Page 51 - iRead EL in Research Paper

RECOMMENDATION
Develop positive, e ective, and productive family-teacher partnerships.
iRead’s Approach
The iRead Professional Guide’s Family Engagement section begins with tips for engaging families as partners in each child’s learning, authored by Phyllis Hunter, a leading family engagement specialist and nationally recognized literacy consultant. Teachers receive support for building an iRead community by providing program information, communicating student progress, and celebrating student success. The Family Engagement section of the Professional Guide also provides teachers with strategies for communicating ways that families can support learning at home.
At-Home Reading Activities
Reading success depends on practice. Even with all the hours in the school day, additional time is needed to build uent comprehension skills, thus the importance of at-home reading.
Research Evidence and Expert Opinion
A consensus of the early literacy research supports the value of programs that provide at-home support to beginning readers and their families, nding “statistically signi cant and moderate to large e ects on children’s oral language skills and general cognitive abilities” (NELP, 2008, p. ix).
Marilyn Adams (1990) stresses the value of family reading. She notes, “[T]he most important activity for building the knowledge and skills eventually required for reading is . . . reading aloud to children,” thereby “engaging them regularly and interactively in the enjoyment and exploration of print” (pp. 86, 411). According to the most recent Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report on children and family reading experience, 65% of parents read aloud to their children ages 6–8 at least once a week, but the remainder do not (Harrison Group, 2013). Expert opinion strongly recommends that teachers encourage out- of-school reading through at-home reading assignments, supplementary reading lists, and parent education (Adams, 1990; Epstein, 2010; NRC, 1998).
RECOMMENDATION
Family members can support the reading skills of young children by reading aloud to their children. Teachers should provide support to parents for at-home reading activities.
iRead’s Approach
As mentioned above, iRead ’s Professional Guide o ers constructive advice on supporting literacy learning at home from family
engagement expert Phyllis Hunter.
In addition, printable readers and supplemental book lists provide reading materials and suggestions for families to use at home. These resources may be of particular value to low-income students whose homes may be lacking in rich print resources.
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