Full version

Parental involvement in the development of children's reading skill: a five-year longitudinal study

Introduction

Authors

Publisher

It is well established that parental involvement is important to children's learning (e.g. Desforges 2003). This Canadian study aimed to build on earlier research which highlighted the effectiveness of parental involvement in helping children read. Specifically the researchers set out to track the effects of two specific types of middle and upper-middle class parental help on the development of their children’s reading skills: storybook reading and informal teaching of print (letters and sounds etc). The researchers followed the progress in reading of 168 children, from age four until age nine years. Parents completed questionnaires about their child's literacy experiences at home and the children's reading skills were assessed at school.

The researchers found that the two types of pre-school parental involvement helped their children along learning 'pathways' in which they developed reading skills, and which at a later stage directly or indirectly helped them become fluent readers.

These findings help increase our understanding of the reasons why and in what specific ways parental involvement can be important for literacy development.

What were the researchers' aims and what did they find out?

The researchers wanted to find out:

• the relative importance of two parent activities: storybook reading and informal teaching (the alphabet etc.) on the development of their child’s language and literacy;
• the relationship between early home literacy experiences and children’s subsequent reading acquisition;
and
• the relationship between early home literacy experiences and fluent reading.

The authors found clear links from the children's pre-school experiences to fluent reading at age nine years, through two 'pathways' identified in the study:

• storybook reading led to the development of children's oral language skills, and these language skills led directly to children's subsequent fluent reading skills;
and
• informal parental teaching led to the development of children's early word-reading skills, which were indirectly related to reading attainment in grade 3.

The researchers also found that children’s awareness of sounds and parents' continued reading of storybooks after the children had started school contributed to fluent reading.

Back to top^

How did parental involvement affect children's reading attainment?

The authors tracked the effects of early parental involvement upon the development of children's reading skills from the beginning of grade 1 until the end of grade 3. Specifically they found that:

• storybook exposure encouraged children's oral language skills (vocabulary and listening);
• parental teaching encouraged the development of word skills (knowing letters, sounding out and blending sounds in simple words, sight reading some whole words and invented spelling);
and
• oral language was not directly related to developing word skills and vice versa, but both contributed to an awareness of sounds.

• early parental teaching encouraged children's developing word skills, which fostered their early reading skills;
and
• oral language did not appear to influence grade 1 reading, but awareness of sounds did. The authors cited other research which showed that children need to have sufficiently fluent decoding skills before oral language skills start to have an influence.

• oral language skills and awareness of sounds were linked with fluent reading in grade 3, but early word reading skills were not significant at this age, unlike at grade 1;
and
• storybook reading by both parents and children during the time the children were in grade 1 was related to the children’s grade 3 reading skills.

Back to top^

Why is parental involvement in children's literacy development important?

Based on their findings, the authors suggest that early and continued parental involvement in children's literacy development is important because:

• reading stories to pre-school children helps them develop oral language (vocabulary and listening skills) which ultimately helps them towards being fluent readers, although just reading stories may not be enough to foster children's early word reading skills;
• children's early word skills (knowing letters, sounding out and blending sounds in simple words, sight reading some whole words and invented spelling) can benefit from parental guidance, although the extent or depth with which parents should pursue the teaching of reading and writing with their children cannot be determined by the results presented by this study;
• the positive relation between reading storybooks in grade 1 and reading achievement in grade 3 indicates how important it is for parents to continue to read to their child during the time s/he is learning to read;
and
• the consistent patterns of relations observed between home factors and improved reading for these middle class children suggest that parental involvement may be even more important when children are at greater risk of reading failure because of social, economic or cognitive difficulties.

Back to top^

How was the study designed?

The study involved a total of 110 kindergarten children (age 4-5 years) and fifty-eight grade 1 children (age 6-7 years). The children were in three cohorts and each cohort entered the study at a different age/grade (at four, five and six years of age). Their reading attainment was followed until the end of grade 3 (age 8-9 years). All the children came from middle or upper-middle class, English speaking homes. Their parents, who were highly educated and literate, reported reading storybooks to their children frequently and often taught their children how to read and print words at home. At school, the teachers taught reading using a 'balanced' approach, which included work on phonics within the context of literacy activities.

The researchers assessed the children's literacy experiences using the following measures:

• the children's experience of storybooks was measured by giving parents two separate lists of sixty titles and sixty authors of children's books (including twenty false titles and authors) and asking parents to indicate which they recognised;
• the children's experience of print was measured by parental reports of how frequently they taught their child to read and write, which they rated on two five-point scales (1=never; 5=very often);
• the parents' own literacy levels were measured by asking parents to indicate authors they recognised from a given list of authors of popular adult literature (which included false names);
• children's exposure to print once they entered school was measured at the end of grade 1 (age 7 years). Children were shown illustrations from popular children's books and asked to give details about the books they were taken from;
• the children's oral language and early reading skills were measured in kindergarten and at the beginning of grade 1 using tests which included, listening comprehension, matching words based on rhymes, naming letters of the alphabet, sounding out simple words, such as 'sun', and invented spelling based on sounds etc; and
• the children's reading skills were assessed at the end of grades 1 (age 7 years) and 3 (age 9 years) using standard vocabulary and comprehension tests usually administered by the schools.

Back to top^

What are the implications of the study for parents and teachers?

In completing this digest, the authors began to ask the following questions about implications for practitioners:

• the study showed how young children benefit from reading with there parents. How does your school help parents and carers, to support their children's literacy learning? Might parents find leaflets or workshops on topics such as paired reading, talking about books and reading bedtime stories helpful? 
• would professional development for teachers and pre-school leaders encourage them to share ideas on how to involve parents in the development of their children's literacy?
• could your school develop initiatives such as community projects designed to compensate children who have had limited experience of storybooks at home?

In completing this digest, the authors began to ask the following questions and implications for school leaders:

• would parents and carers in your school context benefit from information about how they can best support there childrens literacy?Are there parents or carers who may also need encouragement and confidence-building in this area, as well as information?  What type of professional development for teachers and pre-school leaders might help them to support the needs of different groups of parents in your community?
• could your school develop initiatives such as community projects designed to compensate children who have had limited experience of storybooks at home?  Might learning mentors play a useful role in supporting early reading within school?

Back to top^

Where can I find out more?

There are a number of other TRIPS digests on the theme of early years which can be found at: http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/research/themes/early_years/
TRIPS digests on the theme of literacy can be found at:
http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/research/themes/literacy/?digest=all

A detailed summary of research into ‘Effective literacy teaching in the first years of school’ that includes practitioner case studies can be found on the GTC Research of the Month website at:
http://www.gtce.org.uk/research/romtopics/rom_curriculum/literacy/

The literacy trust has a comprehensive website providing further information on all aspects of literacy, including parental involvement in reading at:    http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/

'Story Sacks' projects are an excellent way of encouraging parents and carers to get involved in developing both their own literacy skills and those of their children.  For information about story sacks visit: http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/parentalinvolvement/pics/pics_storysacks/

For examples of community literacy projects, visit: http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/campaign/community.html

The 'Reading Recovery' guide for parents of Year 1 children who need extra support in reading is available from: http://www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/eys/rr/rrparbook.htm

Desforges, Charles (2003) The impact of parental involvement, parental support and family education of pupil achievement and adjustment. DfES: HMSO. Url: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/research/programmeofresearch/index.cfm?type=0&keywordlist1=0&keywordlist2=0&keywordlist3=0&andor=or&keyword=the+impact+of+parental+involvement
A research project into ‘Home-school knowledge exchange and transformation in primary education’ forms part of the Teaching and Learning Research Programme.  This website gives further details: http://www.tlrp.org/proj/phase11/phase2e.html

Back to top^