Parents of children born in 2020 have spent years worrying about what the shutdown years cost their kids. A Johns Hopkins Medicine study of more than 50,000 parent questionnaires offers some relief: the first pandemic-era cohort shows only slight delays in communication, problem solving, and social development. The lead researcher’s conclusion is that this generation is not carrying a lasting burden.
Teachers, however, are still seeing speech and vocabulary gaps in the early grades, and about 40% of fourth graders read below basic level in 2024, the largest share in decades. That’s why states are turning to high dosage tutoring, which means small-group instruction several times a week during the school day. Louisiana now mandates it for eligible K-5 students, and in East Baton Rouge, kindergarten reading proficiency climbed from 35% to 64% in a single school year. Indiana offers eligible families a $1,000 stipend for tutoring.
For Suncoast families, private tutoring here can run $40 to $60 an hour, and the price of anything boutique has only gone up. The Louisiana results suggest the biggest wins come from frequent, in-school help rather than occasional sessions. If you have a child in early grades, it’s worth asking your school what tutoring is available during class time. What would you like your local school board to know about tutoring in this district?
