Reading Achievement of Chilean Second-Grade Students after Covid-19

Background: Low levels of reading comprehension have remained persistent in South America, as evidenced by third-grade results from the ERCE. A deeper understanding of the underlying reading subprocesses is essential to addressing reading comprehension lags in the region. Methods: We conducted a diagnostic study to assess the reading skills of a representative sample of Chilean second-grade students from a large metropolitan area. Results: for 60% of students reading comprehension was below the level expected by the end of first-grade. These results cannot be explained by language comprehension alone, since most of those students (63%) had above second grade listening comprehension skills. Instead, low reading comprehension levels seem to be more strongly associated with deficits in frequent word recognition and vocabulary knowledge. Specifically, 88% and 58% of these students, respectively, performed below end-of-first-grade levels. Conclusions: strengthening these specific reading subprocesses is crucial to prevent comprehension deficits as reading tasks become more complex.