Recognizing the academic benefits of access to print for young children, book distribution programs abound in the United States. Designed to promote book ownership for low-income families, programs have unique delivery systems, leading to a largely fragmented policy. This article describes an urban city's effort to build a coordinated book…

The purpose of this study was to examine how oral vocabulary instruction was enacted in kindergarten. Four days (12 hours) of instruction were observed in 55 classrooms in a range of socio-economic status schools. All instruction was coded for evidence of vocabulary instruction for a total of 660 hours of observation. Results revealed that…

Like a bright beacon on the hill, the Lillian Marrero public library rises majestically above the deserted buildings and bulldozed voids below on Germantown Avenue. Here in the heart of what is known as the Philadelphia Badlands, makeshift garbage dumps line the sidewalks. The tall grass that surrounds abandoned lots does nothing to obscure the…

Libraries await their uncertain fate as they transform literacy development and the vital service they provide to the needy children in the nation. If we let the libraries die, then the hopes of young generation will slip away as they will be left without access to necessary support.

Research in the neurobiological, behavioral, and social sciences has dramatically increased our capacity to provide effective intervention for economically disadvantaged children. According to Neuman, however, U.S. policymakers have made little use of this body of research to improve the prospects of children at risk. This article discusses seven…

Recognizing that achievement gaps start early, policymakers at the state and federal level have focused attention on reading readiness for low-income and minority preschool children. Neuman argues that the focus of many preschool programs--building such basic literacy skills as letter recognition and decoding--misses the mark. What economically…

Effects of adult mediation and literacy-enriched play settings in Head Start classrooms on environmental and functional print tasks were studied for 177 minority preschoolers in poverty. Results indicate that the active engagement of adult mediators in literacy-enriched office play settings influenced children's ability to read environmental…

These two documents discuss two related family literacy projects that were conducted to develop a model for providing sustained literacy and developmental activities to economically disadvantaged families throughout Pennsylvania. The first document details the development/implementation of the Families Reading Together program, which built upon…