved in fluency rate and accuracy as expected between March and December 2020. In March 2021, the results showed a drop, which may be related to school closures during the Brazilian summer vacation.

CONCLUSIONS

The present research demonstrates the results of Brazilian students in terms of the development of reading fluency during the pandemic. There was an expressive development in grades 2 and 3, with stability in the following grades. The 2nd grade class of 2021 suffered a major impact due to the pandemic.

ANTECEDENTES

 Estudos internacionais realizados durante os períodos de isolamento social destacaram a potencial perda das habilidades de aprendizagem dos alunos. O presente estudo preenche uma lacuna nas pesquisas brasileiras sobre este tema, e se centra no desenvolvimento da fluência de leitura.

OBJETIVO

 Investigar o desenvolvimento da fluência de leitura de alunos nos anos iniciais do Ensino Fundamental durante as aulas remotas ministradas em decorrência das medidas de distanciamento social postas em prática por conta da pandemia de doença do coronavírus 2019 (

RESULTADOS

 Ao todo, 162 estudantes participaram do estudo transversal. Apenas a comparação entre as turmas de 2

Informations de copyright

Academia Brasileira de Neurologia. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

The authors have no conflict of interests to declare.