The footprint of the COVID-19 pandemic in reading performance of students in the U.S. with and without disabilities.

BACKGROUND:Many schools around the world involuntarily began remote learning in March of 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought immediate changes and challenges to teaching and learning that are likely to influence student achievement into the foreseeable future. While large numbers of students face difficulties in learning to read under typical conditions, remote learning resulted in substantial deficits in reading outcomes. AIMS:This study aimed to examine the relative impact of the pandemic on reading performance in United States (U.S.) for students with and without disabilities. METHODS:and procedure: In this interpretive analysis, we compared the progress of a large sample of students (n = 219,500) by using the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data, in two grade levels (Grades 4 and 8), with and without disabilities, at two time points (2019 and 2022). OUTCOMES AND RESULTS:Statistically significant decreases were identified on the reading outcomes of students in U.S. Students without disabilities experienced a significant decrease in their reading outcomes pre- and post-pandemic, compared to students with disabilities (SWDs). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS:We discuss the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on students' reading performance and the implications for effective reading instructions in the future.