The effects of community-based literacy training on head start parents

Abstract

Project PRIMER (PRoducing Infant/Mother Ethnic Readers) used trained university students to tutor mothers and 1- to 3-year-old children in the home, teaching them concepts and preparing the children to read. One hundred forty-three families were randomly assigned to high- (18 visits), low- (3 visits), or no-intervention groups. Mothers' behaviors were assessed pre- and postintervention. After the intervention, mothers in the high- and low-intervention groups were more likely to increase several behaviors thought to increase reading readiness and concept learning in children. Other positive behaviors increased from pre- to postassessment in all groups, suggesting either that any involvement in a literacy project is helpful, or that mothers were responding to developmental changes in their children.