In this article, the authors examine the literature on parental involvement highlighting the equity issues that it raises in educational practice. They begin with a brief historical overview of ...approaches to parent involvement and the ways in which "neodeficit" discourses on parents permeate current education reform efforts. Next, they address how inequities related to race, class, and immigration shape and are shaped by parent involvement programs, practices, and ideologies. Finally, they discuss empowerment approaches to parental involvement and how these are situated in a broader decolonial struggle for transformative praxis that reframes deficit approaches to parents from nondominant backgrounds. (Contains 8 notes.)
Early linguistic competencies are necessary prerequisites for later reading and writing abilities and thus for a successful school career. Various child and family characteristics have been ...identified as important predictors of children’s linguistic abilities, such as intelligence or the “home literacy environment” (HLE). Therefore, one way to improve children’s competencies is by enhancing the HLE they live in. Family literacy programs have proven to be successful with this task. However, most interventions used to improve HLE were fairly intensive and costly. In this study a nonintensive intervention procedure was developed to improve both, HLE and linguistic competencies. The sample consisted of 125 German children in their last year of kindergarten (mean child age at the beginning of the study: 5 years, 5 months) and their families who showed an above average socio-economic status. All parents were offered to participate in the intervention, consisting of providing them with relevant information on HLE at one evening meeting and providing an additional individual reading session that introduced them to the concept of dialogic reading. HLE and children’s linguistic competencies were assessed before and after the intervention. Participating and non-participating families did not differ in any of the study variables at the beginning of the study. However, families who participated in the interventions not only improved their HLE, but children in those families also showed greater linguistic competency development when compared with the non-participating group. The results indicate that less intensive interventions can have an impact on home learning environments and children’s linguistic development.
Children develop linguistic competencies during interactions with more knowledgeable others. Consequently, one way to support this development is by enhancing the home literacy environment (HLE) in ...which children live. In this study a non-intensive intervention procedure was developed to improve HLE and linguistic competencies of 125 German children (mean age at time 1 t1; beginning of the study: 5;5 years) in their last year of kindergarten. Parents were offered to participate in one evening meeting and in an individual dialogic reading session. HLE and children’s linguistic competencies were assessed before and twice after the intervention. Families in the complete intervention group did not differ from other families in any of the study variables at the beginning of the study. However, they significantly improved their HLE, and children in these families showed greater development in phonological awareness when compared with the other families. Results indicate that less intensive interventions can have long-lasting effects on HLE and children’s development.
Reading and writing are critical to students' success in and outside of school. Because they draw on common sources of knowledge and cognitive processes, involve meaning making, and can be used ...conjointly to accomplish important learning goals, it is often recommended that reading and writing should be taught together. This meta-analysis tested this proposition by examining experimental intervention studies with preschool through high school students to determine whether literacy programs balancing reading and writing instruction strengthen students' reading and writing performance. To be included in this review, no more than 60% of instruction could be devoted to either reading or writing. As predicted, these programs improved students' reading, resulting in statistically significant effects when reading measures were averaged in each study (effect size ES = .39) or assessed through measures of reading comprehension (ES = .39), decoding (ES = .53), or reading vocabulary (ES = .35). The programs also statistically enhanced writing when measures were averaged in each study (ES = .37) or assessed via writing quality (ES = .47), writing mechanics (ES = .18), or writing output (ES = .69). These findings demonstrated that literacy programs balancing reading and writing instruction can strengthen reading and writing and that the two skills can be learned together profitably.
Emergent language learners develop literacy through social interactions in multiple, overlapping communities: home, school, peer groups, and popular culture. The author focuses on how classrooms can ...be spaces that cultivate authentic literacy engagements while incorporating and valuing students’ existing language resources.
This department highlights language learning for bi/multilingual students worldwide, from our earliest learners to early adolescent writers. It also highlights exemplary teachers and ways that they ...include research‐based instruction to develop bi/multilingual learners.
The home literacy environment is a well-established predictor of children's language and literacy development. We investigated whether formal, informal, and indirect measures of the home literacy ...environment predict children's reading and language skills once maternal language abilities are taken into account. Data come from a longitudinal study of children at high risk of dyslexia (N = 251) followed from preschool years. Latent factors describing maternal language were significant predictors of storybook exposure but not of direct literacy instruction. Maternal language and phonological skills respectively predicted children's language and reading/spelling skills. However, after accounting for variations in maternal language, storybook exposure was not a significant predictor of children's outcomes. In contrast, direct literacy instruction remained a predictor of children's reading/spelling skills. We argue that the relationship between early informal home literacy activities and children's language and reading skills is largely accounted for by maternal skills and may reflect genetic influences.
This article reports a study that explored young children’s digital literacy in the home. The aim of the study was to identify the range of digital literacy practices in which children are engaged in ...the home and to explore how these are embedded into family life and involve family members. Four children, two girls and two boys aged between 2 and 4 years, were the focus for study. Parents were co-researchers in the study in that they made written observations on children’s activities and captured practices using a digital camera and a digital camcorder over the period of 1 month. They took part in a series of interviews during the study in which they reflected on this data and were asked about related practices. Findings suggest that children were immersed in a range of multimedia, multimodal practices which involved extensive engagement with other family members who scaffolded their learning and delighted in the children’s technological capabilities. The article suggests that, in the light of socio-cultural developments in the new media age, a change in focus from ‘family literacy’ to ‘family digital literacy’ is required.
Question asked in a preschool/primary teacher PD session on read‐alouds: “After our Family Night presentation on home read‐alouds, we got so many questions from families and caretakers. How can we ...give follow‐up support?” This teaching guide suggests three simple ideas for supporting parent home‐read‐alouds with preschool, kindergarten, and first‐grade students.
This department highlights language learning for bi/multilingual students worldwide, from our earliest learners to early adolescent writers. It also highlights exemplary teachers and ways that they ...include research‐based instruction to develop bi/multilingual learners.
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