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

• Autor(a) principal: Luciana Mendonça Alves
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Isa Mourão Carvalho, Luiz Felipe Dos Santos, Gabriela de Lima Ribeiro, Laura de Souza Cardoso Freire, Vanessa de Oliveira Martins Reis, Ludimila Labanca, Letícia Celeste
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UFMG
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/1843/59896
• topic: Reading; Educacion; COVID-19; Primary Education; Learning; Fonoaudiologia; COVID-19; Reading; Learning; Educacion; Education, Primary and Secondary

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 t-test in the cross-sectional study. 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.