Session Description

In its first year, the Nebraska Growing Readers (NGR) program distributed 886,063 books to 37,872 children ages three to five across the state. In partnership with Nebraska Department of Education and Unite for Literacy, this statewide community-based family literacy program increased book access through 1000 childcare providers, 65 Sixpence home visitors, 3000 kindergarten students, and 7 community bookstands. Community work through writers’ workshops creating local books and developing community book gardens also deepened the work.

An evaluation of the program, conducted by our external evaluation partners at Monroe-Meyer Institute, showed that NGR book distribution was associated with measurable improvements in book access, reading behaviors, and selected language and literacy skills. Specifically, among families participating in home visitation, children with a larger number of books at home showed a significantly higher likelihood of meeting benchmarks for early language and literacy skills.

In its second year, evaluators are collaborating with program staff to further explore the effectiveness of strategies and practices used by home visitors and childcare providers to help families establish and strengthen their reading habits at home.

This session will share the findings from the 2024 NGR evaluation and highlight lessons learned in supporting early reading habits. Additionally, presenters will share ways in which NGR built on the successes of the pilot including the strategies utilized by home visitors and childcare providers to support community-based literacy.

Learning objectives