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Dr Louise TraceyUniversity of York
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Dr Nicole GridleyLeeds Beckett University
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Dr Christina ClarkNational Literacy Trust
Project overview
This project was a pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT) of the impact of the Early Words Together programme on the language acquisition of children living in deprived areas.
The National Literacy Trust’s Early Words Together is an early years parent and child engagement programme that encourages parents to adopt activities that have been shown to improve the home learning environment.
The researchers aimed to conduct a pilot two-armed RCT to assess the impact of the programme in 12 early years settings attached to primary schools involving 360 families in two socio-economically disadvantaged areas. Unfortunately, despite best efforts from the programme team, fewer parents than anticipated were recruited to take part in the programme. This, in turn, meant that the reduced sample size wouldn’t have allowed the research to answer the original research questions about the impact of the programme on children’s language acquisition or which home based activities and behaviours were most likely to be improved and sustained following participation in the programme. As such the grant was regretfully terminated and the project brought to an early close.
The research team reflected on the lessons learned from their experience of this project and drew together a series of recommendations for others carrying out trials of early years interventions with parents of similar demographic backgrounds. Their full list of recommendations is available in their ‘Lessons learned and reflections on the project’ report.