The learning performance and behavior of school children during the COVID-19 pandemic school closures: from the perspectives of parents and teachers.
Greicyane Marcos de Castro, Vanessa de Oliveira Martins-Reis, Letícia Correa Celeste
PMID 37556704WHAT IT FOUND
For 19 second-graders, behavior scores did not significantly change between June and December 2020, though many children showed borderline or altered emotional and behavioral signs at both points.
Families reported increased contact with schools and more time spent on reading at home.
Key findings
01Scores on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire did not significantly differ between the first and second data collection points (p > 0.05).
02A high number of children showed altered or borderline scores on the questionnaire, indicating difficulties in the items studied.
03Teachers' progress reports for the majority of the sample (more than 60%) lacked information due to difficulties in assessing children's progress online.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample size was very small (19 students), limiting the generalizability of the findings. More than 60% of the teacher reports lacked information on children's learning progress, making it difficult to assess academic development accurately. The study did not have baseline data from before the social isolation period, so it cannot determine if the observed changes were due to the pandemic or other factors. Data collection began two months after school closures, meaning families may have already adapted to some changes before the first assessment.
Declared interests
Financial support was provided by FAP-DF (Fundação de Apoio à pesquisa do Distrito Federal).
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that children's behavior remained stable or that academic progress was maintained. The lack of statistical significance in behavior scores does not rule out distress, as a high number of children showed altered signs, and the academic data was largely missing due to reporting gaps.