Early Literacy Research Library (ELRL) - Article

Exposure to Reach Out and Read and Vocabulary Outcomes in Inner City Preschoolers

Sharif, I., Reiber, S., Ozuah, P.O. (2002) Exposure to Reach Out and Read and Vocabulary Outcomes in Inner City Preschoolers. Journal of the National Medical Association, 94(3), 171-177.,

Access: FREE/Open Access

Publication year

2001

study description

Cross-sectional survey.

core topic(s)

Reach Out and Read (ROR)

Population Characteristics

Toddler/Preschool , Urban

Exposures, Outcomes, Other

Child Behaviors and Skills , Home Language/Literacy/Learning Environment , Language and Literacy Development , Parent Behaviors and Skills , School Readiness and Educational Outcomes


objectives

The aim of this study was to examine the association between exposure to ROR and vocabulary in children. A secondary aim was to measure the effect of ROR on standardized measures of home reading activities.

exposure

Reach Out and Read (ROR).

outcomes evaluated

Child vocabulary development and book sharing activities.

setting

Two federally funded inner-city health centers in the Mont Haven section of South Bronx, NY, the poorest congressional district in the United States.

methods

To examine the association between exposure to Reach Out and Read and vocabulary outcomes in children, a consecutive sample of 200 parent/child pairs was studied at two inner-city health centers. Children at clinic A were exposed to Reach Out and Read, a clinic-based literacy intervention, for 3 years at the time of the study; children at clinic B were unexposed. Main outcome measures were the "Expressive and Receptive One Word Picture Vocabulary Tests" to measure vocabulary in the children and the "Home Literacy Orientation" scale and "READ" subscale of the STIMQ, to measure book-sharing activities. A total of 200 subjects participated, and the mean age of children was 3.8 years. Demographic characteristics were comparable for both clinics at baseline.

sample size

n=200 (parent-child dyads)

measures

Measure of Child Vocabulary Development: Expressive and Receptive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Tests.

 

Measure of Book Sharing Activities: the Home Literacy Orientation (HOME) scale and the READ subscale of the StimQ.


results

Exposed children scored higher on receptive vocabulary (81.5 vs. 74.3; p = 0.005). They also scored higher on both the Home Literacy Orientation scale (4.3 vs. 3.3; p = 0.002) and the STIMQ-READ (12.6 vs. 1.0; p = 0.056). There were no differences in expressive vocabulary scores between the two sites (79.5 vs. 77.5; p = 0.26).

conclusions

In conclusion, we found a positive association between exposure to Reach Out and Read and better receptive vocabulary scores. We also found higher scores for Reach Out and Read exposed children on measures of home reading activities.

limitations

The cross-sectional design limits our ability to attribute a causative relationship between ROR exposure and the measured outcomes. It is possible that our findings represent baseline differences between the two groups...We relied on parental report for our measures of home reading activities. It is possible that our findings are related to recall bias. For example, parents of ROR-exposed children may have known to give desirable responses about reading to their children...About 3 months before we began to enroll study subjects, clinic B instituted a ROR program. Since the ROR program provides counseling and books only at health maintenance visits, we estimated that based on the mean age of children enrolled in the study (3.8 years), children at clinic B would only have had 0 to 1 ROR contacts. However, had these children received a book through ROR, this should have served to narrow the gap in scores between the two sites. Therefore, the differences we found in receptive vocabulary, Home Literacy Orientation, and STIMQREAD scores between the two groups are even more substantial.

ROR