Empowering Young Children's Literacy Development Through Writing

Abstract

In this chapter, an evaluation study of an early writing approach called Kid Writing (KW) is described. KW bridges the gap between reading and writing and is fundamentally informed by research that shows that children's extensive practice with early writing through journaling improves their reading outcomes. Also, a key aspect to the KW approach is the view that parents are partners in their child's literacy development, and thus, KW engages parents through workshops tailored for multilingual, multicultural families. This evaluation study took place during Year 2 of a four-year implementation of KW across four elementary schools in one urban school district. Quantitative results show that KW supported the improvement of kindergarten and first grade students' reading and writing development. Qualitative findings, identified by teachers, coaches, administrators, and parents, demonstrate both the benefits and challenges of implementing such an approach. Recommendations and implications from the evaluation study are discussed.