Literacy Intervention Program Research Articles

Media Literacy Interventions Improve Resilience to Misinformation: A Meta-Analytic Investigation of Overall Effect and Moderating Factors

The widespread dissemination of misinformation has become a global concern. A recommended solution is to improve people’s ability to discern true from false information through appropriate media literacy education programs. This meta-analysis quantitatively synthesized the results of 49 experimental studies ( N = 81,155) that examined the efficacy of media literacy interventions in mitigating misinformation. This study finds that media literacy interventions generally improve resilience to misinformation ( d = 0.60). Specifically, the interventions reduce belief in misinformation ( d = 0.27), improve misinformation discernment ( d = 0.76), and decrease misinformation sharing ( d = 1.04). Moreover, media literacy interventions have stronger effects (1) when multiple sessions rather than a single session are implemented, (2) in high (vs. low) uncertainty avoidance cultures, and (3) among college students than among adults recruited from online crowdsourcing platforms (e.g., Amazon Mechanical Turk). These findings enrich our understanding of inoculation theory and provide valuable guidance for the design of future media literacy intervention programs.

Association Between Young Chinese Children’s Early Writing Skills and the Chinese Preschool Classroom Writing Environment

ABSTRACT This study describes the early writing environments of 16 preschool classrooms in China and 155 Chinese preschoolers’ early writing skills as assessed through name writing, word dictation, and early composing tasks. The classroom early writing environment consists of children’s accessibility to writing materials, and teachers’ writing instruction. Preschool writing samples were coded for children’s ability to generate both oral (e.g. number of words and ideas) and written language (e.g. recognizable Chinese characters). Confirmatory factor analyses and hierarchical linear modeling were conducted to investigate the structure of Chinese preschoolers’ writing skill and to examine its association with classroom writing environment. Research Findings: Results showed that Chinese preschool children could independently generate a variety of writing samples without adult support. Early Chinese writing skills represent two factors, namely (a) the ability to transcribe recognizable characters (transcription skill), and (b) the ability to generate meaningful ideas (composing skill). Teachers’ writing instruction was significantly associated with children’s writing skill, although the frequency was low. Practice or Policy: The findings revealed the evident complexities of Chinese orthography, while suggesting a universal impact of teachers’ scaffolding to young children’s early writing. The study prepared an evidence base for future classroom-based early literacy intervention programs.

Selecting a Literacy Intervention and Planning for Implementation: A Guide

AbstractEvidence‐based core instruction partnered with evidence‐based supplemental interventions are vital for students' literacy learning, particularly for students who need additional support (Petscher et al., 2020). Identifying instructional materials that reflect the translation of effective practices is challenging, (Solari et al., 2020) and made trickier by an abundance of commercialized and packaged literacy curricula, all claiming to be research‐ or evidence‐based. The tasks of finding, selecting, and implementing literacy interventions that are high‐quality, evidence‐based, and designed to meet the needs of students is not for the faint of heart, especially because school leaders often have difficulty distinguishing programs based on research evidence from those benefiting from good marketing (Schwartz, 2019). Thus, the purpose of this article is to provide school personnel responsible for implementing literacy interventions (i.e., classroom teachers, literacy specialists, special educators) and/or selecting literacy intervention programs (i.e., administrators, instructional coaches) with a step‐by‐step process informed by our study which surveyed North Carolina first grade teachers' literacy assessment and instruction practices in schools receiving Title I funding before and during the COVID pandemic.

Assessing the efficacy of the ‘Bicho De 7 Cabeças’ B-learning school-based program in enhancing mental health literacy and reducing stigma

The prevalence of mental disorders in adolescents has a considerable impact on daily life, restricting tasks and diminishing overall quality of life while potentially leading to stigmatization. This study aims to measure the impact of a mental health literacy intervention program, called “Bicho de 7 Cabeças” project, in b-learning format, on the increase of knowledge and the decrease of stigma in young people from Póvoa de Varzim, in Portugal. A quasi-experimental study was conducted, from November 2022 to May 2023, involving an experimental group (“Bicho de 7 Cabeças” protocol) and an active control group (informational brochures), utilizing a pre-test/post-test design. Mental Health Literacy Measure-MHLM, Mental Health Promoting Knowledge Scale-MHPK-10, Mental Illness Knowledge Schedule-MAKS, Reported and Intended Behaviour Scale-RIBS, and Community Attitudes toward People with Mental Illness-CAMI were used. A total of 504 young students from the 9th grade enroll in this study, with a mean age around 14 years old. There is a significant difference between stigma (p <.001) and knowledge (p <.001) scores at baseline and follow-up. The results of this study shows that interventions aimed at young people for the promotion of mental health literacy and stigma reduction are needed and more initiatives should be implemented in schools to address these problems.

Literacy voluntary teaching for low socio-economic early graders in Sumbawa Regency of Indonesia

&lt;span lang="EN-US"&gt;The research reported on a literacy intervention program for 150 early grade learners from low socio-economic background by involving 50 volunteers in 50 different village spots in Sumbawa Regency of Indonesia. The research was emancipatory because it seeks to empower the community to address the local problems of literacy learning loss experienced by the needy early graders. The data were collected through literacy assessment, observation, interviews, and documentation. The findings showed that 90% of the early graders improved their literacy mostly with two and one level progress. Factors contributing to the success were good preparation of volunteers, engaging teaching approaches, relevant materials that suited student levels, and continuous assessment. The last key finding was that the volunteers strongly embodied teaching voluntarism as a soul with six features (affection towards others, action of giving, availability, positive inner feelings, heroism, and divinity). The recommendation from these findings is that multi-stakeholders, including the government, provide support to enhance the program sustainability. This research contributes a model of voluntary teaching for low socio-economic early graders that can be adapted in other locations in Indonesia and overseas.&lt;/span&gt;

Comparing community-based reading interventions for middle school children with learning disabilities: possible order effects when emphasizing skills or reasoning

IntroductionThere is an abundance of community-based reading programs for school-age children who are struggling learners. The aim of this study was to compare two community-based programs (i.e., skill and reason-based programs) and to analyze any complementary benefits.MethodsIn this randomized cross-over study, 20 children completed two 8-week literacy intervention programs. The skills-based program, Leap to Literacy, focused on explicit teaching and repeated practice of the five key components of literacy instruction (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension). The reason-based program, Wise Words, focused on morphological knowledge, hypothesis testing, and critical thinking.ResultsResults revealed study-wide improvements in phonemic awareness, nonword reading, passage reading accuracy, spelling words and features, and affix identification. There were consistent program by program order effects with robust effects of completing the skills-based program first for phonemic awareness, the reason-based program first for passage reading accuracy, and both programs for affix identification. A significant increase in an oral language measure, recalling sentences, was observed for the group who completed the reason-based program first, although they also started off with a lower initial score.DiscussionFindings indicated improvements from participating in either program. The observed order effects suggest potential additive effects of combining reason- and skills-based approaches to intervention.

A randomised controlled trial evaluating the Guide Cymru mental health literacy intervention programme in year 9 (age 13–14) school pupils in Wales

BackgroundAdolescent mental health has become a public health concern as 10–20% of adolescents have experiences with mental health problems. Improving mental health education is critical to reducing stigma and improving access to appropriate care when needed. Here we examine the impact of a mental health literacy programme (Guide Cymru) in young adolescents in the UK. A randomised controlled trial assessed the effectiveness of the Guide Cymru intervention.MethodA total of 1,926 pupils (860 males and 1066 females) aged 13–14 (year 9) took part in the study. The secondary schools were randomised into the active and control arms of the study. Teachers in the active arm of the study were trained on the Guide Cymru and then delivered the intervention to their pupils. Pupils in the active groups received six modules of mental health literacy (the Guide Cymru), and control schools received teaching as usual. Mental health literacy across several domains (e.g., knowledge, stigma, help-seeking intentions) were assessed both before and after the intervention. Data collection for the randomised controlled trial ran from September 2019 to March 2020. Multi-level modelling analysis was conducted to account for the clustered nature of the design.ResultsAll aspects of mental health literacy, including mental health knowledge (g = 0.32), good mental health behaviours (g = 0.22), mental health stigmas (g = 0.16), intentions to seek help (g = 0.15), and avoidant coping (g = 0.14) improved after completing the Guide Cymru programme (ps < .001).DiscussionThe current study presents evidence for the Guide Cymru’s effectiveness in improving secondary school pupils' mental health literacy. We demonstrate that providing teachers with appropriate resources and training to deliver the Guide Cymru programme within their classrooms can improve the mental health literacy of pupils. These findings have important implications for the beneficial impacts the secondary school system can have on reducing the burden of mental health problems at a critical point in a young person’s life.Trial registrationISRCTN15462041. Registered 03/10/2019.

Online financial and demographic education for workers: Experimental evidence from an Italian Pension Fund

This study experimentally tests a low-cost, Internet-based,online literacy intervention program implemented with the largest employer-based pension fund in Italy. This program, called Financial Education and Planning for a Long Life (Finlife) included: 1) an online instructional video on financial, and demographic (survival) literacy; 2) an experimental design to evaluate the impact of the online videoprogram on financial and demographic literacy, as well as and on short-term behavioral changes in behavior; and 3) a follow-up to assess the impact of the videoprogram on subsequent choices of available investment lines in the Italian pension fund. Finlife was designed as a low-cost and, scalable approach aimed at increasing financial and demographic survival literacy, which is consistent with a ‘nudge’ philosophy. Based on the findings, Finlife significantly increased the financial and demographic survival literacy of the participants, and pushed them towards seeking more information and becoming more active in financial decisions.

TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION ON INFLUENCE OF TUSOME INTERVENTION STRATEGIES ON READING IN PUBLIC PRIMARY GRADE TWO PUPILS, KILIFI COUNTY, KENYA

The purpose of the study was to establish the teachers’ perception on the influence of Tusome instructional intervention strategies on reading levels in public primary schools in central zone, Kilifi North Sub-County, Kenya. The study employed a descriptive design to carry out the study. A pilot study was conducted in two schools. The sample size comprised 60 grade two children, 18 teachers, 5 headteachers, ICSO and 1 sub-county director of education. Data collection techniques involved the use of observations and questionnaires to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. The collected data obtained from observations and respondents were grouped together, coded, transformed and analyzed through the use of Statistical Packages for Social Scientists (SPSS) software version 21. Then the analyzed data was presented in form of frequencies and percentages while figures and tables will be used to present the result where necessary. The findings revealed that teaching strategies have an influence on the implementation of Tusome in lower primary schools. Pupil’s textbooks, teacher’s guides and storybooks were adequately provided. There were no other ICT resources provided for the learners. It was concluded that indeed, the Tusome literacy intervention program was strongly related to the improved learner achievement in other tasks that require reading, in the improvement of the overall learner achievement at grade 2. The ANOVA statistics were used to test the fitness of the regression model. The significance F value of 47.345 (p&amp;lt;0.001) was obtained implying that the regression model was fit and statistically significant and can be deemed fit for prediction. The study recommends that the Ministry of Education implements literacy interventions as a means of improving learner achievement in other subjects. The instructional support included should take into consideration the scope (number of teachers supported), as well as the logistics of reaching schools, teachers and head teachers.&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Article visualizations:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="/-counters-/soc/0021/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

A study of rhythmic emergent literacy within an Orff-based program implemented in Israel

Within an Orff-based program implemented in Israel, this mixed-methods study examined the effects of age on emerging rhythmic literacy in children. Participants ( N = 132) were kindergarteners ( n = 45) and first-graders ( n = 87) aged 4 to 7.8 years. The participants performed a rhythm entitled “Rhythm-A” through the body and instrumental percussion and then were required to create a self-invented notation of the rhythm. A one-session literacy intervention program, based on teaching standard rhythm notation, followed with randomly selected first-graders ( n = 44). Its purpose was to investigate the effect of standard notation instruction on children’s ability to notate Rhythm-A. Results indicated (1) a significant age effect on children’s emergent rhythmic literacy and (2) a significant effect of a one-session literacy intervention program on participants’ post-intervention notations. The study has relevance to research on Orff-based music education and music literacy.

The role of learning motivation on financial knowledge among Vietnamese college students

AbstractUsing survey data from 730 undergraduates in Vietnam, we find that learning motivation and its components, especially self‐efficacy, finance learning value, and achievement goals, significantly correlate with students' financial literacy performance. In addition, these correlations are moderated by student characteristics, among which academic seniority, university type, parents' education, and extra math study during high school matter the most. Our results raise significant implications to policymakers, researchers, and educators that include understanding the role of motivation and incorporating it in financial literacy education and intervention programs and considering the moderation roles that individuals' characteristics play in the motivation‐financial literacy link. We encourage more research in these areas.

Impact Evaluation of an Early Literacy Intervention Program during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mexico

Impact Evaluation of an Early Literacy Intervention Program during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mexico

Factors influencing the e-health literacy in cancer patients: a systematic review.

PurposeAs Internet technology evolves, electronic health (e-health) literacy gradually becomes a key factor in healthy behaviors and health-related decision-making. However, little is known about the influencing factors of e-health literacy among cancer survivors. Thus, the objective of this study was to systematically review the status quo, assessment tools, and influencing factors of e-health literacy in cancer patients.MethodsWe conducted a comprehensive search in several databases, including PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, PsycInfo, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Database, Chinese BioMedical Literature Database, and Chinese Science and Technology Journal Database between January 2000 and December 2021.ResultsA total of nine articles were included in this review, all of which were cross-sectional studies. Following the JBI critical appraisal tool, seven of them were rated as high quality. The e-Health Literacy Scale (eHEALS) was the most commonly used measurement for e-health literacy in cancer patients. The level of e-health literacy in cancer survivors was not high, which was associated with a variable of factors. The behavioral model of health services use was adopted to summarize related influencing factors. From an individual’s perspective, predisposing characteristics and enabling resources were the most significant factors, without factors related to needs characteristics.ConclusionThe study has identified the influencing factors of e-health literacy among cancer survivors, including age, gender, domicile place, education level, information-seeking behavior, and social support. In the future, e-health literacy lectures need to be carried out for elderly cancer patients, especially those who live in rural areas and have no access to the Internet. Families and friends of cancer survivors should also be encouraged to offer them more support.Implications for Cancer SurvivorsThese findings of this review provide novel insights for both family members and medical workers to improve e-health literacy in cancer patients. Further research is required to develop easy-to-use electronic health information acquisition devices and establish propagable e-health literacy intervention programs for cancer survivors.

Engaging Young Children with Science Concepts in a Community-Based Book Distribution and Animal-Themed Literacy Intervention Program

Engaging Young Children with Science Concepts in a Community-Based Book Distribution and Animal-Themed Literacy Intervention Program

Early Literacy Intervention for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students with Varying English Language Proficiency Levels

Objectives: This study examined the effectiveness of Sound Partners, an evidence-based early literacy intervention program, with culturally and linguistically diverse elementary students within an applied Response to Intervention (RTI) system. Method: Participants (n = 11) with a range of English language proficiency (ELP) who spoke English, Hmong, Khmer, or Nepali as a first language were recruited based on indicators of high academic risk displayed during the participating school’s universal literacy screening process. Three replications of a randomized multiple baseline single case research study were conducted to assess the effectiveness of Sound Partners in three groups: those with lower ELP, middle ELP, and native English speakers. Progress monitoring of early literacy skills occurred weekly across baseline and intervention phases. Results: Visual analysis results supported two intervention effects: PSF effects in the low ELP replication and LSF effects in the native English speaker replication. Supplemental statistical analyses were conducted to describe the magnitudes and variations of effect sizes. Conclusion: Results suggest that key factors related to heterogeneity within the diverse population of ELL students, such as ELP levels, must be carefully considered when implementing RTI. Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/15377903.2021.1953660.

Contextualized game-based intervention for digital literacy for the Pacific Islands.

In the digital age, advocating and improving digital literacy is a global challenge. There have been scales developed to measure individuals' digital literacy competencies; however, intervention programs have been only a few. This research paper articulates design details, validity, reliability and effectiveness of a new online modulated digital literacy intervention program (DLIP). For the development of DLIP, digital literacy is stipulated in this research as a universal framework that consists of six different literacies; media, information, technology, computer, visual, and communication literacy. An online module has been designed for each of these six literacies, and the concept of game-based learning has been used to engage the users and secure high user satisfaction. To test the reliability of the intervention, the Kuder- Richardson- 20 (KR-20) test was performed. The developed intervention was deemed to be reliable with the KR-20 value of 0.86. The construct validity was measured using the spearman’s correlation test and since the values for all the constructs were above 0.3, the DLIP was valid. The effectiveness of the DLIP was evaluated by calculating the effect size. The Cohen’s d test was used and the results show that the intervention was moderately effective. Although DLIP has been developed for the Pacific Islands it has global applicability.

From Private Practice to Public Service: A Preliminary Investigation of the Fit LiteTM Model With At-Risk Students.

Like many Title 1 schools in the United States, the host site for this study in rural South Carolina represents a widespread literacy crisis in our public education system. In this particular school, only 20% of 3rd graders demonstrated proficient reading skills. Although extremely effective precision teaching-based literacy intervention programs have been developed in the private sector, such as the Fit Learning™ model, the extensive time and related costs of training classroom teachers in those methods prohibit struggling schools on tight budgets. As such, the current study sought to develop and test the feasibility of a truncated version of the Fit Learning™ model, dubbed Fit Lite™. Fourteen students identified by the school as "high risk" for literacy struggles were instructed in the Fit Lite™ model in their after-school program. With expert oversight and only 1 week of training, a group of 4 implementers with no prior experience using precision teaching or implementing Fit Lite™ produced promising reading improvements. Over the course of approximately 12 weeks, the 14 students improved by an average of 16 percentile points against the national average on standardized progress-monitoring tools. Details of the Fit Lite™ model, results achieved in this study, and considerations for future replications are described.

Barriers and Limitations to Obstacle Diabetes Self-Management with a Focus on Nutritional Literacy: Solutions and Opportunities. Critical Review and Research Synthesis

Background: Researchers should seek applicable solutions and appropriate opportunities to solve or ravage barriers and limitations that worsen diabetes self-management and outcomes.&#x0D; Objectives: The aim of this critical review and research synthesis was to explore whether the enhancement of nutritional literacy can optimize diabetes self-management and to identify barriers and limitations that obstacle diabetes self-management and to suggest the best available solutions and opportunities that were tailored to eliminate these barriers.&#x0D; Methods: Data sources were PubMed and Medline databases. Studies were authorized if they were in English, used an observational or interventional design and were tailored based on the individual's nutritional knowledge or literacy in diabetes management among patients with diabetes. Databases were searched from February 1988 to December 2018. In order to evaluate the studies' quality, the abstracts that met PICO criteria for qualitative studies underwent dual review for data extraction. A qualitative synthesis was also conducted and the GRADE criteria were used to evaluate the quality of studies.&#x0D; Results: A structured inventory consisted of six constructs (socioeconomic determinants, cultural determinants, education, access to health care services, family structure, and thoughts and personal practices) was designed based on the barriers and limitations. As a result, 151 solutions and opportunities were proposed. Most repeated solutions that were frequently suggested to eliminate the existing barriers, were: “The access to optimal nutrition and health literacy”, “Improved health care services”, “Health policies of governments”, “Sustainable lifestyle-based healthcare system”, “Proper implementation of nutritional intervention programs”, and “Comprehensive culturally sensitive diabetes education, and care programs”.&#x0D; Conclusion: Identification and classification barriers and limitations to obstacle diabetes self-management are critical advances in accomplishing the interventions that can improve optimal diabetes outcomes, for different diabetic societies. Well-designed nutrition literacy intervention programs and preventive procedures may ameliorate the health status in diabetic population.

Promoting academic literacy skills among seven graders in Arabic as L1 in Israel (El fomento del lenguaje académico de los estudiantes de lengua árabe en el primer curso de secundaria en Israel)

ABSTRACT The current study presents findings from an academic literacy intervention programme targeting Arabic-native-speaking seventh-graders. Ninety-two pupils were assigned to either print (36 pupils) or computerized (30 pupils) learning platforms, whereas the remaining pupils (26) were in a control group. Three academic vocabulary knowledge tests (receptive, productive and application in context) and a reading comprehension test were administered before and after intervention. Additionally, prior to intervention, both experimental groups were assessed for Arabic diglossic context awareness. Following intervention, higher improvement in vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension was observed as compared to the control group. No significant differences were found between the two learning platforms. Awareness of Arabic diglossic context predicted 26% of pupils’ performance on the application pre-test, 18% of their performance on the receptive pre-test and 10.4% of their performance on reading comprehension. Gender effects were also noted with girls outperforming boys. The study results point to the benefits of an academic literacy intervention on promoting performance of Arabic-native-speaking middle schoolers. Awareness of Arabic’s diglossic nature and gender seem to modulate academic literacy performance.

Using Social Media as a Platform to Promote Nutrition Messaging of FLIP

Social media is an ever growing and versatile medium that presents a novel avenue for health promotion and sharing health information. Despite its growth and popularity, literature is limited on how social media can be used for health promotion interventions, particularly related to food and nutrition. The Food Literacy Intervention Program (FLIP) at the University of Alberta is an evidence-based tailored program targeted at families with children aged 3 to 5. FLIP was designed based on the results of a needs assessment to promote healthy eating in children and improve food knowledge and skills of families. In previous years, FLIP was primarily an in-person cooking class for families and children with a limited online component. Parents had expressed a desire for quick and easy access to credible online nutrition. Therefore, over the course of a 12-week MPH practicum, the online FLIP program was developed and implemented for 2019. The goal of the online program was to explore different forms of social media as a platform to reach a larger audience for the promotion of evidence-based nutrition content. Content was produced for Instagram, Facebook, and a blog, and varying strategies were used to tailor the content to each platform. Social media metrics, including reach and engagement, were captured and analysed to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. This project contributes to the knowledge and understanding of the role of social media for promoting health messages and provides a basis upon which future projects can be created.