Family Literacy Practices Research Articles

Organically Grown: Development of the Georgia State University Urban Literacy Clinic

As an hour and a half of literacy instruction, skills demonstrations, and discussion of course content concludes, someone calls out: “Here they come!" -- and the energy in the auditorium-style clinic space skyrockets, fueled by movement, smiles, laughter, and most of all, by the electrifying eye contact between students and tutors. For the next hour and fifteen minutes, individualized tutoring sessions are taught while master-level teachers observe lessons and offer feedback to the new teachers. Doctoral students lead parents in workshops focused on family literacy practices, and the university faculty instructor monitors progress and videotapes literacy session segments for future instruction. This is a typical evening at one of many literacy sessions at the Georgia State University Urban Literacy Clinic (ULC).

Libraries, Churches, and Schools: The Literate Lives of Mothers and Children in a Homeless Shelter

This article addresses the question,“How do mothers and children in a homeless shelter interact with literacy?” We drew on the theoretical framework of social literacy practices in which cultural context is foregrounded. Data for this qualitative study included participant observation in one homeless shelter and interviews with one shelter’s residents and other stakeholders, including teachers, administrators, shelter staff at various shelters, and homelessness experts across Los Angeles County, California. While examining the literacy practices of women and children living in one transitional shelter, we identified three institutions that were part of their lives (a) the public library, in which choice was a major factor; (b) the church, which focused on reading the Bible; and (c) schools, where literacy was tied to evaluative outcomes. Although families were overwhelmingly positive about their participation in each of these institutions and all three were referred to as places for learning, children’s talk about reading and writing in school focused on procedures such as daily routines and testing. This may reflect the current mandated curriculum as well as the cost of frequent moves, which necessitate that children learn how to succeed in each new school. This study captures the influence of different institutions on the literacy practices of families in crisis and suggests ways to further support reading and writing for children living without homes.

Home–School Literacy Connections: The Perceptions of African American and Immigrant ESL Parents in Two Urban Communities

Background/Context Educational reform has emphasized the importance of parent involvement. Perhaps the most common instantiations of parent involvement are various efforts to encourage particular reading practices in the home. Although there is some research supporting the efficacy of “family literacy” initiatives, these efforts have been criticized for their deficit orientation and cultural insensitivity. Some educators have attempted to create family literacy practices considerate of the cultural and material demands of families, but no one has investigated how parents actually experience these initiatives. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study This research examined parent perceptions of school-to-home literacy initiatives intended to encourage particular literacy practices in the homes of families living in two predominantly poor urban communities served by underperforming schools; specifically, How do African American and immigrant ESL parents living in these two urban communities experience various school-to-home literacy initiatives? These groups of urban parents were interviewed because they and their children are especially likely to be targeted by family literacy initiatives. The study focused on school-to-home literacy practices that attempted to influence literacy in the home because these are the most common instantiations of family literacy. Population/Participants/Subjects The participants included 18 African American and 14 immigrant ESL parents living in two large urban centers in the northeastern United States. Research Design: Open-ended, qualitative interviews were conducted with the participants to elicit parents’ perceptions of school-to-home literacy practices. Interviews ranged from 30 to 60 minutes in length and were conducted by two doctoral students trained by the author. Data Collection and Analysis Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, and, if necessary, translated into English. Based on multiple readings of the data, several core themes were identified that were the focus of the data analysis. Data were analyzed through a process called modified analytic induction to develop a “loose descriptive theory” of how these urban parents experienced school-to-home literacy initiatives. Conclusions/Recommendations The analysis of the data indicated that school-to-home literacy practices, as experienced by these parents, did not always fit well with family routines, cultural values, or expectations. The analysis also highlighted a one-way model of school-home communication that provided few opportunities for school-to-home literacy initiatives to respond to the needs of individual families. It was concluded that a model of family literacy considerate of families’ cultural and material needs depends on creating spaces for parents to share their needs, expectations, and values—and for school officials to listen.

The role of reading self-concept and home literacy practices in fourth grade reading comprehension

This study examined the relationships among reading comprehension, reading self-concept, and home literacy environment (HLE) in a sample (n = 67) of fourth grade children enrolled in an urban school district. Children’s reading comprehension, word reading, and verbal ability were assessed using standardized measures. Reading self-concept was assessed with a child-administered survey that is comprised of three subscales (i.e., competence in reading, perception of ease with reading, attitude towards reading). Information on child and family literacy practices was collected via a questionnaire administered to parents of participating children. Bivariate correlations and multiple regression analyses demonstrated that all three reading self-concept subscales were positively related to reading comprehension after controlling for verbal ability and word reading skills, and aspects of HLE were positively related to aspects of reading self-concept. The findings support the inclusion of psychosocial and family literacy measures in future studies designed to investigate the process of reading comprehension for children beyond the primary grades.

Continuity and change in home literacy practices of Hispanic families with preschool children

The aim of this qualitative study was to examine how Latino immigrant families incorporate school‐based interactive literacy activities into their existing home literacy practices. Findings revealed that Hispanic parents appropriate school‐related literacy activities into their existing repertoire when they believed it would best help their children to succeed academically. At the same time, parents modified school‐related literacy activities to reflect their existing cultural beliefs and practices. These complex patterns of adapting school literacy practices into home literacy interactions revealed that Hispanic parents: (a) emphasise pleasure and interactivity in literacy activities; (b) merge supportive and direct instruction scaffolding strategies into home literacy instruction; (c) impart moral messages while engaging in interactive literacy activities with their children; and (d) activate linguistic resources by creating opportunities for bilingual literacy events to occur during school‐designed interactive literacy activities.

The Ecology of Early Reading Development for Children in Poverty

In this study we investigated reading development from kindergarten to third grade for 1,913 economically disadvantaged children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten Cohort. Characteristics of the child, the family, classroom instruction, and school composition were used to model influences from multiple levels of children’s ecologies. The analytic model proposed that child and family characteristics (e.g., age at kindergarten entry, family literacy practices) would influence reading skills at kindergarten entry and rate of reading growth, whereas characteristics of classrooms and schools (e.g., comprehensive literacy instruction, racial and economic segregation) would constrain or enhance reading performance at specific times. Significant model parameters and effect sizes indicated that child and family characteristics were more predictive of initial reading skills than of reading development over time. Minority segregation in elementary schools was associated with lower student reading performance after accounting for child and family background, classroom instruction, and school‐level poverty.

Decolonizing family literacy in a culture circle: Reinventing the family literacy educator's role

There is a growing ideological divide in the field of family literacy between programs that are striving to colonize families with middle-class European-American literacy practices, and those based on Freire's philosophy which works toward affirming diverse family literacy practices. The Freirean alternative includes ‘culture circles’ for the growth of critically conscious participants and family educators, who work toward ‘reading the word and the world’ while working to transform that world into a better place for all. Organizing various culture circles has enabled the authors to examine critically and coreconstruct a reflective narrative on the role of the culture circle's ‘cocoordinator’ or ‘leader’, as well as to reinvent themselves as ‘decolonizing family literacy educators’. This article is a step in this reinvention.

A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF FAMILY LITERACY PRACTICES: POWER IN AND OUT OF PRINT

A Critical Discourse Analysis of Family Literacy Practices: Power In and Out of Print. Rebecca Rogers. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2003. Pp. 232. 29.95 paper.Rogers' book is about language, literacies, ideologies, and power in family literacy practices and how these interplay paradoxically to impact on individuals' literate view of themselves and on their relationships to institutions such as school. Her critical ethnographic study centers around a mother and daughter in an urban African American family labeled as low income and low literate. They negotiate language and literacy in their home and community “proficiently, critically and strategically” (p. xiii), but the effect of schooled literacy leads them to view themselves as literate failures. Rogers' fine-tuned critical analysis illuminates how schooled literacy is embedded within the primary discourse of home and how it is both embodied and resisted through their literacy work and their identities as a mother and an adolescent who evoke conflicting subjectivities.

Parents’ experiences of a family literacy programme

Relatively few studies of family literacy programmes have investigated parents’ views, despite their importance for the future development of this kind of programme in early childhood education. This article reports on a family literacy programme from the perspectives of the parents involved in it. The study was carried out in socio-economically disadvantaged communities in a northern English city. Parent experiences were investigated through interviews at the beginning and end of the programme ( N = 85) and home visit records. Interviews with a control group ( N = 73) of parents who had never participated in a family literacy programme were also conducted at the end of programme. Take-up and participation rates were extremely high for child-focused components of the programme, but the adult (parent-focused) education component had lower take-up. Parents expressed extremely positive views about the child-focused component of the programme and all felt it had benefited children. There was evidence, according to parent report, of programme impact on family literacy practices. Implications for family literacy programmes are discussed.

Challenges for beginner writers

This article explores some of the challenges that young children face when they begin formalised literacy learning in the classroom, in particular to write. The challenges are discussed in terms of the transitions children are faced with when moving from family and community literacy practices to more explicit and formal school learning situations. How teachers can help children transition and learn the complex task of learning to write as emergent and early literates are disucssed relative to the writing process.

Special education and family literacy: Perspective through the lens of critical discourse

Book reviewed in this article: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Family Literacy Practices: Power In and Out of Print. Rebecca Rogers. 2003.

Review: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Family Literacy Practices: Power In and Out of Print

Review: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Family Literacy Practices: Power In and Out of Print

Literacy in Multilingual Contexts: Change in Teenagers' Reading and Writing

Literacy in the home is often judged as an inferior version of school literacy. In multilingual contexts, family literacy practices tend to be characterised as traditional and more reliant on oral than literate practices, with the children being seen as disadvantaged by the lack of parental literacy support. This paper argues that literacy practices in multilingual contexts are in fact dynamic and undergoing rapid development in response to technological and cultural change. This study, which examines the literacy practices of four teenagers and their families, was part of a six-year ethnographic study with Arabic-speaking families in Sydney. The data indicate that teenagers are taking an active role in a shift to technology-mediated literacy and in the mediation of both Arabic and English literacy. The implications of this for schooling are discussed.

A Critical Discourse Analysis of Family Literacy Practices: Power in and Out of Print

A Critical Discourse Analysis of Family Literacy Practices: Power in and Out of Print

‘Invisible’ teachers of literacy: collusion between siblings and teachers in creating classroom cultures

AbstractThe promise to raise literacy standards significantly at age 11 in economically disadvantaged areas has been an important part of the present British Government's educational policy. Integral to this promise has been the introduction of official home/school ‘contracts’ or ‘agreements’, which oblige parents to engage in specific literacy activities with their children. However, evidence from a longitudinal study of family literacy practices in East London suggests that family and community membersother than parentsmight play a crucial role in initiating young children into literacy.Siblingsparticularly have been found to be efficient ‘teachers’ of school literacy practices. In this paper, I investigate particularly ways in which an unspoken collusion takes place between teacher and older sibling revealed during ‘play school’ sessions in Bangladeshi British households in East London.

Children’s Perspectives on Family Literacy: Methodological Issues, Findings and Implications for Practice

This article reports a study of family literacy practices from the perspectives of five-year-old children drawn from areas of social and economic deprivation in an English city. Methodological and ethical issues of interviewing young children are discussed. An interview survey ( N= 71) found literacy activity reported in all homes; fathers involved in literacy with their children; and boys (as well as girls) involved in literacy activity. Findings were compared with those of a further randomly selected sample ( N= 77) whose parents had participated in a family literacy programme. The comparison showed a modest, but consistent, increase in child-reported family literacy activity in the programme group, and concludes that the impact of a family literacy programme is discernible through children’s perspectives. Implications for family literacy practices and the need for further research, including measures of children’s literacy achievement and views of parents and the teachers participating in the programme, are identified.

It’s Not Really Writing, It’s Just answering the Questions

Explores how family literacy practices are connected to social institutions that sustain or transform participants’ awareness or reproduction of class identities and the inequities inherent in these interactions. Looks at the complexity of one African-American, working-poor family’s literacy practices in their connections to social institutions.

Longitudinal Analysis of the Antecedents of Emergent Spanish Literacy and Middle-School English Reading Achievement of Spanish-Speaking Students

Among students entering kindergarten speaking Spanish, those with greater emergent Spanish literacy development and oral English proficiency were better able to maintain grade level performance in Spanish reading, transition more quickly to English reading, and attain a higher level of English reading proficiency in middle school. Non-English speaking student success in learning to read in English does not rest exclusively on primary language input and development, nor is it solely the result of rapid acquisition of English. Both apparently contribute to students' subsequent English reading achievement. Family factors predicting both early Spanish literacy and later English reading were parents' socioeconomic status and family literacy practices, as well as grandparents' educational level. Results suggest that early literacy experiences support subsequent literacy development, regardless of language; and time spent on literacy activity in the native language—whether it takes place at home or at school—is not time lost with respect to English reading acquisition, at least through middle school. The results also indicate the value of encouraging families to provide home literacy activities (in whatever languages they control) as well as formal preschool experiences.

Mothers’ Implicit Theories of Early Literacy Instruction: Implications for Children's Reading and Writing

Subjects in this exploratory study were 19 five‐ to six‐year‐old children and their mothers. Mothers completed surveys of family literacy practices and beliefs about early reading Instruction and children's emergent literacy skills were assessed. Results showed that one group of mothers held implicit theories that resembled whole language models of literacy Instruction. A second group of mothers held views that resembled a phonics orientation, while a smaller group of mothers had more varied and idiosyncratic beliefs. Mothers’ implicit theories were associated with their modeling of literacy behaviors, helping their children write, and with their children's independent exploration of writing and current levels of literacy skill. Results point to the importance of parents’ implicit developmental theories and the heed to understand how parental belief systems affect the roles that families play in literacy acquisition.

Researching Change and Changing the Researcher

In this article, Concha Delgado-Gaitan describes her experience as a researcher in Carpinteria, a predominantly Mexican-American community in California. After collecting data about family literacy practices through ethnographic observations and interviews, she began meeting regularly with parents to share her findings and solicit their input. These meetings became a turning point for Delgado-Gaitan, redirecting the focus of her research from literacy activities to the process of community empowerment as she learned from these parents about their own understanding of literacy and about their concerns regarding communication with schools. Through these meetings, the parents organized as a group, in order to demand that the school respond to their needs.The situation challenged Delgado-Gaitan to redefine her role as a researcher. After much internal debate and reflection, she decided to become involved in the empowerment of parents as an informant and facilitator. This article is the story of how this research project supported the process of community empowerment in Carpinteria, and how that process challenged the researcher to examine her own identity, to refocus her research, and to change.