A 2026 longitudinal cohort study found that children's academic growth was significantly stunted by school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Losses ranged from the equivalent of 3 months of skill development in literacy to 14 months in numeracy. Even with sufficient participation in remote learning, children were not significantly protected against this learning stagnation.
The study followed over 600 children from low-income families, assessing them from ages 4-6 before COVID-19 to ages 8-11 after school reopenings. Researchers observed that literacy and numeracy skills improved less during school closures than pre-COVID rates indicated. After schools reopened, skill improvement rates also remained slower than before the pandemic.
Data from the Tulsa SEED study showed that in early remote learning in 2020, over 40% of children spent an hour or less on distance learning activities daily. While engagement and communication with teachers increased over time, initial barriers persisted. Researchers emphasized the multifaceted challenges students faced and the resilience they developed during this period.