BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
Falling behind
COVID-19 exacerbates the existing crisis of early literacy
BY CASSANDRA DRUDI
LITERACY ORGANIZATIONS are calling for support from Canadian publishing professionals as students learning to read in virtual environments struggle to keep up. The organizations hope placing the spotlight on young struggling readers will help address the effects of COVID- 19-related school and library shutdowns and bring the broader issue out of the shadows.
“One of the biggest issues literacy organizations face is that it’s a bit of an invisible problem,” says Stephen Faul, president of Frontier College, a national literacy organization. “Many people don’t understand the scope of the issue, and that’s a stumbling block when you have finite time to present your cause to a funder, volunteer, or a potential partner.”
Last November, a University of Alberta study of early learners made headlines with the finding that students in Grades 1 to 3 who struggled with reading before the pandemic were six months further behind after 2020’s extended school closures. Only 85 of the 409 struggling Grade 1 readers tested before the closures improved to average reading levels when they started Grade 2 last fall, the study found.