Impact of COVID-19 on Early Literacy Instruction for Emergent Bilinguals

We investigated teachers’ perspectives on how literacy instruction for bilingual children changed due to the shift to remote instruction during COVID-19. Fifty K-2 public school teachers from 10 states submitted smartphone-based diary entries about their day-to-day literacy instructional practices before versus during COVID-19. Teachers reported implementing less literacy instruction in general. The smallest declines were seen in code-focused, foundational skills, while the largest declines were in language-focused practices such as extended writing, vocabulary knowledge, and reading comprehension strategies. We analyzed teachers’ responses to identify factors that influenced their adaptations. Implications for areas of literacy development in need of immediate, intensive attention in the aftermath of COVID-19 are addressed.