Changes in Children’s Kindergarten Readiness in the Wake of COVID-19: Statewide Evidence from Louisiana

Abstract

Background/Context:

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted family life in myriad ways, including increasing family stress and reducing access to early care and education experiences. Such factors suggest that children’s early learning and development may have been negatively impacted, which would have long-term implications for necessary school support.

Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study:

This study estimates statewide changes in kindergarten readiness in Louisiana from 2019 to 2021 to understand both the immediate impact of COVID-19 and the potential for longer-term implications. Given the unequal burden of the pandemic, variability by economic disadvantage and race/ethnicity is explored.

Research Design:

This report uses statewide kindergarten entry assessment data from Louisiana (N = ~50,000 each year, 42% Black, 10% Hispanic, 43% White) to estimate mean school readiness in the literacy, mathematics, approaches to learning, social-emotional, and physical domains, as well as variability by child race and family economic disadvantage each year from 2019 to 2021. It then uses regression to account for potential changes in school characteristics.

Conclusions/Recommendations:

We find a 15% decrease in literacy, and declines from 5% to 15% across math, social-emotional, approaches to learning, and physical domains from 2019 to 2020, and very little evidence of a rebound in 2021. Consistent with evidence of a double pandemic of systemic racism alongside COVID-19, decreases in readiness were larger among Black children than White children from 2019 to 2020, suggesting that COVID-19 widened existing inequality. We were unable to explore racial inequality in 2021. Continued assessment and deployment of targeted supports will be essential to ensure pandemic-linked challenges do not exert a lasting influence, as well as a whole-child emphasis.