This study examined how public versus private schooling affects oral reading fluency among elementary students, specifically post-COVID-19. Utilizing AI to generate fluency data—measuring Words Read Correctly per Minute (WRCM), Percent Correct Words (PCW), and Syllables per Second (SBS)—we found private school students outperformed public peers in WRCM at 4th grade and in PCW at 3rd grade. No significant differences were noted for SBS and correct connected words (CCW) across grades. The study suggests that earlier gaps in reading fluency could arise from disparities in educational resources and instructional quality. The pandemic likely exacerbated these issues, impacting students’ access to remote learning and support. Despite limitations in data collection and an uneven sample size, our findings indicate crucial disparities in reading fluency between public and private school students. This underscores the need for targeted intervention strategies to bridge these gaps and improve educational equity in post-pandemic recovery efforts.
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