Literacy Instruction Through Media for Everyone

Official title

Efficacy and Mechanisms of Media and Storybook Interventions to Promote Children's Early Literacy Skills Via Caregiver Engagement

Overview

The goal of this study is to determine whether an intervention to support caregivers in engaging with their children while using educational media together can improve children's early literacy skills, compared to an aligned shared book reading intervention and to no intervention. Given that early literacy skills predict children's later academic learning, this home intervention, which aims to shape the communication patterns surrounding a common, family-friendly activity, has the potential to positively influence the trajectory of low income children's academic success. The investigators propose that amedia based activity will reduce barriers and increase adherence therefore increasing literacy skills over time.

Detailed description

The proposed study draws upon an implementation science framework (Nilsen, 2015) to determine the extent to which a media-based caregiver-led intervention improves caregiver adherence and in turn children's early literacy development relative to a shared reading intervention. Caregiver-implemented shared reading interventions represent the 'current standard practice' for addressing early literacy needs, yet many caregivers cannot implement this practice with adequate adherence. This is particularly true for low-socioeconomic status families, in which shared reading may not be a conventional activity and barriers inhibit its use. The investigators propose-and test-that a media-based intervention reduces barriers to intervention implementation and increases social validity, leading to higher levels of adherence and, via mediation, enhanced child literacy outcomes. To establish this causal chain, the investigators mplement a media-based early literacy intervention, compare it to a highly aligned shared reading intervention, and measure (1) social validity of the intervention to test whether use of media circumvents barriers, (2) caregiver adherence (i.e., frequency and dosage), and (3) child early literacy skills gains immediately and over time. As the first causally interpretable study to compare media and shared reading as caregiver-led interventions, the proposed project will identify strategies to improve adherence in home-based interventions and inform development of interventions to improve school readiness among low-SES children.

Interventions

• Behavioral Media instruction
  Caregivers will be asked to implement joint media sessions with their child four times per week for 12 weeks using lightly adapted versions of the commercially-available Super Why! program, which focuses on early literacy skills, including alphabet knowledge, rhyming, spelling, and print concepts. Sessions are anticipated to last 20 minutes. Caregivers will be trained by researchers on explicit strategies to use to promote children's learning. Caregivers will digitally log every session and audi
• Behavioral Storybook intervention
  Caregivers will be asked to implement joint storybook reading sessions with their child four times per week for 12 weeks using adapted versions of the commercially -available Super-Why! storybooks, which focus on early literacy skills including alphabet knowledge, rhyming, spelling, and print concepts. Sessions are anticipated to last 20 minutes. Caregivers will be trained by researchers on explicit strategies to use to promote children's learning. Caregivers will digitally log every session and

Primary outcome measures

• Print concept knowledge [Time frame: At pretest after enrollment and at posttest after the 12 week intervention period]
• Alphabet knowledge [Time frame: At pretest after enrollment and at posttest after the 12 week intervention period]
• Name Writing [Time frame: At pretest after enrollment and at posttest after the 12 week intervention period]
• Phonological Awareness [Time frame: At pretest after enrollment and at posttest after the 12 week intervention period]
• Word reading [Time frame: At pretest after enrollment, at posttest after the 12 week intervention period, at 3-month follow up, at 6-month follow-up, and at 12- month follow up]
• Spelling [Time frame: At pretest after enrollment, at posttest after the 12 week intervention period, at 3-month follow up, at 6-month follow-up, and at 12- month follow up]

Secondary outcome measures (5)

• Enjoyment of intervention activities [Time frame: Four times per week during the 12-week intervention and at posttest after the intervention]
• Perceived value of intervention activities [Time frame: At posttest after the 12 week intervention period]
• Ease of Scheduling [Time frame: At posttest after the 12 week intervention period]
• Caregiver Adherence [Time frame: Throughout the 12-week intervention]
• Quantity of print-related talk [Time frame: Throughout the 12-week intervention]

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion criteria

• between 42 and 57 months at enrollment
• minimally verbal in English
• caregiver sufficiently proficient in English
• does not have severe intellectual disability

Exclusion criteria

• under 42 months
• over 57 months at enrollment
• severe intellectual disability
• not proficient in English

Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.

Healthy volunteers: Yes

Study design

Allocation

Randomized

Model

Parallel assignment

Masking

Double blind

Primary purpose

Prevention

Study locations

United States · 1 center

• The Ohio State University Crane Center for Early Childhood — Columbus

Identifiers

NCT: NCT06796790 · AWD - 118236 · R01HD114687

Primary sources (government registries)

• ClinicalTrials.gov (US NIH)

View this study on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗