SPELL: The Research
Literature Review
The SPELL literature review, conducted by Dr. Mary Stansbury, University of Denver, and SPELL Research Fellow Vivienne Houghton, reveals patterns in research in the fields examined.
Subject and practice areas reviewed:
--Intervention related
--Literacy related
Resources reviewed:
One major topic that the researchers examined is Families. Their literature review revealed these patterns of studies:
Research on families:
--Community needs
A second major topic of the literature review concerned Early Childhood Professionals. Their review revealed these patterns of studies:
Research about Early Childhood Professionals:
--Interpersonal
--Society
Overarching Concepts in the Literature
The researchers found important concepts in the literature that crossed both research on families and early childhood professionals:
Subject and practice areas reviewed:
- Librarianship
- Early childhood education
- Language and literacy acquisition
- Family partnerships
--Intervention related
--Literacy related
Resources reviewed:
- Professional and scholarly journals
- Dissertations and theses
- Government agency reports
- Handbooks and guidelines
One major topic that the researchers examined is Families. Their literature review revealed these patterns of studies:
Research on families:
- Attitudes
- Practices
- Interaction of attitudes and practices
- Knowledge base
- Characteristics
- Advocacy
--Community needs
- Where to find resources
- Accountability of government
A second major topic of the literature review concerned Early Childhood Professionals. Their review revealed these patterns of studies:
Research about Early Childhood Professionals:
- Testing
- Interventions
- Attitudes
- Roles and Relationships
--Interpersonal
- Impact
--Society
Overarching Concepts in the Literature
The researchers found important concepts in the literature that crossed both research on families and early childhood professionals:
These overlapping concepts are the primary focus areas that SPELL will investigate in the next two phases of the project, both of which entail original research. We will seek to answer the following questions in surveys that we'll ask parents of 0-3 year olds that use public libraries to complete, and in focus groups that we'll ask parents of 0-3 year olds that do not use public libraries to attend:
Attitudes:
Relationships:
Knowledge base:
Culture:
Attitudes:
- Importance of early literacy
- Likelihood of interacting with various support providers
- Family’s influence and role
Relationships:
- Trust in various support providers
- Family roles
Knowledge base:
- What is already known
- How has knowledge been used
Culture:
- Barriers
- Preferences for means of interacting with providers
