Literacy Links

Success Stories

Research Demonstrates a Program’s Success

by Jacqueline Gramann, TCALL Family Literacy Specialist

The Reach Out and Read Assessment (RORA) project was a quasi-experimental study designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a family literacy program. The final report illustrates a success story in that the program was shown to be evidence-based, and family literacy “best practices” were developed.

Reach Out and Read (ROR) is a non-profit, national organization that features giving parenting and literacy information to families. Books are given to the children at well-child visits between the ages of six months and five years by pediatricians. Reading techniques are modeled by the pediatrician for the parent and by volunteers reading to children in print-rich clinic waiting rooms (ROR, 2003-2006). RORA consisted of an oral (bilingual) parent survey and a child assessment using the Preschool Language Scale, 4th Edition (PLS-4) (Zimmerman, 2002) instrument. The final sample of 24 families participated at their child’s six-month well-baby visit with a follow-up at the 12-month well-child visit. Impact of the ROR program on the families was measured against a control population. The study process, findings, and best practices are transferable information for practitioners in family literacy programs (Gramann, 2007).

Research with a similar questionnaire, the BABAR parent survey by Robert Needlman, MD (ROR, 2001), has shown positive results for the early literacy intervention. Even with a small sample, due mostly to the transient population, RORA results found that the ROR program did have a positive impact on the community, reaching the families most in need of literacy assistance. The sample reflected an underinsured, predominately Hispanic population. The Reach Out and Read Assessment project evaluated and found the following key points:

• The strongest finding, ANOVA of the gain scores showed a significantly greater change: F = 2.69, df = 1.21, p = .10, was that of the ROR parents reading to their children in a greater proportion by the time the children were 12 months of age when compared to the control parents.
• Overall, trends in the data were positive; the program was evidence-based. Results supported the ROR program model.
• The number of books given out by the program, the volunteers reading in the waiting room, and the very young children listening to stories being read in the waiting room all were significant.
• The ROR intervention appeared to have no effect on PLS-4 scores from six months to 12 months of age. At this youngest age group, it may be too early for the PLS-4 to be a valid measure for an invention impact, or with assessing just a six month interval. The children as a group assessed at their appropriate age equivalents, a positive outcome for the families.

D.
Figure 1: Reads to Child; statistically significant gain

Limitations arose when it was found that the control site medical staff did encourage families to read to their children at the six-month check-up. In addition, some of the control site parents were enrolled in high school programs designed to assist teenage mothers. However, the control did provide a contrast by showing how important ROR may be with families that have less opportunities and education.

Next steps for the program included expanding collaborations and information about other community resources for families in order to provide more literacy support for families. In addition, documenting of volunteer hours would allow a monetary value to be assigned for reporting and recognition. Further development of a print-rich reading corner needs to continue. RORA: The Final Report includes a parent survey, Family Literacy-Short Survey (FL-SS), developed to provide a method for self-monitoring a program in an on-going basis (Gramann, 2007).

Figure 1: ROR Reading Corner
Photo by J. Gramann

Transferable family literacy best practices were developed out of the study findings and include:

• To encourage parents to read early and often to their child.
• To model ways parents can read a book to their child.
• To repeat the reading message multiple times to the parents.
• To provide and assist the parents in locating children’s books for the child.

Parent perceptions are vital when educating about why it is important to read to the very young child. Early literacy begins at birth and is a lifelong endeavor (Neuman, 1998). Reinforcing that the very young child is ready to learn and methods to engage the child in literacy and learning activities should be repeated messages. Family strengthening and increasing family resiliency are indirect outcomes of an integrated family literacy program (Shonkoff, 2000). Finding early literacy is a family affair, with modeling of reading being the critical element.

References

Gramann, Jacqueline (2007). Reach Out and Read Assessment: The Final Report. Retrieved April 26, 2007 from http://www-tcall.tamu.edu/research/rora/cover.html

Neuman, Susan B. and Roskos, Kathleen A. (1998). Children Achieving: Best Practices in Early Literacy. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Reach Out and Read (2001). Before and After Books and Reading (BABAR) Study. Retrieved April 26, 2007 from http://www.reachoutandread.org/FileRepository/newsletter_fall2001.pdf

Reach Out and Read (2003-2006). ROR National Center: How ROR Works: ROR Model. Retrieved April 26, 2007 from http://www.reachoutandread.org/about_how.html

Shonkoff, Jack P. and Phillips, Deborah A., Editors (2000). From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development. National Academy Press: Washington, DC.

Zimmerman, Irla Lee, Steiner, Violette G., and Pond, Roberta Evatt (2002). PLS-4: Preschool Language Scale, Fourth Edition. The Psychological Corporation: San Antonio, TX.