Evaluating the Impact of Story Starters on Children's Language Development
Condition: Language Development
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The aim of this project is to evaluate whether Beanstalk's 'Story Starters' intervention is
      effective in boosting vocabulary and grammatical development in young children.
    

Detailed description: 
      Children who read regularly with their parents or carers tend to learn language faster, enter
      school with a larger vocabulary of words and become more successful readers in school.
      Because of this, local authorities often commission services to promote family-based shared
      book reading. However, recent studies suggest that shared reading interventions work less
      effectively for children from disadvantaged backgrounds than originally thought, particularly
      when their parents have lower levels of education. This means that there is a danger that the
      benefits of shared reading will be restricted to children from more affluent homes and not
      get through to those who need them most. To solve this problem, there is a need to develop a
      better understanding of how reading interventions work and to evaluate existing shared
      reading interventions to determine whether they are effective in promoting young children's
      language development.

      The aim of this project is to evaluate whether Beanstalk's 'Story Starters' intervention is
      effective in boosting vocabulary and grammatical development in young children. Story
      Starters is a reading intervention delivered by Beanstalk, a national children's literacy
      charity committed to ensuring no child faces the severe consequences of illiteracy. Beanstalk
      trains volunteers to provide caring and fun one-to-one support to disadvantaged children aged
      3 and 4 in local nurseries, aiding their language development.

      The project will compare the effects of the 'Story Starters' intervention against a wait-list
      control group. Children in the intervention group will receive the Story Starters
      intervention, delivered by a trained Beanstalk volunteer, at their preschool for six months.
      The trained volunteer will visit the child twice a week and deliver a one-to-one 20 minute
      book reading and play session. Children in the intervention group will also receive a new
      book each month which will be sent to their home address by Dolly Parton's Imagination
      Library.

      Children in the wait list control group will also receive a new book each month from Dolly
      Parton's Imagination Library but they will not receive the 'Story Starters' intervention
      until after the project has ended.
    

Intervention name(s): Story Starters Intervention; Wait-list Control
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Shared reading intervention; Wait-list control
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Quadruple (Participant, Care Provider, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: Shared Book Reading; Language Development; Syntax; Vocabulary; Phonological Awareness; Young Children; Randomised Control Trial; Language Intervention