R E S E A R C H B R I E F

EVALUATION: COLORADO HUMANITIES 

MOTHEREAD/FATHEREAD STUDY 

COMMUNITY CHALLENGE

In 2012, more than one-quarter of Colorado’s third graders failed to

meet proficiency standards on the state’s reading test. The State of 

Colorado recognized these gaps and the importance of quality early 

childhood programming to provide children with the critical language 

and literacy skills they need for success in school.

PROMISING SOLUTION

Motheread/Fatheread Colorado (MFC) is a community-based program 

for parents that enhances shared reading skills and the home literacy 

environment. The program addresses reading proficiency gaps by 

building parents' skills and motivation for frequent, active reading at 

home to prepare children for success in school.

EVALUATION DESIGN

Colorado Humanities, in partnership with OMNI Institute, conducted a 

randomized controlled trial impact study of the MFC program to test 

At-a-Glance

CNCS Program: Social Innovation Fund

Intervention: Motheread/Fatheread 

Colorado Program

Subgrantee: Colorado Humanities

Intermediary: Mile High United Way

Focus Area: Youth Development

Community Studied: Morgan County, 

CO

Study Design: Randomized controlled 

trial impact study

Evaluator: OMNI Institute

Level of Evidence Achieved: Moderate

Corporation for National & Community Service 

Office of Research & Evaluation 

March 2018 
EVALUATION OF THE COLORADO HUMANITIES MOTHEREAD/FATHEREAD STUDY  2

the impact of parental program participation on child literacy outcomes.

The assessments came from parent surveys and preschool teachers’

ratings of children’s literacy and language skills. Between spring 2014 

and spring 2016, 148 parents in five schools in Morgan County, CO, 

took part in the study. The impact study addresses a set of confirmatory 

questions about the efficacy of the MFC program on children’s literacy 

and language outcomes and mediation of those outcomes via parents’ 

outcomes. In tandem with the MFC impact study, an implementation 

study was also conducted to assess MFC program fidelity.

EVALUATION RESULTS 

Overall, evaluation results demonstrated positive links between 

program participation and improvements in adult and child literacy 

outcomes and have provided “moderate” evidence of program impact 

on literacy outcomes:

• Parents in the study had more active reading behaviors and read 

aloud with their children more often after participating in MFC.

• Parents’ participation also had an impact on their children’s 

literacy skills, as measured by parent assessment.

• The program appears to have a delayed but meaningful effect on

the Teaching Strategies GOLD language score, a comprehensive 

observational measure designed to assess child development 

and learning from birth to Kindergarten.

“MFC is based on the theory that 

sharing stories in a manner that 

encourages child engagement is 

an effective and powerful 

instructional practice that 

improves children’s literacy 

development.”

USING FINDINGS FOR IMPROVEMENT 

Colorado Humanities plans to continue to scale up implementation of 

the MFC program at the school district and community levels across the 

state. As part of their scaling efforts, Colorado Humanities also plans to 

build in more support for MFC program infrastructure, including 

fundraising for trainings, providing direct support for implementation 

costs, MFC Coach trainings, and evaluation. Additionally, Colorado 

Humanities plans to develop strategies to continue to collect impact 

data from partners implementing the MFC program.

Full report and methodology: 

nationalservice.gov/research

The mission of the Corporation for 

National and Community Service 

(CNCS) is to improve lives, 

strengthen communities, and foster 

civic engagement through service 

and volunteering.