parental and community involvement in early grade reading · literary skills? we could attribute...

Parental and Community Involvement in Early Grade

Reading Yvonne Cao

Aparna Ramesh

NORC at the University of Chicago December 2014

Welcome and Introductions

Yvonne Cao and Aparna Ramesh

USAID Reading and Access Evaluation Contract

Quick Audience Poll

• Who has worked on a parental and/or community involvement intervention for early grade reading?

• Who has researched parental and/or community involvement for early grade reading?

• Who is a parent? • Of those, who have kids in the primary grades

or below? • Of those who are not parents, who has tutored

or done some other volunteering to help children learn to read?

By the end of this webinar, you should be able to:

Articulate the importance of parental and community involvement research

Define parental/community involvement interventions in the literature

Identify which interventions seem promising based on the literature

Articulate good monitoring and evaluation practices and lessons learned around parental/community involvement

Articulate implementation considerations to keep in mind

Roadmap

• Part 1: Why research: Why is parental and community involvement research important?

• Part 2: Definitions: What do we actually mean by parental and community involvement?

• Part 3: What’s effective: What parental and community involvement interventions are effective?

• Part 4: Behavior change: What interventions are effective at bringing about behavior change and adoption?

• Part 5: So What?

Why research Definitions What‘s effective

Behavior change So what

Key Take-Away: Home literacy environment is highly predictive of later literacy skills but is

there a causal relationship?

Part 1: Why is parental and community involvement research important?



The 30-million Word gap

Hart & Risley, 1995

Where do children read?

71%

35%

10%

12%

5%

22%

6%

4% 3%

2% 6%

24%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Use of Reading Skills by Grade 3 children in Malawi (n=600)

other

herding animals

hospital

in the kitchen

market

church/mosque

do not use

Save the Children, Literacy Boost Data

Midline Baseline

Contradictory Evidence?

“[There is ] little empirical support for the widespread claim that parent involvement programs are an effective means of improving student achievement or changing parent, teacher and student behavior.”

- Mattingly et al, 2002

“The combined results for the 16 intervention studies, representing 1,340 families, were clear: Parent involvement has a positive effect on children’s reading acquisition.”

- Senechal & Young, 2008

Interventions work in two steps

Intervention Behavioral Outcome

Improved Literacy Skills (Overall goal)



If we see improved literacy skills, we assume that the intervention led to an adoption of new behavior, which led to improved literacy.


No Change in Literacy Skills (Overall goal)

What if we do not see a change in literary skills? We could attribute this to either 1) no behavior change or 2) the behavior not being effective

? ?

Many studies do not systematically measure behavioral outcomes. When an intervention yields no change in literacy skills, it is difficult to understand why there was no change.

Key Take-Away: parental and community involvement encompasses a wide variety of

activities

Part 2: What do we actually mean by parental and community involvement?



Our focus: Out-of-School Learning

Parents/ Community

Teachers/ Schools

Students

“Family Literacy” “Home Literacy”

Family Literacy Programs generally aim to impact the Home Literacy Environment

Home Literacy

Environment

Value placed on

literacy

Encouraging reading

Availability of print material

Family members reading

with children

Opportunities for verbal interaction

Hess & Holloway, 1984

There is a wide variety of out-of-school interventions

Parents / Other caregivers Peers Community

Teaching parents

how to read

Encouraging parents to

read with their children

Tutoring by volunteers

Tutoring/help from peers

Educational TV

Educational radio

Reading buddies

Reading camps

Community libraries

Distribution of print

Teaching parents how to read with

their children

Home Reading

Programs

Family Literacy

Programs

Peer/Community Tutoring

Community-Based Interventions

Home Reading Programs (HRP) Family Literacy Programs (FLP) Peer/Community Tutoring Programs Other Community-based Interventions

4 types of interventions reviewed

Annex A: Typology of interventions

Question to Participants

What out-of-school learning interventions have you implemented or do you know about?

Handout 2 – Page 1 (Part 1) 1. Think of a parental/community

involvement intervention 2. As a table, complete a theory of

change diagram using one intervention.

We will use this as a case study

throughout the webinar.

Key Take-Away: The evidence is mixed although some interventions seem to show more promise:

(a)interventions that teach specific skills to parents (b)interventions that are more structured

(c)community tutors

Part 3: What’s effective: What parental and community involvement interventions are effective?



We reviewed a total of 47 studies Design Experimental

Quasi-experimental Countries Low/Middle-Income

High Income Intervention type Aimed at changing parental involvement through

direction action with child Community-based interventions

Target age of children

Pre-K P1-P3

Outcome Emergent Literacy Skills Literacy Skills

Annex B: List of select references

Methodology

Home Reading Programs (HRP) Family Literacy Programs (FLP) Peer/Community Tutoring Programs Other Community-based Interventions

4 types of interventions

Types of Home Reading Programs

• Listens to

child read

• Use of structured activities and lessons

• Take turns or read chorally

• Reads aloud to child / style of interactive reading

Read Aloud/ Dialogic Reading

Paired / Shared Reading

Hearing Reading

Direct Instruction / Structured

tutoring

Which of these HRPs do you think may be more effective?

Hearing Reading

Paired Reading

Dialogic Reading

Direct Instruction

Quick Audience Poll

Home Reading Programs Some Examples

(Handout 1: Page 2, Part 3)

What is Paired Reading?

http://youtu.be/H5RJyUnAkWM




What is Dialogic Reading?

http://youtu.be/q30BdJm3Eeg?t=2s




Think-Pair-Share

What did you notice in the videos? Do you think this would be implementable in

your country? Why or why not?

Engaging in Paired Reading

1. Choral reading at child’s pace

2. Independent reading: nudge

3. If error, parents correct and child repeats the word

4. Choral reading until new nudge

5. Praise

Engaging in Dialogic Reading

PEER Dialogue Structure

P – Prompt the child to say something about the book. E – Evaluate the response. E – Extend the response. R – Repeat.

Engaging in Hearing Reading

1. Listen to the child read

2. Provide feedback – telling the child whether they have read accurately

3. Provide assistance – words or phrases that child cannot read

Evidence mostly positive: Literature review of DR interventions found overall positive effect (Mol et al, 2008)

Landmark study by Whitehurst et al, 1988 (US)

Other studies found positive effects in other contexts Sim et al, 2013: Australia Chow & Mc-Bride Chang, 2003: Hong Kong Opel et al, 2007: Bangladesh (daycare setting) Valdez-Menchaca & Whitehurst, 1992: Mexico (daycare setting)

However, long-term effects are unclear

Whitehurst et al, 1988; Whitehurst et al, 1999; Sim et al 2013

Home Reading Programs

Dialogic Reading


Hearing Reading/Paired Reading

Mixed Impact

Hearing Reading Positive: Tizard et al 1982 (UK), with positive follow-up 3 years later Mixed/No impact: Hannon, 1987 (UK); Wilks & Clarke, 1988 (Australia)

Paired Reading Positive: Leach & Siddall, 1990 (Australia) Mixed/No impact:

Miller et al (1986) (UK); Miller & Narrett, 1995 (US)

One study in India found both PR and HR to be equally effective (Shah-Wundenberg et al, 2012) Case-Study 1


Direct Instruction / Parent Tutoring

Positive impact Vinograd-Bausell & Bausell, 1987 (US) Kraft et al, 2001 (US) Buyuktaskapu, 2012 (Turkey)

Mixed/no impact Searls et al, 1982 (US): effect in 1st grade but not in 2nd grade Mehran & White, 1988 (US): after 3 months positive but not at follow-up Powell-Smith et al, 2000 (US): children’s books vs school curriculum

Comparison of DI vs other HRPs Meta-analyses showed that DI bigger effect sizes than other HRPs

(Senechal & Young, 2008; Nye, 2006) Leach & Siddall, 1990 (Australia)

Dialogic Reading generally found to be positive with preschool-age children, although long-term effects are unclear

There is mixed evidence for Paired Reading and Hearing Reading with early primary grade students

There is also mixed evidence for Direct Instruction Comparisons of different HRPs show that on average

Direct Instruction may be more effective than other types of HRP

Length of intervention does not seem to matter (HRPs tend to be short in duration, 4-10 weeks)

Home Reading Programs: Key take-aways

Home Reading Programs (HRP) Family Literacy Programs (FLP) Peer/Community Tutoring Other Community-based Interventions


Family Literacy is…

“…any initiative which aims to work through parents to improve the reading and writing of their children, as well as those which have the improvement of the parents’ literacy as an aim.”

- UK National Literacy Trust

Family Literacy Programs

Primary School Students

Mixed or no impact SPOKES evaluation: Sylva et al, 2008 (UK)

Positive impact on word reading and writing but not on phonological awareness, concepts about print, receptive vocabulary

PALS trial (SPOKES): Scott et al, 2010 (UK) Parenting-group program had positive effects on parent-child

relationship but no effect on child literacy outcomes Pratham FLP: Banerji et al, 2013 (India)

Combination of mother literacy classes + home activities produced positive impact on child literacy outcomes

No effect on isolated interventions (ML alone, or activities alone)

Family Literacy Programs

Pre-K Students

Positive Impact Turkish Early Enrichment Project (TEEP) - Kagitcibasi 1997, 2009 Birth to School Study - Evangelou et al 2007 Project EASE – Jordan et al, 2000

Turkey UK US

Mixed/No Impact Even Start - St. Pierre et al 2005

REAL project - Hannon et al 2005

Aboud 2007

Rolla et al 2006

Open Society Institute (OSI)’s Getting Ready for School

US

US

Bangladesh

Costa Rica

Armenia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina

The evidence on Family Literacy Programs is overall mixed

Programs that paid attention to uptake and with higher training intensity seem more effective

Caveat: no meta-analysis, difficult to assess trends

Family Literacy Programs: Key take-aways

Limitations (HRP and FLP)

Mediation mechanisms are unclear; is it… Increased time on task? Increased child motivation in reading? Parents modelling fluency? Corrective feedback provided by parents?

Multiple components of FLPs Sample sizes are small, especially in HRP

studies Timeframe: HRP studies are short. Long-term

effects often unknown Q&A

Home Reading Programs Family Literacy Programs Peer/Community Tutoring Other Community-based Interventions


Positive Impact Mixed or No Impact

UNICEF Getting Ready For School: A Child-to-Child Approach

Incentivized Peer Tutoring - Li et al, 2010

Yemen

DRC

China

UNICEF Getting Reading For School: A Child-to-Child Approach

Tajikistan

Bangladesh

Peer Tutoring

Community Tutoring

Positive Impact

Balsakhi Program – Banerjee et al, 2005

Community Reading Camps - Banerjee et al, 2010

Preliminary Findings from TCAI – Duflo et al

India

India

Ghana

Some evidence for effectiveness of tutoring by older peers, intensity of intervention is related to effectiveness

Also some evidence for effectiveness of same-age peers, especially combined with incentives

Positive impact of community tutoring (volunteers or paid community members) with short training

Peer/Community Tutoring: Key take-aways

Home Reading Programs Family Literacy Programs Peer/Community Tutoring Programs Other Community-based Interventions


Some Positive Impact

Sesame Street (high exposure group only) –Borzekowski & Henri, 2010

Will you Play with me? (high exposure group) - Baydar et al, 2008

Interactive Radio Instruction (only post-test data) – Ho & Thukral, 2009

Indonesia: impact on letter recognition but not early reading/writing

Turkey: impact on vocab and syllabification

Zambia, Sudan, Somalia, Haiti

Educational Radio and TV

Mixed or No Impact

Read-a-Thon – Abeberese et al, 2011

Aga Khan Reading to Learn (RtL) Oketch et al, 2012

Literacy Boost Community Action (midline) Kajangwa et al, 2013

Philippines

Uganda

Burundi

Other Community Activities

Lack of evidence on community-based activities such as reading camps, provision of mobile libraries, etc

Some evidence of effectiveness of educational TV and Interactive Radio Instruction

Other Community-Based Interventions: Key take-aways

Handout 2 – Page 3 (Part 2)

How is this connected to what you knew already about parental and community involvement interventions?

What extended your thinking in new directions about parental and community involvement interventions?

What is still challenging or confusing about parental and community involvement interventions?

Discussion: Connect – Extend – Challenge

Project Zero Thinking Routine

Key Take-Away: Many studies do not measure behavioral outcomes. However, the evidence

indicates that providing tangible skills in tutoring for parents and communities yields changes in behavior that, in turn, lead to improved learning outcomes.

Part 4: Which interventions are effective at bringing about behavior change?





Interventions have focused on reducing the barriers to participation for parents and community members in three areas:

• Tangible tutoring skills for parents and communities is linked to behavior adoption and improved literacy outcomes.

• Information is not enough– messages more successful if coupled with tangible skills or actions

• Addressing the need for physical resources is a necessity: safe space to read, cultural- and age- appropriate materials

Skills

Attitudes

Resources

Providing instructional skills to families and communities can lead to successful behavior adoption.

Skills

These interventions provide two types of skills: • Adult/family literacy • Instructional skills

• Providing literacy skills: increases

return on helping child • Mother literacy classes in India

Banerji et al (2013): positive changes in parental behavior

• Comprehensive Child Development Program (US): teaching through home- visits yielded no behavioral change

Adult/Family Literacy • Provides tangible actions on how a

parent/community member can get involved in a child’s education

• Adoption of instruction techniques: • India: Shah-Wundenberg et al

(2012) • India: Banerjee et al (2005) • US: Evangelou et al (2007)

• US: Huebner and Meltzoff (2005) find

in-person instruction most effective at promoting behavior adoption

Instructional Skills

Behavior Change: Information alone is insufficient

Attitudes

These interventions provide parents and community members to catalyze action or changes in behavior.

• Kenya: Uwezo Initiative (Lieberman et al 2013)– call to action yielded no change in behavior or outcomes

• Performance met or exceeded parents’ expectations

• US: Miller and Narrett, 1995

• Treatment arms: 1) paired-reading only, 2) feedback only, 3) paired reading + feedback

• No effect

Changing parent attitudes

• India: Remedial Reading Camps (Banerjee et al 2010): information to mobilize community involvement

• Three treatment arms: 1)

information, 2) info + tool to test performance, 3): info + tool + week-long training on how to host remedial reading camps

• Only 3) saw changes in

community behavior and outcomes

Changing community attitudes

Behavior Change: Study Highlight

Intervention: Remedial Reading Camps (Banerjee et al 2010)

Develop curriculum

Recruit community-members with

requisite literacy level (e.g. high school

graduates)

Provide training on tutoring techniques

(e.g. 4 days)

Deploy volunteers for supplementary

tutoring

• Over a year: 84% of treatment villages had volunteers that ran reading camps after they were trained (no courses held in other treatment arms)

Positive Results:

Implementation considerations: • Recruitment and retention of volunteers: subject to high-turnover

• Development of curriculum with tried and tested method (e.g. Read India) • Availability of age- and culturally- appropriate materials

Your Key Take-Aways:

1) Lessons learned from evidence to structure or improve your parental/community involvement programs

2) Ideas of data and information you can collect to continually assess and improve your programs

3) Gaps in the literature that you can help fill

Part 5: So What?



Implementation considerations: two common pitfalls

• What’s the demand for programs?

• Community-run literacy centers in Cambodia: centers were built, volunteers recruited, but parents did not use center.

• Need to communicate or incentivize the importance of participating in these programs

If you build it, will they come?

• Parental involvement was already high

• Uwezo in Kenya: 74% of parents

report that they help children with schoolwork

• Reading to Learn in Kenya v

Uganda: High awareness around the need for involvement in Kenya but not in Uganda

Trying to fix what is not broken

Handout 2 –Pages 4 and 5 (Part 3 and Part 4)

As a table, complete Part 3 “Evaluation Considerations” and Part 4 “Putting it all

together”

For your consideration:

Design and Implementation

Agent of change Target age of children Target behavior/activity for

parents/community Recommended frequency of

activity Length of intervention Training (mode, content,

frequency, length) Type of materials

Research and Evaluation

Monitoring processes: Measuring behavior adoption

Learning mediation mechanism

Unbundling interventions Sample size Long-term effect Literacy outcome measures

What else?

Studies to look forward to

• Save the Children Literacy Boost Rwanda • Tostan Evaluation Senegal • Teacher Community Assistant Initiative (TCAI) Ghana

Do you know of other upcoming studies that are relevant to this topic? Let us know!

I used to think…

Now, I think…

About… …the importance of parental involvement …the design and implementation of parental and

community involvement interventions …the monitoring and evaluation of parental and community involvement interventions

Wrapping Up

Concluding Remarks

Thank you

Questions? Email [email protected]

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

parental and community involvement in early grade reading · literary skills? we could attribute...

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