Reading Achievement of Chilean Second-Grade Students after Covid-19
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Date
2025
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Abstract
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.
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Keywords
Diagnosis, Reading Comprehension, Evaluation