Please excuse any cross-postings.

FYI, if you haven’t seen, or already heard about these recent reports/news items related to children and literacy.

Sharon Rawlins, Youth Services Consultant, NJ State Library

THE IMPACT OF PUBLIC LIBRARY SUMMER READING PROGRAMS – DOMINICAN UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF LIBRARY & INFORMATION SCIENCE STUDY

Dominican University received a research grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and partnered with the Colorado and Texas State Libraries on a three-year, evidence-based investigation into the impact of summer reading programs on student achievement. To summarize the summary, the researchers found that participation in these programs increased children’s scores on standardized reading tests and that their teachers reported increased confidence and participation in classroom activities overall on their return to school. To view, download, and print the full report, go to: http://www.dom.edu/academics/gslis/downloads/DOM_IMLS_book_2010_FINAL_web.pdf

Study Says Comics Are Key to Promoting Literacy in Boys

A new report says comics and graphic novels may hold the secret to promoting literacy in young boys.  Long dismissed as fluff by parents, educators, and even librarians, the Canadian Council on Learning (CCL) reaffirms what researchers have long held to be true:  girls are generally more inclined to read than boys.  But it goes on to say that's partly because their literary interests aren't well represented in school libraries and classrooms.

Boys are more likely to enjoy reading science and nonfiction, informational texts, how-to manuals, fantasy, adventure stories, and stories that are scary or gross, along with books about hobbies and things they do or want to do.  They also tend to prefer visual media, such as the Internet, newspapers, and magazines that focus on sports, electronics and video games.

CCL states in its Lessons in Learning article "More than just funny books: Comics and prose literacy for boys" that comics and graphic novels "hold untapped potential to address this disparity by promoting improved literacy among young males" and provides an overview of current research on the reading habits of boys and the potential for comics to boost their literacy.  The report says comics serve as an effective gateway to reading prose-based works and contribute to visual literacy, as well as the ability to understand and respond to a visual image. 

Comics also can help develop many of the same literacy skills as books, such as how to follow a sequence of events; connect narratives to the reader's own experiences, predict what will happen next, and interpret symbols.  Even before children are ready to read text, comic books can give them practice in understanding material printed on a page, tracking left to right and top to bottom, and inferring what happens between individual panels in a story, the report says, adding that thanks to their strong visual element, they're a used as teaching aids for second-language learners and students with learning difficulties.  (SLJ’s Extra Helping, 7/27/10)

National Indicators of the Well-Being of Children

The Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics has released "America's Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2010." This report continues a series of annual reports to the nation on the well-being of children in the United States.  The National Center for Education Statistics within the Institute of Education Sciences, in cooperation with 21 other federal agencies, contributes indicators to the report and supports its production.

According to the report's section on education, eighth graders’ average mathematics scale scores increased between 2007 and 2009, as did eighth graders’ average reading scale scores.  Not all the report's findings were positive, however; the proportion of youth aged 16-19 who were neither enrolled in school nor working increased from 8 percent to 9 percent between 2008 and 2009.

The 2010 Childstats website includes 68 tables and 59 figures that describe the population of children and depict their well-being in the areas of family and social environment, economic circumstances, health care, physical environment and safety, behavior, education, and health.

You can view, download, and print the report at http://childstats.gov/

Boosting Family Involvement through Better Policy Report

Available through SparkAction!’s website, the Harvard Family Research Project’s report, “Taking Leadership, Innovating Change: Profiles in Family, School, and Community Engagement” looks at ways to systematize policy efforts (currently often marginalized and piecemeal) toward achieving educational equity, and to help make family involvement more clearly seen as a major part of achieving educational equity.  Research shows the importance of parent-school partnerships in education, and especially among disadvantaged families.  Public libraries are not mentioned, which is disappointing, but typical.  Go to http://sparkaction.org/resources/37790 to view the report in its entirety.  (NCSET E-News, 7/19/20)