Putting Families First: Digital Strategies for Early Literacy, Part One

As of June 2016, Apple’s App Store offered consumers 2 million app options for download -- over 80,000 of them are categorized as “educational.” But do we know if any of these resources are making a difference in children’s lives? Are early literacy and family engagement programs finding them to be useful? Do all families have equal access to  quality content and mentors to help them become more selective? What are community leaders doing to help?  

On August 2nd and 3rd, leaders from cities, states, and organizations across the country gathered for a two-day summer institute, hosted by New America and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, on language development and family engagement in the Digital Age to answer these questions.

The convening also included the release of a new brief, Integrating Technology in Early Literacy: A Snapshot of Community Innovation in Family Engagement, analyzing the impact of early learning and family engagement programs around the country. Inspired by the policy recommendations set forth in the brief, participants pooled their expertise and brainstormed possible solutions to the obstacles many programs face in using new tools and in reaching the families who would benefit most from their resources, but are often left out of the fold.

Day One focused primarily on establishing a knowledge base for leaders regarding existing research, policy and program efforts. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek offered leaders “edible science” -- an actionable summary of the latest research findings on how technology influences early language development and what kinds of interventions resonate most with families.

She called on participants to join her in “languagizing” the major spaces in young children’s lives, including the home, classroom, and community. According to Hirsh-Pasek, “languagizing” involves creating language-rich environments where high quality, conversational interactions unfold between young children and adults, ultimately boosting language development. She outlined the “languagizing” process in terms of six research-informed principles, such as understanding that children learn what they hear most and that children learn best in interactive and responsive environments. She proceeded to highlight how new technologies create “digital takes” on these principles.

For example, research on the quantity of language that babies are exposed to has lead to well-known taglines, like the 30-million word gap, which describes a language-development phenomenon uncovered by researchers Betty Hart and Todd Risley. Initially, interventions inspired by this research encouraged parents to talk more to their children. Eventually, the rise of electronic wearables catalyzed the “quantified baby movement”, and the development of digital word counters to help parents track their conversations. Hirsh-Pasek acknowledged the usefulness of these trackers as tools, but cautioned against simply counting words. She advocated for an approach that considers both the quantity and quality of conversations.

Throughout her explanations of similar “digital takes” on the six principles, Hirsh-Pasek made sure to remind leaders that while technology can be an effective tool, it is not the silver-bullet solution. She highlighted the potential of technology to provide activities that encourage meaningful dialogue between adults and children, which she labeled “prompts.” Additionally, technology can help create more spaces for rich conversation that she calls “partners.” However, technology remained the enabler in her comments, not the focus. In the end, she emphasized that the most impressive boosts in language development occur in the context of high-quality human interaction.

Much of Hirsh-Pasek’s advice resonated with the city, state, and program leaders present, as they have witnessed the research findings first-hand with the families they serve. Following the keynote, several of these leaders shared reactions to the presentation and offered insights from their efforts. While they represented a diverse set of perspectives from across the country, several common themes cut across their experiences. Mainly, obstacles faced in serving hard-to-reach families*, empowering parents as experts on their own children, and how to consider programming for multilingual and multiethnic families. In a panel that followed, policy experts used these concerns to frame a vision and share ideas on how to leverage new legislation.

According to moderator Delia Pompa of the Migration Policy Institute and panelists Melissa Dahlin (Education Development Center) and Reyna Hernandez (Illinois State Board of Education), policy could more effectively support tech integration and family engagement if it’s leveraged for a broader vision. Mirroring their recommendation, Pompa, Dahlin and Hernandez opened the panel by putting forth a broad vision of equity that includes components of literacy and language development.

Panelist Danielle Ewen of  EducationCounsel expanded upon this vision and proposed early childhood education, family engagement, and the use of technology as strategies for achieving equity. She then delved into the specific areas of the recently passed Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) that can be leveraged in implementing these strategies. Ewen distilled the many pages of legislation into four main opportunities:

• Components of Title II of ESSA that require teachers and school leaders to be trained in  child development and developmentally appropriate practices;  

• The allowable use of funds and support for targeted populations;

• How ESSA can enable and strengthen existing programs like Preschool Development Grants, the LEARN act, and Promise Neighborhoods; and

• A focus on system building that encompasses “birth through age eight” efforts and early childhood education.

Ultimately, panelists echoed Hirsh-Pasek’s points on technology as a tool (not a silver-bullet solution) and urged leaders to always put families first if they want to design and implement successful solutions for early literacy that meet their communities’ needs.

*In this piece, “hard-to-reach families” are defined as families in linguistic minorities, families in rural areas, and parents with less education than average.