Cell phone use and reading survey

 A recent survey of 900 school librarians and educators across the country revealed that mobile device policy that banned cell phone coincided with 2/3 reporting more visual engagement with books in classrooms, increased library circulation, and more independent reading during free periods. Full bans, especially those who used physical storage methods, outperformed looser "off and away" approaches, particularly in high schools. 

Yurio, K. (2026. July 23). SLJ survey: Cell phone bans boost reading, library use. School Library Journal. https://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/story/SLJ-Survey-Cell-Phone-Bans-Boost-Reading-Library-Use 

Student Technology Use Study

 “The vast majority of US public schools now issue devices to every student, according to a 2025 National Center for Education Statistics survey. A new found students putting away their phones didn’t seem to meaningfully improve learning outcomes,.probably because schools are giving students other forms of technology to replace their personal devices, despite a wide body of evidence showing that educational technology generally makes it harder for students to learn. Students who use computers more perform worse academically, neuroscientist Jared Cooney Horvath documented in his book, ‘The Digital Delusion: How Classroom Technology Harms Our Kids’ Learning — And How To Help Them Thrive Again.’ These results show up in numerous reliable international standardized tests, Horvath explained in congressional testimony.” 

Allcott, H. et al. (2026). The effects of school phone bans: national evidence from lockable pouches. National Bureau of Economic Research. 

Banned Cellphone Impact Study

 A recent report indicates that nearly 80% of teens attend schools with "no cellphone" policies, but that students continue to use their devices for nonacademic purposes. Bans differ in scope, with about half of students reporting total restrictions throughout the school day and another 40% experiencing limits only during instructional time.

Rapaport, A. (2026). Cell Phone School Policies: Implementation, Perceived Impacts, and Student and Parent Beliefs. Center for Applied Research in Education at the University of Southern California   https://dornsife.usc.edu/cesr/wp-content/uploads/sites/54/2026/01/UAS-CARE-Cell-phone-policy-results.pdf

Brain Activity Using ChatGPT study

Recent research from MIT scientists compared the brain activity of students who used ChatGPT when writing to those who did not. The team's findings suggest that using ChatGPT resulted in less brain activity and inferior writing for students. However, they didn't find any brain rot.

Kosmyna, N. et al. (2025).Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task. ArXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.08872

10 2025 studies

 https://www.edutopia.org/visual-essay/the-10-most-significant-education-studies-of-2025?utm_content=linkpos2&utm_campaign=weekly-2025-12-10&utm_medium=email&utm_source=edu-newsletter

10 top education studies in 2025 (according to Edutopia)

In Memoriam: It’s Over For Cell Phones

What happens when you finally remove the distracting devices? A sweeping new study weighs in.

After installing over 1,000 wooden boxes across 10 college campuses in India, researchers embarked on a massive, randomized controlled trial to determine the impact of cell phone bans on academic performance. Over the course of a semester, almost 17,000 students either marched into class with their phones or deposited them in the new wooden receptacles and—suddenly, heartbreakingly Instagram-less—took their seats.

At scale, phone-free classrooms produced better academic outcomes, especially among new and struggling students. Phone bans “can substantially improve student grades” and “narrow achievement gaps,” the researchers concluded, providing conclusive evidence of a causal link between cell phone restrictions and better grades. A 2025 study of phone bans in Florida high schools, which appeared a few months later, also reported academic improvements and significant reductions in unexcused absences—though troubling, short-term patterns of racialized discipline were initially reported as the bans got off the ground.

The will to ban phones in U.S. schools has been slow to coalesce but has recently gained momentum. In 2025, according to Ballotpedia, 22 states passed new laws restricting phone use in schools.

More states should listen to teachers and follow suit. Beyond improved grades, the researchers in India reported “fewer instances of disruptive behavior” in classrooms, “less peer-to-peer conversation unrelated to course material,” and better student-teacher relationships. Kids who attended class without phones, meanwhile, became converts: As a group, they were “significantly more supportive of phone-use restrictions” going forward—signaling a “convergence of academic performance” and “increased student receptivity” that highlights the potential of phone bans to transform school cultures, the researchers say.

Cracking the Code of Math Word Problems

Two new studies reveal what “capable problem solvers” do when presented with difficult word problems.

In everything from recipes to social media algorithms, important mathematical principles are at work below the surface of everyday life. But even simple math word problems that attempt to capture this reality can derail students as they wade through a tangle of numbers, operations, and story details.

After analyzing 1,000 solutions to middle school math problems, researchers found that students often stumbled when trying to translate narrative text into manageable, computable steps. What may seem like a straightforward scenario—calculating the gas, food, and lodging costs for a family road trip, for example—can exert “high demands on working memory” as information outstrips cognitive bandwidth, the researchers explain in a 2025 study.

In the study, the most common technique—highlighting key elements of a word problem—was only marginally helpful. But when used as the first step in a broader “organizational and elaborative” approach that included sketching diagrams, categorizing information, and annotating the problems with arrows or labels, students were better able to see how the pieces fit together. Kids who used these note-taking strategies were 29 percent more likely to solve a problem than those who simply highlighted details, the study found.

What’s the secret behind the strategies? Math word problems often present more information than students can hold in working memory. “Capable problem solvers” offload information to sketch pads and margin notes and reintegrate it later, researchers explain in a different 2025 study—allowing savvy students to refocus their attention on a smaller set of factors as they work to translate a story into solvable math.

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The Microbreaks Break Through

New research suggests—yet again—that short brain breaks dramatically improve student attention and performance.

Sustained student attention, which researchers often refer to as “vigilance,” is the horse that never wins. In a 2025 study of attentional limits in several UK classrooms, in fact, researchers detected the first signs of wobbly student focus a mere five minutes into a lecture. Attention then steadily declined for the rest of the lesson.

In search of possible solutions, the researchers enrolled 253 sophomore psychology undergraduates in 90-minute lectures that were interrupted by 90-second microbreaks every 10 minutes, or by a single 10-minute break at the halfway point. Microbreaks were casual affairs, consisting of activities like “closing your eyes, quietly speaking with fellow classmates, stretching, or drinking water.” On quizzes that measured attention at regular lecture intervals, students in the microbreak group outperformed their counterparts by significant margins—up to 76 percent better—virtually every step of the way.

The attempt to master challenging material always leads to mind-wandering—there are no cures. Historical studies of attention spans place the limits at various thresholds, from eight to 10 to 25 minutes. Instead of trying to “overcome these constraints,” the researchers say, educators should “acknowledge the theoretical impossibility of perfect sustained attention” and choose strategies that are compatible with “inherent neural, biological, and cognitive limitations.”

When in doubt, chunk learning into smaller parts, incorporate regular movement or chat breaks, or change learning modalities to allow kids to rest and reset, perhaps as often as every 10–15 minutes.

Early Handwriting Leads to (Much) Better Reading

When asked to name or write letters, preliterate kids who wrote by hand crushed kids who typed.

In the debate over screens versus paper, new research tips the scale dramatically, revealing that writing by hand—but not typing—helps build the cognitive framework young students rely on to decode letters and recognize words.

In a study published earlier this year, researchers asked 5-year-old pre-readers to study new letters and two-syllable words, then practice them through handwriting or typing. After several short training sessions, the children were tested on how well they could name the letters, write them from dictation, and recognize and decode the new words.

Across nearly every measure, the children who wrote letters by hand demonstrated superior alphabetic and orthographic skills. When asked to name letters, handwriters achieved 92 percent accuracy, compared to 75 percent for typers, and the discrepancy was even greater for letter writing: Children who practiced by hand wrote the new letters accurately more than twice as often—64 percent of the time, compared to 28 percent for their typing peers.

In recent years, neuroscientists also peeked inside the brains of older students as they used pencils and keyboards. A 2020 study of seventh graders revealed telltale traces of deeper learning when kids wrote words instead of typing them, and a study published earlier this year confirms that handwriting is an “important tool for learning and memory retention” that benefits students across all ages, including middle and high school. 

As screens increasingly claim space in children’s daily routines, the studies argue for a return to older technologies. For the youngest readers and writers, the need for a steady diet of pencil and paper work is inarguable. Meanwhile, middle and high school students can move between tools like Google Docs and old-fashioned paper notebooks, gaining crucial experience with modern technologies while periodically slowing down to engage in methodical, embodied thinking.

When to Resist the Urge to Help Students

Too much struggle can be deflating. But just enough can improve a child’s sense of competence and promote academic risk-taking.

Feeling competent is crucial to well-being, but for young learners it tends to come at a price: a dose of (healthy) frustration. 

Now a new study confirms that when adults spot a struggling student and intervene too quickly, it can signal that solutions are beyond the child’s ability—and dampen their confidence and willingness to take intellectual risks when new challenges arise.

As early as age 5, children across a range of studies reviewed by the researchers became “less motivated to persist on a difficult task” after an adult stepped in to help solve a puzzle, suggesting that even “well-intentioned behavior toward children can backfire” and sabotage important skill-building opportunities. Likewise, when 6- to 11-year-old girls received “unsolicited help” from an adult during a paper-folding exercise, they reported feeling “less smart afterward.” 

The impulse to rescue students from confusion and frustration is hard to ignore, but real learning often happens in the difficult moments just before we do. When tempted to step in, educators might consider other scaffolds like “providing hints or asking questions,” the researchers suggest, pointing kids in the right direction without doing the thinking for them. Offering a few useful stepping stones in lieu of answers, the research reveals, can preserve independence and foster self-sufficiency.

AI Takes a Big Bite Out of Special Ed Paperwork

According to special education teachers surveyed in a new study, AI-generated IEPs saved time without sacrificing quality.

Special education teachers often face an overwhelming volume of paperwork, from drafting IEPs to logging weekly data on student progress and tracking learning accommodations. 

That’s precious time that could be reallocated to working directly with kids. In a 2025 study, a team of researchers asked experienced K–12 special education teachers to write an IEP goal based on a brief description of a student’s disability, past performance, and areas of need. The same teachers then used ChatGPT to generate an IEP goal by providing basic information about a student’s learning differences. 

After analyzing both sets of goals on six dimensions including clarity, measurability, and timeliness, the researchers found “no statistically significant difference in quality” between the AI-generated versions and those written entirely by teachers. The teachers, however, had a more favorable impression: Most said that the ChatGPT goals were “either of the same or better quality than they think a special education teacher… would have written,” and viewed AI as a tool they could use to improve efficiency.

Recalling the hours she spent drafting documents for her students, Danielle Waterfield—the study’s lead author and a former special education teacher we interviewed for this article—said that her time with AI convinced her of the tech’s potential to relieve that administrative burden and shift special education teachers from paperwork to what really counts: “face-to-face time with their students.”

Blissed-Out Kids

Thirty minutes of daily recess is not enough to keep elementary students relaxed and ready for schoolwork, according to a new study.

Decades ago, according to a June 2025 study, the U.S. had a “simple philosophy” on school recess that recognized outdoor play as “essential for healthy and happy children” and honored the principle by setting aside 60 minutes for daily recess. In the ensuing years, the researchers say, a creeping tide of academic expectations led to more seat time and testing, undermining the quality and quantity of free play in schools.

The cumulative impact is no joke. To test a theory linking a lack of playtime to chronic stress in kids, researchers conducted a novel experiment, comparing 130 fourth-grade volunteers who received either 30 or 45 minutes of daily recess during the academic year. Hair samples of the children were then analyzed for cortisol levels, providing a unique biological measure of chronic rather than short-term stress. Students in the 45-minute play group had 68 percent less cortisol stored in hair strands—from head to toe, they were chill.

Despite the surprising results, the researchers—who say that recess should be frequent, unstructured, and outdoors—aren’t really going out on a limb. 

More independent play yields happier, more socially competent children, according to an ever-expanding body of research. An exhaustive 2023 study that combed through 50 years of historical records, for example, concluded that kids in the past spent more time outdoors and derived long-term benefits from opportunities to “play, roam, and engage in other activities independent of direct oversight and control by adults.” On the question of play, it might be time to turn back the clock.

A Final Word on the Value of Relationships

Two comprehensive new studies confirm what teachers already suspect—that trust plus high standards is the engine that propels classroom performance.

From kindergarten through high school, students spend roughly 15,000 hours with teachers, making the quality of those relationships a crucial factor in learning. This year, two studies covering millions of school-aged kids resoundingly affirm the point.

In the first, a team of researchers analyzed 70 years of studies encompassing more than 2.6 million K–12 students and concluded that trusting, supportive student-teacher relationships were linked to a wide range of benefits across grade levels: higher academic achievement, improved behavior, better executive function and self-control, and greater feelings of belonging, motivation, and well-being. Positive relationships were equally important for girls and boys, the researchers noted, but may have outsized benefits “for students in middle and high school [when] compared to younger children.”

Meanwhile, a 2025 meta-analysis of 40 studies found that comprehensive social and emotional programs in grades 1–12 have a clear impact on academics, enough to improve overall academic achievement by 8.4 percentile points. “Students who feel a sense of belonging within the school community are more successful academically,” the researchers note, pointing to the crucial role that teachers play in creating a culture that helps students reach their full potential.

Relationships before rigor holds true, then. The two studies are a powerful reminder that social cohesion in classrooms—the sense of belonging that flourishes when teachers cultivate trust with students, maintain consistent support, and hold high expectations—may be one of the most reliable levers for improving learning outcomes.

Teaching Might be One of the Most Complicated Jobs in the World

Above all, teaching is deeply, messily human. It takes tons of practice to get it right.

Thrust into the chaos of real classrooms, pre-service teachers may look back at their training and wonder if too much time was spent learning about conceptual models—and not enough time practicing everyday teacher moves.

Researchers wondering the same thing compared “traditional” teacher prep programs, which emphasize reading and discussion of theoretical frameworks, with “practice-based” approaches that focus on expert observation and role-playing in simulated classroom environments. Watching videos of master teachers and then “rehearsing” in the presence of coaches might be especially beneficial for pre-service teachers, the authors hypothesized, because the approach allows for “feedback in the moment” along with quick hints on “how to elevate instruction.”

In the end, practice trumped theory. When attempting to elicit and respond to correct and incorrect answers in elementary math—by helping adult actors playing students to solve single-digit problems, for example—prospective teachers who had analyzed teacher moves and then actively rehearsed them with coaches were more proficient than those who had merely discussed possible strategies.

Teaching dozens, or even hundreds, of students is mind-numblingly complicated: Kids process information at different speeds, possess wildly disparate skills in reading and math, and sometimes come to school grumpy, fidgety, or even desperately hungry. To get learning off the ground under those circumstances, as so many teachers do every day, theory is insufficient. Regular practice, access to inspiring mentors, time for planning, and plenty of encouragement and patience from administrators and peers is the path to improving one of the most challenging jobs in the world.

Writers Using ChatGPT Are Strangers to Their Own Thinking

Minutes after completing personal essays using ChatGPT, authors remembered almost nothing they “wrote.”

Buried in the appendix of a study Edutopia covered last year was a troubling detail about how roughly 1,000 high school students had used AI to complete grade-level math problems. Given free rein with ChatGPT, ninth, 10th, and 11th graders had engaged in only superficial conversations with the software; among the most frequent student queries were “can u solve this question?” and “what is the answer?”

The results were unsurprising: AI users performed well in practice sessions, but then quickly forgot most of what they’d learned and bombed a closed-book test on the material. 

Now a 2025 MIT study of older students wired up to EEG machines as they wrote essays reveals a similar pattern. College-aged students who were given access to ChatGPT as they responded to provocative questions tended to “follow the thinking” of the machine, produced “statistically homogenous essays,” and exhibited brain activity that was localized and poorly coordinated. Stunningly, minutes later, only 17 percent of the ChatGPT users could recall a single sentence from their essays. Students who used search engines or wrote essays without any assistance fared much better, recalling sentences at rates of 83 and 89 percent, respectively.

It’s not as cut-and-dried as it sounds; the how and when of AI usage seems to matter a great deal. Several recent studies conclude that AI tutors designed to withhold answers and ask probing questions, for example, make excellent study partners. And in the MIT writing study, the researchers found a silver lining: Authors who initially wrote their own essays managed to use AI effectively during a later round of revision. To help students get better results, educators should consider “combining AI tool assistance with tools-free learning phases,” the researchers suggest.

Despite the sense of inevitably around AI, surrender isn’t the answer. ELA teachers are right to ask which writing skills must be safeguarded—from brainstorming to outlining to writing good transitions—and they are perfectly right to limit or prohibit the use of AI as students practice those skills. If students never do it, they’ll never learn it.

Student Use of ChatGPT Research

 Recent research from MIT scientists compared the brain activity of students who used ChatGPT when writing to those who did not. The team's findings suggest that using ChatGPT resulted in less brain activity and inferior writing for students. However, “We didn't find any brain rot,” says Nataliya Kosmyna, a research scientist at MIT Media Lab.

Kosyna, N. (2025). Your brain on ChatGPT. Arvix. 

https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.08872

College Readiness Study

The First Years Meet the Frames project investigates the influence of high school librarians on first-year college students' readiness for academic research, particularly amidst a national decline in school librarian positions. The project seeks to understand how information literacy skills acquired during K-12 education affect college students' academic performance, revealing significant gaps in research preparedness and addressing equity issues in access to information resources. Future studies will continue to explore the impact of librarianship on student learning outcomes and the necessity of collaboration between high school and academic librarians.

Valenza, J., & Dempsey, J. (2022). What's in a frame? Perspectives of high school librarians and first-year college students. College & Research Libraries News. https://doi.org/10.5860/CRLN.83.9.393

Eresource censorship study

A recent study examined censorship of e-resources used by students for classroom research. It details the targeting of educational databases and the rise of legal challenges against libraries, reminding readers to look beyond the print books that are the tangible symbols of the freedom to read. False or unsubstantiated accusations of obscenity leveled at libraries foment fears of legal risk, sometimes resulting in the so-called soft censorship of e-resources, in which digital content providers or libraries apply system-wide filters and “stopwords” that block results from a user’s search.

Reed, M., & Halper, J. (2025).  Neo-censorship in U.S. Libraries: An investigation into digital content suppression. Library Futures.  

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/libraries/article/97237-library-futures-investigates-content-bans-in-research-databases.html

AI and Screen Media Use Study

 A survey by Common Sense Media reveals that nearly one-third of children age 8 and younger use AI for school-related learning, with 23% of parents noting a mostly positive impact. The study also highlights that children spend an average of 2.5 hours daily on screen media, with a significant increase in gaming since 2020.

Among parents who said their child has used AI tools, 23% said the impact of AI on their child's understanding of school-related material was mostly positive. Fifty-five percent said AI had no impact at all; 16% reported both positive and negative impacts; and 5% called the impact mostly negative.

Other findings from the survey include:

• Children aged 8 and younger spend about two-and-a-half hours a day with screen media. Sixty percent of that time is spent on TV/video viewing; 26% on gaming. Just 1% of screen time is spent on homework.
• Gaming time has increased by 65% since 2020, while TV/video viewing has fallen by 18%. Within that TV/video category, short-form video platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts are on the rise.
• By age 2, 40% of children have their own tablet. By age 4, that number goes up to 58%.
• By age 8, one in four children have their own cell phone.
• Roughly one in five children use devices for comfort, meal times, or to fall asleep. (https://thejournal.com/Articles/2025/03/11/Research-1-in-3-Kids-Use-AI-for-Learning.aspx)

The 2025 Common Sense Census: Media Use by Kids Zero to Eight. (2025). Common Sense Media. https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/the-2025-common-sense-census-media-use-by-kids-zero-to-eight

Screen Use in Classroom Attitudes Study

Students and educators are expressing concerns about the extensive use of screens in classrooms, with kindergartners watching lessons on YouTube, middle-schoolers using Chromebooks for writing drills and high-schoolers collaborating on Google Docs. Some students say the reliance on technology is distracting and hinders learning, while teachers say it is challenging to keep students engaged.

Media Use and Screen Time - Its Impact on Children, Adolescents, and Families. (2020). American College of Pediatricians.

https://acpeds.org/position-statements/media-use-and-screen-time-its-impact-on-children-adolescents-and-families

 

Student ChatGPT Use Survey

 

Twenty-six percent of US teens ages 13 to 17 say they are using ChatGPT for schoolwork, doubling the figure who reported that use in 2023, a recent survey indicates. The survey also reveals that 54% of respondents consider using the AI tool acceptable for researching new topics, while 18% say the same about using it to write essays. 

Black and Hispanic teens (31% each) are more likely than White teens (22%) to say they have used ChatGPT for their schoolwork. 

Sidoti, O., Park, E., & Gottfried, J. (2025). About a quarter of U.S. teens have used ChatGPT for schoolwork - double the shrae in 2023. Pew Research Center. 

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/01/15/about-a-quarter-of-us-teens-have-used-chatgpt-for-schoolwork-double-the-share-in-2023/https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/01/15/about-a-quarter-of-us-teens-have-used-chatgpt-for-schoolwork-double-the-share-in-2023/

Student and Teacher AI Use Report

 A recent report shows a significant increase in AI use among students and teachers during the 2023-24 school year, with 70% of high school students and 67% of teachers using generative AI. However, two-thirds of teachers have not received guidance on handling AI-related plagiarism, although 39% use detection software.

Laird, E., Dwyer, M., & Woelfe, K. (2025). Out of step: Students, teachers in stride with edtech threats while parents are left behind. Center for Democracy & Technology.

https://cdt.org/insights/out-of-step-students-teachers-in-stride-with-edtech-threats-while-parents-are-left-behind/

Student Engagement in School Report

A recent report reveals that while more than 70% of parents believe their children are learning a lot, less than half of high-school students agree. The report highlights that students become more disengaged as they age, with only 29% of 12th graders saying they love school compared to 74% of third graders.

Fewer than one-third of middle and high schoolers said they felt that what they learned was relevant to life outside the classroom, that their classmates persevered “when the work gets hard,” or that they had any say over what happened to them during the school day.

Older students were also more likely to report a sense of disconnection from their learning environments, with less than half saying they felt like they were part of a community or that adults respected their suggestions. Overall, only 36% of respondents from grades 6–12 said they were able to develop their own ideas at school.

Winthrop, R., Shoukry, Y., & Nitkin, D. (2025). The disengagement gap: Why student engagement isn't what parents expect. Brookings Institute.

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-disengagement-gap/

Struggling Readers Study

A recent national survey reveals that nearly half of students in third through eighth grades struggle with reading, prompting teachers to seek more training in foundational literacy skills. 40% of teachers had misconceptions about how students develop word reading skills; almost half based their reading instruction on their classroom experience, and fewer than a quarter mentioned professional development as their main source of knowledge. The study also found that evidence-based practices focused on younger students; older students require tailored support to overcome reading challenges.

Kaufman, J. (2024). What's missing from teachers' toolkits to support student reading in grades 3-8? RAND.

https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA3358-1.html 

Reading Skills Report

 A national report shows that reading skills are rebounding for young learners, with most students in grades K-3 on track to read at grade level by the end of the school year. The report also shows faster-than-average improvement among students who are Black and Hispanic. For the first time since 2019-20, the majority of students in every grade, from K-3, are on track to tackle grade-level reading by the end of the year—though no grade has yet matched its pre-pandemic performance levels.

Amplify. (2023). Middle-of-year data show that academic recovery continues in early literacy, with Black and Hispanic students making the greatest gains. Amplify.

https://amplify.com/news/latest-school-assessment-data-show-continued-academic-recovery-in-early-literacy-with-black-and-hispanic-students-making-the-greatest-gains/

Popular apps and devices survey

 YouTube was the most common app used on a weekly basis by 4th-12th graders and for 9th-12th graders, email was the second most common app, according to a survey issued by The Social Institute, a company that provides curriculum addressing social-emotional learning, social media and technology. The survey, which included responses from nearly 23,000 students in U.S. public and private schools, found school-issued devices, TVs and smartphones are the most popular devices used by students on a weekly basis.

23 insights for 2023 on how students navigate well-being, social media and tech. Social Institute. https://thesocialinstitute.com/insight/report-23-insights-for-2023-on-how-students-navigate-well-being-social-media-and-tech/.

Social Skills Study

 Students' social skills and emotional maturity have declined at least somewhat during the coronavirus pandemic, according to most educators who responded to a recent survey. Educators say that in some cases they have observed students withdrawing or acting out.

Educators see gaps in kids' emotional growth due to pandemic. (2022). Eduncaton Week Research Center. 

https://www.edweek.org/leadership/educators-see-gaps-in-kids-emotional-growth-due-to-pandemic/2022/02

Youth's Leisure Reading Decline Study

 The shares of American 9- and 13-year-olds who say they read for fun on an almost daily basis have dropped from nearly a decade ago and are at the lowest levels since at least the mid-1980s, according to a survey conducted in late 2019 and early 2020 by the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Among 9-year-old students, 42% said in 2020 that they read for fun almost every day, down from 53% in both 2012 and 1984. Among 13-year-olds, 17% said they read for fun almost every day, a smaller percentage than the 27% who said this in 2012 and roughly half the share (35%) who said this in 1984. It is unclear whether the pandemic may have changed these patterns.

National Assessment of Educational Progress. (2021). 2020 long-term trend reading assessment. National Assessment of Educational Progress. 

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/11/12/among-many-u-s-children-reading-for-fun-has-become-less-common-federal-data-shows/

Pandemic and literacy study

 Experts say the pandemic may be interfering with young learners' ability to acquire reading skills, especially those who spend time at home doing other things instead of reading.  An analysis of data found that second- and third-grade students' reading fluency fell approximately 30% from 2019 to 2020. The pandemic also deepened inequities. 

Domingue, B. et al. (2021). Changing patterns of growth in oral reading fluency during the COVID-10 pandemic. PACE. 

https://edpolicyinca.org/sites/default/files/2021-03/wp_domingue_mar21-0.pdf

https://edsource.org/2021/what-impact-will-the-pandemic-have-on-early-literacy/659758