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Reading right from the start! Building capacity to disseminate evidence-based tools for parents to actively participate in their children’s learning

Mon, April 15, 3:15 to 4:45pm, Hyatt Regency, Floor: Pacific Concourse (Level -1), Pacific N

Proposal

Learning to read and write starts at home, long before children go to school and active engagement of parents in learning is critical. Research suggests that by building the capacity of parents, instead of focusing exclusively on children's school readiness and academic success, greater impact is achieved in the child's early development (Grindal et al., 2016). Parents and caretakers can make significant contribution to their children’s learning by providing a stimulating environment around language, reading and writing as well as supporting at home particularly in the early years. However, many do not have access to information and resources on how to best support their children’s learning.
In order to scale up effective parenting education, interventions need to evidence-based, culturally responsive including strategies for supporting parents with special needs, and fathers (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2016). In Jamaica, the USAID funded LAC Reads Capacity (LRCP) Program - implemented by the American Institutes for Research and Juarez & Associates - has contributed to provide this support. The program focuses on the use of evidence to increase the impact, scale, and sustainability of early grade reading interventions in the LAC region by developing and disseminating of state-of-the-art knowledge resources and the provision of technical assistance to host country governments and other key stakeholders to enhance efforts to boost and sustain early grade literacy outcomes.
A recent qualitative study carried out in Jamaica by the USAID/LAC Reads Capacity Program (LRCP) (USAID LAC Reads Capacity Program,2016) to investigate early literacy resources and approaches available in the country among stakeholders, which included focus groups with parents, showed that parents need more resources and more support in helping them develop their children’s literacy skills. To address this gap, EduConnectJA, the implementing LRCP partner, developed a strategy and products to be disseminated as widely as possible. With strong support from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, the private sector and local organizations, the EduConnectJA team produced and disseminated tips to share with parents on what they can do in the home and community to help their children develop literacy skills. These evidence-based tips were captured in a video, jingle, images and interviews and disseminated via a nationwide media campaign which utilized television, radio, newspaper and social media. The EduConnectJA team engaged in strategic networking with established parent groups and key EGL stakeholders, including the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Early Childhood Commission, National Parenting Support Commission, National Parent Teacher Association of Jamaica, to get the tips out to PTAs, medical clinics, faith-based groups and community centers. Parents were interviewed and reported that they have used the tips and that their children’s skills, such as reading fluency, have improved. In response to these efforts the EduConnectJA team have received requests for more of the brochures from different groups, including schools.
The presentation will highlight the process to build the supporting network to create and disseminate these products to parents and families as well as feedback from stakeholders and parents regarding the positive effects these may have had on their capacity to foster emergent literacy skills in the early years.

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