Partnering with the community to improve literacy

Raising Readers translates literacy research into systems change in office practices throughout the state of Maine.

Since the year 2000 Raising Readers has created an opportunity for Primary Care Providers (PCP's) and parents to discuss literacy throughout the State of Maine. PCP's receive training and support from Raising Readers concerning the critical nature of early literacy activities. Primary care providers participating in Raising Readers use the gift of a high quality book to discuss literacy at every Well Child Visit from birth through age 5. In this way, the value of reading can be discussed and reinforced at each Well Child Visit.

A 2006 survey distributed at health care practices conducted by Raising Readers of 608 Parents and 246 Primary care providers gave the following results:

• 97% of health providers are discussing literacy with their patients. Compared to 63% from the National Survey of Early Childhood Health (2000)

• 70% of health providers believe that there is an increase of parents reading to their children as a result of their counseling on reading.

• 58% of health providers say that participating in the Raising Readers program increases how frequently they counsel about reading.

• 31% of parents completing the survey completed high school and 49% completed college, which is comparable to education rates in the state of Maine. A strength of the Raising Readers program is that the parent participants reflect the general population of Maine.

Thank you for your review.- Gloria