Community Partnerships as an Avenue to Enrich Caregiver Practices and Promote Children’s Kindergarten Readiness: An Evaluation of the Families, Libraries, and Early Literacy Program

Abstract

Opportunities to cultivate children’s learning and development are not equitablydistributed. Early childhood education programs offer a unique opportunity to mitigatedisparities directly by supporting children’s skill acquisition and indirectly by supportingfamilies to prepare their children for kindergarten readiness. One such program is the Families,Libraries, and Early Literacy Program. This program was designed to teach caregiversevidence-based practices and provide relevant resources to help promote young children’sacademic skills at home and, in turn, improve children’s kindergarten readiness. This studyutilized archival records (e.g., attendance records, family reports) to evaluate the impact of theFamilies, Libraries, and Early Literacy Program. Caregivers generally reported favorableimpressions of the program, including regular usage of the program-provided books and activitymaterials at home, increased frequency of reading with their children, and enhancedunderstanding of kindergarten readiness. Next steps and implications for programming arediscussed.