THE BOOKWORM CLUB
Eavan Brady
Trisha Hendsbee
Angus Francis
Michael Justinich
THE BOOKWORM!
ONTARIO, CANADA
HIGHLAND SHORES CHILDREN’S AID, BELLEVILLE, ONTARIO
Where the
Bookworm lives!
WHAT IS THE BOOKWORM CLUB?
 Literacy
program for children living in out-of-home care
 Packages
mailed personally to the children once a
month for 6 months of the year (July-December)
 Packages
contain developmentally appropriate books,
games, and other materials
 Closely
modelled on the UK-based Letterbox Club
WHAT IS THE GOAL OF THE BOOKWORM CLUB?
To improve literacy, motivation for
reading, and educational outcomes for
children in out-of-home care.
EVOLUTION OF THE BOOKWORM CLUB
 2011:
Improving Educational Outcomes for Children in
Care Learning Event

Rose Griffiths “The Letterbox Club” (Thank you, Rose!)
 2012:
Year 1 Pilot
12 Children’s Aids Societies in Ontario
 131 Children and Foster Caregivers (ages 6-13,
English/French)
 Staffed by volunteers

EVOLUTION OF THE BOOKWORM CLUB (CONT.)
 2013:



22 Children’s Aid Societies in Ontario
532 Children and Caregivers (reading levels 1-8, English/French)
Hiring of part-time coordinator to manage the program
 2014:





Year 2
Year 3
Sustainable program, no longer a pilot project
20 Children’s Aid Societies in Ontario
1,147 children and caregivers
Introduction of e-Reader (KOBO) project
Expansion to high school students
NUMBER OF CHILDREN PARTICIPATING IN THE
BOOKWORM CLUB: 2012-2014
1400
1200
1000
800
600
1,147
400
532
200
131
0
2012
2013
2014
EVALUATION OF THE BOOKWORM CLUB
 Year
1 (2012) & Year 2 (2013)
 Mixed-methods design
 Quantitative:

Pre- and post- questionnaires completed by child & foster caregiver
 Qualitative:
Telephone interviews with foster caregivers
 Letters from children to the ‘Bookworm’

QUANTITATIVE DATA: KEY VARIABLES MEASURED
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
Child self-esteem
Child motivation for reading
Child-caregiver relationship (according to child)
Child-caregiver relationship (according to foster
caregiver)
Literacy environment
Foster parent educational expectations of child
2012 EVALUATION

Quantitative
n = 87 children, n = 87 foster caregivers
 One of six key variables significantly increased: Child’s motivation for reading


Qualitative: Foster Caregiver Interviews (n = 9)
Impact on the child: A sense of belonging & sharing
 Transfer of learning and developmental matching.
 The key role of social workers: The importance of evaluation, managing
different experiences


Qualitative Children’s Letters (n = 30)
2013 EVALUATION: QUANTITATIVE
467 children and foster caregivers (n=453) pre-tests
 330 children and foster caregivers (n=330) post-tests
 Grouped Data:




Children: according to grade comparison level
Foster caregivers: according to education level
Findings:


Self-esteem levels significantly decreased for children at grade level
Child-foster caregiver relationship (according to foster caregiver) significantly
decreased for high school or less and some college/some university
QUALITATIVE: FOSTER CAREGIVER INTERVIEWS (N = 6)
 Key
themes:
Impact on Child’s Reading
2) Child’s Experience of the Bookworm Club
3) Involvement of Foster Family in Supporting Program
Experience
4) Suitability of Books & Materials
1)
QUALITATIVE: CHILDREN’S LETTERS TO THE BOOKWORM (N=140)
IMPLICATIONS OF FINDINGS & LESSONS LEARNED
Without a control group we cannot infer causality
 We need to review our goal and outcome measures!

Program development and evaluation: Involve foster caregivers and practitioners
 Use qualitative results from the 2012 and 2013 evaluations to guide future evaluation
 Researchers and practitioners: Promote culture of collaboration and understanding

Support for foster caregivers
 Ensure children who are signed up are suited to program: Reading ability
matches books, unless foster caregiver will work and support child through it,
ensure reading level not too far below actual age

POTENTIAL AREAS FOR FUTURE PROGRAM &
EVALUATION DEVELOPMENT
Children’s love of reading
 Children’s excitement to receive mail addressed to them
 Concept of building their own “library”
 Bookworm Club notations in agency planning documents and other
educational reviews
 Repeat registrants in the Bookworm Club
 Sharing of books with siblings/other foster children
 A sense of being part of a club/larger group
 Reading behaviours
 Explore association between foster caregiver-child relationship and
reading among younger children
 Exploring confidence and self esteem related to developmental assets

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Research
can be fun!
What you expect to find is not always what you
find.
Research is always evolutionary.
www.thebookwormclub.ca
Questions!
Eavan Brady
ebrady@partcanada.org
Trisha Hendsbee
Trisha.Hendsbee@durhamcas.ca
Angus Francis
angus.francis@highlandshorescas.com
Michael Justinich
michael.justinich@casott.on.ca