Assessment is one of
the cornerstones of Book Trust. We prepare in-house evaluations and collaborate with researchers, universities, and other independent non-profits to continually measure how we're doing as an organization, and contribute to the field of literacy. We've published research in partnership with Stephen Krashen, board member and internationally recognized reading and second language acquisition research expert. and consider ourselves uniquely placed to contribute to knowledge in various fields of education.
Through parent, child, and teacher surveys; our online ordering records and growing demographics database, anecdotes from the field and standardized score tracking, we measure our effectiveness and learn more about how best to implement Book Trust to impact children, their participating schools, and their
families.
Below we’ve presented results
from previous assessments. New evaluations
and data will be available regularly - as mentioned on our home page, as of this date (1/24/08) we are undergoing major revamping of promotional materials, and updating our website and literature! We've got some amazing evaluation results we're looking forward to sharing when everything goes live.
Quantitative
Results
in graphs analyzed from 90 low-income 5th and
6th graders at Irish Elementary School in Fort
Collins, CO. This ensures comparable demographics
and measures long-term effects of the program.
Assessment, 2004-2005
Also, a combined 92% of participating students
like reading, vs. 66% of the control group.
Observed
Behavioral Results
Reported
by teachers, parents, and students from 2001-2008
Children are asking for
more time to read in the classroom, and
are reading of their own accord in free
moments during the school day.
Children are challenging
themselves by spending more time reading,
reading more difficult books, and participating
more in accelerated reading activities.
Children are also increasing
their skill in literacy development as evidenced
in spelling, vocabulary, and writing.
Siblings are benefiting
hugely by the additional books in the household,
reading behavior modeled by Book Trust participants,
and time spent reading together and with
parents.
Children are showing more interest and facility in budgeting, thanks to learning to manage their monthly $7
Children are learning to make connections easier between characters in different books, and drawing parallels to their own lives - drawing meaning from books that enlarges their perspective and their ability to reflect and interact with their world.
Children are disproving the "4th grade slump" by falling in love with the books that make them happy to read - literature and non-fiction alike.
Beating
the Participation Curve
Teachers and every age of student - especially in very high need schools - continue to impress us with their incredibly monthly high participation.
In every participating school, in very different
locales and from the first month of participation,
we reach and retain the interest of nearly
every eligible child.
With very few exceptions,
participating children choose to order every
possible month.
The average order amount
is $6.85 of the available $7. Children quickly
become experts at maximizing their spending
power!
Ordering frequency and
amount spent stays steady throughout the
grades – we don’t lose children’s
interest as they grow older.
Children are truly reading
the books they purchase – informal
feedback from parents and teachers' reading logs tell us so, and schools send dozens of unsolicited
letters of children’s thanks, descriptions
of books they’ve enjoyed, and comments
about the authors and subjects they like
to collect.
Letters and book ordering
habits also show the program is reaching
siblings, who borrow books, read with their
brothers, sisters, and parents, and sometimes
receive a book themselves via their sibling’s
monthly book allowance. Through sibling
usage, we estimate we double our reach - and teachers have started telling us that younger siblings come to school more familiar with books and eager to read.
"The more
that you read, the more things you will
know. The more that you learn, the more
places you'll go." -Dr. Seuss
