Learning to read and write during the COVID-19 outbreak

Subject

The study is configured as a multicenter study in which the Department of Human Sciences of the University of San Marino is the promoter, in collaboration with the Department of Education of the Republic of San Marino and Prof. Manuela Berlingeri, Associate Professor of Psychometrics at the University of Urbino.
The action research project was developed starting from the hypotheses that, since neither a battery for teachers that collectively investigates the different domains of learning in school age nor a systematic project of primary prevention in national school contexts is available, it would be interesting and useful to validate new early identification tools, including computerized ones, and at the same time develop an intervention for the early identification of learning difficulties.

Research objectives

• Validation of a battery of collective tests for developmental age useful for the early identification of learning difficulties;
• Validation of a new time-limited paper-based and video-based word and nonword reading test (see Travellini et al., 2022);
• Study of neuropsychological factors, concomitant and predictive, which can influence, over time, the development of the child's skills.

Third Mission Objectives

• Identification of children who have started literacy in times of COVID-19 with suspected learning disabilities and comply with the indications of Law 142/2014 and the respective Guidelines, starting the first primary prevention intervention of the San Marino school population;
• Implementation of a primary prevention intervention for the Sammarinese school population;
• Development of a Sammarinese experience of systematic longitudinal observation of the school population, which allows the collection and analysis of data for epidemiological purposes;
• Gathering useful data to develop action plans and implement specific early interventions for childhood and adolescent mental health;
• Launch of a network with local entities that deal with developmental age, foreseeing an active involvement of the Institutions (e.g.: UOC Pediatrics, UOC Minors Service, ...).

Status of works

The action-research project started in January 2023. The data collection carried out in the school buildings of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th grades of the San Marino Elementary Schools took place in the months of April and May 2023. The project included 435 participating children out of a total of 891 (49%). The participants carried out, in class, reading, writing and arithmetic activities, as well as other individual cognitive tests, to respond to the various objectives of the project. Information on the scholastic well-being of the students was also collected, through the compilation of a standardized questionnaire addressed to families and teachers.
In June 2023, several third mission objectives were achieved. To identify children with suspected learning disabilities, participants carried out a collective reading activity for which a calibration on the Italian population was already available (Scorza et al., 2019): 80 children out of 419 were found to be at risk (19%, M = 45, F = 35). Medium-low perceptions of school well-being were also collected from the parents of 29 children in 3rd and 4th grade. We are in the process of completing the final report which includes an analysis of the reading test performance data (Word Chain, WC; Scorza et al., 2019) of 396 children in 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade: the results, soon available through a research article in a national journal and through an informative seminar aimed at citizens, could be useful for reflecting on the development of action plans and the implementation of specific early interventions for the mental health of childhood and adolescence. Since June 2023, we have also been proceeding with the coding and analysis, in anonymous form, of the data collected to respond to the research objectives. The children's paper protocols have been coded, in anonymous form, and the respective electronic databases are being created. With respect to some research directions, we have also carried out the first statistical analyses:

• We collected and analyzed the performances on the new paper-based and video-based time-limited word and nonword reading tests (confirming the data of Travellini et al., 2022). Through the data of 152 children, it was possible to start the statistical analyses that confirm the significant correlations between the new time-limited reading tests and the word and nonword reading tests of Sartori et al. (1995, 2007): this result supports the convergent validity of these new tests, which will now have to be analyzed in their characteristics. Having completed the analysis phase, we will shortly proceed with the drafting of the scientific paper to be submitted to an international scientific journal by September 2024;
• We have quantitatively and qualitatively coded the performances on the new “dictated 20 words” test of a small sample of subjects (n = 105) of 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade: we have collected interesting data for the validation of the test. We are writing a master’s thesis on this topic and will publish the results shortly through a scientific article in a scientific journal;
• We have electronically coded the performances of 418 children in collective mathematics tests and in the next few months we want to analyze the data (already electronically coded) relating to the longitudinal study on the concomitant and predictive variables that can influence, over time, the development of arithmetic skills;

In order to also develop the longitudinal objectives of the study (phase t1, two years after t0), the intention to proceed with the second phase of the project is confirmed, involving the same sample, in order to monitor the evolution of cognitive skills over time and evaluate the sensitivity, specificity, and predictive validity of the instruments, re-proposing the project for both research and third mission purposes.