The Imagination Library Program and Kindergarten Readiness

Abstract

Literature suggests that reading to children can have a significant impact on their early literacy development and long-term school performance. We examine whether consistent participation (i.e., three or more years) in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL), a book distribution program that provides one book per month to children ages birth through five, is associated with higher kindergarten readiness. This study examines 2,731 incoming kindergartners in the Syracuse City School District in 2013 and 2014 using the AIMSweb Letter Naming Fluency (LNF) test to assess kindergarten readiness. LNF is frequently identified as the best single indicator of risk for reading failure and has been shown to have a strong ability to predict future reading, vocabulary, and language development. Examining both the entire population and propensity score matched groups, we find that a significantly higher percentage of those consistently participating in DPIL were considered as ready for kindergarten. This difference remained even after controlling for key demographic variables.

Do Book Giveaway Programs Promote the Home Literacy Environment and Children’s Literacy-Related Behavior and Skills?

“…The findings corroborate the assumption that book giveaways promote family book reading routines, which consequently results in children scoring higher on measures of children's literacy-related behavior and skills. The findings thus support the theory that the early initiation of book reading promoted by book giveaway programs generates a "snowball effect" (Raikes et al, 2006), resulting in more advanced early language and literacy skills that presumably further increase children's interest in book reading, which may in turn encourage parents to continue with book reading routines.…”

“…Thus, the effects observed for early shared book reading were generated by concerted parental efforts rather than incidental and occasional engagement. Compelling evidence for the importance of an early start with book reading is also provided by Raikes et al's (2006) longitudinal study following a large group of low-income mothers of whom approximately half started early with daily reading to their children. A noteworthy finding was that the frequency of reading to children at 24 months appeared to be a better predictor of receptive vocabulary at 36 months than reading frequency at 36 months, thus highlighting the vital effects of early book reading (Raikes et al, 2016).…”

Programi Podrške Ranom Razvoju Temeljeni Na Zajedničkom Čitanju

“…Ključna komponenta ovog programa, prema tome, jeste mesečno dostavljanje uzrasno odgovarajućih knjiga onim porodicama koje se za ovakvu opciju odluče, od rođenja do pete godine života deteta. U suštini, namera ovog programa jeste uključenost roditelja u rano učenje dece obezbeđivanjem adekvatnog materijala koji služi da podstakne roditelje (Ridzi, et al, 2017). Knjige obično sadrže i savete koji, na primer, imaju nameru povećanja interakcije u vezi s naslovom, i, uopšte, bogaćenja dečjeg učenja.…”

“…Nalazi tako pokazuju da i migrantske porodice govore o pozitivnom uticaju programa na zajedničko čitanje (Singh et al, 2015), te da, što je duže učešće u programu, to su i dobrobiti, poput češćeg čitanja i diskusije o priči, veći (Ridzi et al, 2014). Pored bolje spremnosti za školu (Ridzi et al, 2017) i većeg uspeha u aktivnostima povezanim s pismenošću i matematikom (Skibbe & Foster, 2019;Samiei, et al, 2016), roditelji takođe veruju da je program vredan kako za njihovu decu tako i za njih same (Skibbe & Foster, 2019). Dodatno, roditelji prijavljuju i veće interesovanje same dece za aktivnost čitanja (Anderson, et al, 2019), kao i bolji stil komunikacije u porodici generalno (Funge et al, 2017).…”

Getting Books in Children’s Hands: Creating a Citywide Book Distribution Policy Using a Mixed-Methods Geospatial Approach

“…Environmental factors are known to affect both the physical as well as the psychological aspects of caregiving (e.g., the parent belief systems, parenting styles, and maternal guidance for educating young children; Owens et al, 2016;Rowe, 2018). Consequently, our theoretical framework posits that children will need both physical and psychological proximity to books to enhance early literacy development (Neuman & Moland, 2019).…”