The Effectiveness of an Enhanced Book-Gifting Intervention for Improving Reading Outcomes for Children in Care

加强赠书干预措施对改善看护儿童阅读成果的有效性

• 批准号: ES/P008240/1
• 负责人: Paul Connolly
• 金额: $ 95.72万
• 依托单位: Queen's University Belfast
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2018 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FP008240%2F1
• 关键词: Effectiveness; Enhanced; Book; Gifting; Intervention

Educational outcomes for children in care are poor and there remains a consistent attainment gap between them and the wider child population. This gap is now well-recognised internationally and a number of initiatives have emerged to tackle this issue. However, the evidence base regarding which interventions are effective in addressing the educational outcomes of children in care remains very limited. This proposed study seeks to make a significant contribution to this evidence base and the development of educational interventions that are effective. Book gifting programmes are widely used to improve the literacy levels of children in care. The most popular schemes in the UK typically comprise six personalised packs of books and other materials posted to the children once a month for six months. It is thought that children will develop a love of books that will enhance reading activities and ultimately improve reading skills. Qualitative evaluations of such schemes demonstrate that they tend to be well-received by children and carers. They are relatively cheap and well placed to achieve significant impact. However, the one evaluation of such a book-gifting intervention, by members of the current research team, using a randomised controlled trial design, found that it had no effect on children's reading skills or attitudes towards reading. This present study will build significantly upon the findings of this initial small-scale trial. The study will seek to develop an alternative book gifting programme - Reading Together - that will focus on 7-9-year-old children in foster care. Alongside sending them book parcels, the programme will incorporate an explicit role for foster carers in supporting children's engagement by encouraging paired reading activities between the foster carer and child. More structured one-to-one tuition has been found to be effective in accelerating children's learning by approximately five additional months' progress. If foster carers are given explicit guidance in relation to activities to follow with their foster children, then it is suggested that this type of paired reading may also be effective, especially if delivered in combination with the book-gifting programme.The intervention will be offered in two formats - one involving a guidance manual for foster carers on how to support their children's reading, and the other that supplements this with direct training for the foster carers in paired reading. The effectiveness of both formats will be assessed using a randomised controlled trial involving over 500 foster children recruited from between 15-20 local authorities in England. The children will be randomly selected to either: receive Reading Together with the carers' manual; receive Reading Together with the manual and also the training of carers; or to continue as normal and not to receive the Reading Together programme at all at this stage. For those in the third group - the control group - they will receive the intervention as soon as the trial is completed. Through the trial, there will be pre- and post-tests of the children's reading skills and attitudes. Alongside this, a detailed qualitative process evaluation will also be conducted. This will play an important role in helping to make sense of the findings from the trial.Two Advisory Groups - one consisting of expert advisers, service providers and foster carers, and the other of children in care - will assist the research team on all aspects of the study. Overall, the study aims to: develop an effective intervention for improving reading skills; reduce the attainment gap for children in care; and contribute to our understanding of how foster carers can contribute to their educational attainment.

受照料儿童的教育成果很差，他们与更广泛的儿童人口之间仍然存在持续的成绩差距。这一差距现在已得到国际社会的广泛认可，并已出现了一些解决这一问题的举措。然而，关于哪些干预措施能有效地解决受照料儿童的教育成果问题的证据基础仍然非常有限。这项拟议的研究旨在为这一证据基础和有效的教育干预措施的发展做出重大贡献。赠书方案被广泛用于提高受照料儿童的识字水平。英国最受欢迎的计划通常包括六个个性化的书籍和其他材料包，每月一次，为期六个月。人们认为孩子们会培养对书籍的热爱，这将增强阅读活动并最终提高阅读技能。对这些计划的定性评价表明，这些计划往往受到儿童和照料者的欢迎。它们相对便宜，而且处于有利地位，能够产生重大影响。然而，目前研究小组的成员使用随机对照试验设计对这种书籍赠送干预进行了一次评估，发现它对儿童的阅读技能或对阅读的态度没有影响。本研究将在此初步小规模试验结果的基础上进行。这项研究将寻求制定一个替代的书籍赠送方案----阅读在一起----该方案将侧重于寄养的7-9岁儿童。除了给他们寄书包外，该方案还将通过鼓励寄养照料者和儿童之间的配对阅读活动，明确寄养照料者在支持儿童参与方面的作用。更有条理的一对一教学被认为是有效的，可以加快儿童的学习，大约增加五个月的进度。如果寄养照顾者在与寄养儿童一起进行的活动方面得到明确的指导，那么建议这种类型的配对阅读也可能是有效的，特别是如果与书籍赠送计划结合使用。干预将以两种形式提供-一种是为寄养照顾者提供指导手册，指导他们如何支持孩子的阅读，另一个是补充这一点，直接培训寄养照顾者在配对阅读。这两种形式的有效性将使用随机对照试验进行评估，该试验涉及从英格兰15-20个地方当局招募的500多名寄养儿童。这些儿童将被随机选择：接受阅读和护理手册;接受阅读和护理手册以及护理培训;或者继续正常生活，在此阶段根本不接受阅读方案。对于第三组-对照组-他们将在试验完成后立即接受干预。通过试验，将有前和后测试的儿童的阅读技能和态度。此外，还将进行详细的定性过程评估。两个咨询小组将协助研究小组进行研究的各个方面，其中一个小组由专家顾问、服务提供者和寄养照顾者组成，另一个小组则由受照顾儿童组成。总的来说，这项研究的目的是：制定一个有效的干预措施，以提高阅读技能;减少在照顾儿童的成绩差距;并有助于我们了解如何寄养照顾者可以有助于他们的教育成就。

项目成果

The Routledge Handbook of Social Work Theory

劳特利奇社会工作理论手册

• DOI: 10.4324/9781315211053-13
• 发表时间: 2019
• 作者: Winter K

Reading Together

一起读书

• 发表时间: 2019
• 作者: Connolly P

The Effectiveness of an Enhanced Book-Gifting Intervention for Improving Reading Outcomes for Children in Care: Final Report

加强赠书干预措施对改善照护儿童阅读成果的有效性：最终报告

• 发表时间: 2021
• 作者: Connolly P

Using the Talking Album to elicit the views of young children in foster care regarding a reading intervention

使用谈话专辑来征求寄养幼儿对阅读干预的看法

• 作者: Winter K

Social Innovation and Social Work: A Case Study of the Early Intervention Support Service

社会创新与社会工作：早期干预支持服务案例研究

• DOI: 10.1093/bjsw/bcaa125
• 发表时间: 2021
• 期刊: The British Journal of Social Work
• 作者: Winter K