Research

In our digitally saturated world, children encounter screens at an unprecedented rate, engaging with videos, ads, and games during unsupervised "screen time." Meanwhile, a different digital realm exists: that of "digital books," where parents actively participate in reading text and image-based materials with their children. How do these two realms ...

The state of Texas grapples with significant challenges in literacy and education, particularly among low-income, black, brown, and rural children. With nearly 6 million students enrolled in Texas public schools, it is crucial to delve into specific statistics that illustrate the pressing issues related to literacy rates, educational resources, and ...

In March 2023, Scholastic released a groundbreaking white paper titled "Home Libraries," which highlights the transformative potential of home libraries in closing the achievement gap. This blog post explores the key findings of Scholastic's publication and emphasizes the role of book gifting programs, such as those offered by BookSpring, in ...

By: Jeannine Herron, et al. In this overview, learn how early literacy benefits from both print-to-speech and speech-to-print instruction, creating connections in the brain that link new knowledge about the alphabet to what children already know and are continuously learning about words. Introduction Recently there have been many discussions among ...

Parents and educators alike need timely information about how reading today may be different than it was in the past. In 2022, the pandemic, economic stress, and extreme weather events have all put stress on families with children and how they fit reading practices into their daily lives.  To address ...

By Jayme Carrico Studies have found a child’s access to books plays a significant role in early childhood literacy. One recent study found that providing access to books, book giveaway programs encourage reading time between parents and children, increase a child’s overall interest in reading, and advances a child’s early ...

BookSpring’s 2019 Central Texas Reading Survey offers insight into the state of reading in Central Texas and early literacy efforts in our community. This survey provides valuable information about the reading habits of families in Central Texas, while raising many interesting questions about the state of reading in the region, ...

It is no mystery that summer break can result in an exponential loss of academic skills or the “summer slide.” Research conducted by John Hopkins’ sociology Professor Karl Alexander shows that low-income youth suffer significantly from a loss of academic skills over the summertime. The losses pile up contributing to ...

by Emily Ball Cicchini, Executive Director Reading isn't simple. I am noticing more discussion lately in education circles about reading and complexity. By complexity, we mean both the quality of the text that is being read, and what is going on inside the minds and hearts of the people who ...

BookSpring’s Central Texas Reading Survey offers intriguing insights into the state of reading in Central Texas, and the implications for early literacy efforts in our community. We launched the assessment to provide you with real-time statistics that measure reading habits among parents and caregivers with children under the age of 12. Low Book ...

by Christy Anderson The Number of Books at Home Impact a Child’s Educational Success It has long been asserted that parents’ education is the primary factor in predicting the future education level of a child. But in a long-term, worldwide study published in the journal Research in Social Stratification and ...

By Emily Ball Cicchini, Executive Director The tradition of book gifting has been studied scientifically by researchers in education and healthcare for many years.  Practices include bookmobiles, little free libraries, and other early literacy interventions and social programs at the regional, national, and global levels. We at BookSpring look to ...

By Joel Gross  Photos by Tyler Schmitt / The Mill Photography BookSpring is excited to announce the launch of Summer Success, a new full-scale program designed to address the widespread drop in reading skills that occurs in economically disadvantaged elementary students over the summer. Research has shown that over 80 percent ...

Over Half of Austin Children Reading on Mobile Devices A wide body of research consistently shows that reading is one of the most important indicators of personal and professional success, and yet, historically we have known very little about why children and families choose to read. Now, a new reading ...

BookSpring has just completed preliminary evaluation of the pilot Read For Success program in Central Texas and the results are very encouraging. The program is designed to reduce the summer slide, a phenomenon where children’s academic skills, including reading, decline during the academic year break. According to Reading Is Fundamental ...

by Mateo Ibranji 54% of parents do not read aloud A new survey shows how far we have to go to encourage parents to read aloud to their children. Conducted by Read Aloud 15 Minutes, a national campaign to increase reading aloud at home, the report shows that fewer than half (46%) ...

by Christy Anderson It makes sense: the more a child reads, the better a child gets at reading. But studies show that being read to is just as critical to a child’s growing literacy and language development, even in very young children, including infants and toddlers. Even Children Who Can’t ...