Links between Books from Birth Participation and Second-Grade Reading Performance

This research brief is a follow up to work done two years ago that focused on how children’s early experiences with reading were associated with school readiness at kindergarten entry. At that time, families of approximately 400 incoming kindergarten students were surveyed regarding their early family reading habits, including whether they participated in the Shelby County Books from Birth (BfB) early literacy program.

Children who participated in the Books from Birth program prior to kindergarten entry had statistically higher kindergarten readiness scores in language (p=.002) and mathematics (p=.04) than children not enrolled in the program.