BookSpring draws from a wide body of research to keep our programs aligned with best practices, leading theories, and new discoveries in reading, education, psychology, sociology, and neuroscience. We aim to align all our programs and evaluations with this basic model, our Theory of Change:

We use measurement scales developed by social science and education researchers to create self-reported surveys for children and caregivers to measure the degree of impact of our desired outcomes. We also leverage skill and achievement scores for evaluation when they are available, but self-reported surveys are appropriate for measuring motivation, interest or love of reading, and empathy and can be applied in a wider variety of settings.

We use exit-only standardized measures to ensure consistent program quality. BookSpring participants should average a score of 80% or higher across on the scale of motivation to read books (adapted from Katranci, 2015). In addition, 75% of participating parents should report reading together with their children once a day.  We also use a Net Promoter measure for program partners, “would you recommend this program to a friend,” and aim for scores of 80% or more.

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