How school interruptions affect young children's reading and what helps them bounce back
Assessing the links between risk and resilience factors, school disruptions, and learning losses in reading
This project explores how missed school days and other disruptions change reading progress in children up to about age 11 and which risk or protective factors help them recover.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Florida State University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Tallahassee, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11164841 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If your child is in early elementary school, researchers are following nearly 2,000 pairs of twins across the country to see how school closures, absences, and other disruptions have changed reading skills over time. They compare twins with different levels of risk (for example, attention challenges, family stress, or low resources) and resilience (for example, strong home reading support or tutoring) to learn which factors protect reading development. Using twins lets the team separate environmental effects from inherited differences while tracking reading tests and school records collected over multiple years. The project uses surveys, educational records, and repeated reading measures to chart short- and long-term impacts and identify targets for helping children catch up.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal participants are elementary-age children (roughly birth to 11 years in the project’s list) and especially twins already enrolled or eligible for the National Project on Achievement in Twins, particularly those who experienced school disruptions or high absenteeism.
Not a fit: Children who did not experience instructional disruptions or who are well past elementary school age may not see direct benefits from this project's findings.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could point to specific supports schools and families can use to reduce reading losses after disruptions so more children get back on track.
How similar studies have performed: Prior research has linked school closures to reading declines, but applying a large national twin cohort to pinpoint risk versus resilience factors is a newer and less-tested approach.
Where this research is happening
Tallahassee, United States
- Florida State University — Tallahassee, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Little, Callie — Florida State University
- Study coordinator: Little, Callie
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.