There's no secret to the fact that black children, in many instances, under-perform their counterparts on state reading assessments.
"In a study by Edwards (1992), she asserts that one of the main issues preventing the literacy development of African American children is the lack of book knowledge children possess when they enter school. Also, she believes that African American parents tend to expose their children to nontraditional literacy materials (i.e., letters, brochures, etc.). Therefore, Edwards suggests that educators need to work with parents to build early literacy partnerships to aid in the literacy development and achievement of African American children." (Flowers, 2016).
As an early childhood educator and now a professor of college student teaching K-12 students, I see the same obstacles as kids travel through their journey of literacy liberation; especially during the summer when they are no longer required to attend school.
More recently, I've encountered a personal experience with my niece. She is a student in a two-parent college-educated household and she struggles with her reading comprehension in her third year of elementary school. In supporting my sister and my niece, I realized that the responsibility to assist a child is usually held with the teacher, however, the parent will be with their child forever; no matter the school, teacher, or state of life.
YES to the Book believes that the problem of literacy debt still exists because of the neglect of supporting families and the lack of practical strategies. We believe this program will allow families across economic demographics to have tactical strategies to assist the children in their lives.
Flowers, Tiffany A. (2016) "African American Early Literacy Development: An Integrative Review of the Research," Journal of Research Initiatives: Vol. 2 : No. 2 , Article 6.
Comments