Work

Experimental impacts of a large-scale book giveaway intervention on parental literacy education beliefs

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Book giveaways offer free books to hundreds of millions of children and families worldwide. However, little evidence exists of a causal link between book giveaways and a transformative shift in parental literacy education beliefs. The Reading Start Project (RSP) is a large-scale book giveaway intervention program implemented in China. RSP distributes free picture books and literacy education materials to 100,000 families every year. We recruited 1052 Chinese families and children from the eligible population to evaluate its effectiveness. Using a random encouragement research design with conjoint analyses, we estimated the causal impact of RSP on parental literacy education beliefs. RSP participation increased the value parents placed on purchasing picture books and their sense of efficacy in home literacy practices, especially among lower-education mothers and families with fewer books. As the largest home literacy intervention program for Chinese children, RSP has a profound social impact and provides an important empirical reference for promoting early family literacy interventions in China and other developing countries.

Source: Contemporary Educational Psychology

DOI: 10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102389

Authors: Si Chen, Shiyao Liu, Catherine E. Snow

Institutions: Harvard University, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Peking University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Language: English

Topic: Reading and Literacy Development

Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,720

Funder: Harvard Graduate School of Education