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The effects of a community‐based literacy program on young children's language and conceptual development
Author(s) -
Cronan Terry A.,
Cruz Sonia G.,
Arriaga Rosa I.,
Sarkin Andrew J.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
american journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.113
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1573-2770
pISSN - 0091-0562
DOI - 10.1007/bf02510401
Subject(s) - psychology , literacy , head start , ethnic group , family literacy , health psychology , reading (process) , early literacy , intervention (counseling) , language development , developmental psychology , medical education , pedagogy , public health , medicine , nursing , sociology , psychiatry , anthropology , political science , law
Effects of a community‐based literacy program on 1−, 2−, and 3‐year‐old children's language and conceptual development were assessed. University students were trained to teach Head Start parents effective methods for reading to their children. Families were randomly assigned to receive 18, 3, or 0 instructional visits. Results indicated that parents in the 18‐instructional‐visit program increased their participation in appropriate literacy behaviors such as reading to their children, teaching concepts to their children, and using the library, more than parents in the 0‐instructional‐visit groups. Children in the 18‐instructional‐visit program showed greater gains in language and conceptual development than children in the 0‐instructional‐visit group. Few differences were found between children in the 3‐visti and 0‐instructional‐visit groups. Thus, only a high‐intensity community‐based intervention designed to train parents was effective in increasing emergent literacy in low‐income ethnic children.