Published Infographics
Evaluation of the We Love Reading program 2017.
Randa Ali Mahasneh: Qatar University
Michael H. Romanowski: Qatar University
Rana Dajani: Hashemite University
UNICEF Jordan conducted an evaluation of the We Love Reading program that aimed to assess the impact of We Love Reading (WLR) on Children’s attitudes towards reading, their actual reading practices, and Children’s Willingness to go to school.
The results support the effectiveness of WLR intervention in increasing the reading practices of young children aged (4-12) and in improving their reading attitude.
The effect of the WLR intervention on children reading practices did not differ according to children’s gender, and place, which means that the intervention equally increased the male and female reading practices, and equally increased the children’s reading practices in all geographical areas (North, Middle, South).
However, the effect of the intervention on improving the children reading practices at the early stage (4, 5) was better than in the middle and the late stages.
Altogether, the results support the effectiveness of WLR program in improving children’s willingness to go to school. Analyzing the data collected using the direct measure (self-report measured by children) and indirect measure (by parents as observed) showed the following indicators of improvement:
– Children’s willingness to go to school (as reported by the children themselves) increased with effect size (0.11) although this is considered a small effect but this is because Children’s willingness to go to school was high before the intervention.
– The change in children’s willingness to go to school was not affected by gender, age group, or geographical region. That means that WLR program affects all children equally.
– Parents’ responses regarding children’s willingness to go to school showed improvement in the children’s willingness to go to school, however, the differences before and after the intervention were not significant. This result can be explained in light of the high level of willingness the children started with before the intervention which leaves a limited amount of improvement as an effect of the intervention. Apparently, this limited amount was not noticeable by parents.