Centering Students for Literacy Engagement:
Voice, Choice, and Identity

Behind the Book, in collaboration with Teachers College at Columbia University, commissioned a white paper on best practices in literacy engagement.

 

Since 2003, Behind the Book has:

Worked in
815 classrooms

Served 19,985 students in Title I public schools

Donated 82,615 books to young people in NYC  

In the 2020-2021 school year,
we delivered all programs remotely due to the pandemic.

Partnered with 13 Schools in 74 Classrooms

Conducted 478 workshops with 1,300 students

Published work from 15 classrooms, making 208 students published authors and illustrators

Donated 17,000 Books

Results New

+ Evaluation

Behind the Book is committed to providing enriching literary experiences for students and supporting teachers to implement engaging literacy curriculum. We strive to increase students’ motivation and self-identification as readers and writers, as well as improve their engagement with the writing process. To ensure our programs and impact are aligned, we collect survey data from our partnering educators. Participating classroom teachers complete surveys at the end of their Behind the Book program. Last year we expanded our reading support to include vocabulary videos and online reading portals. Virtual learning expanded our access to culturally responsive texts and increased our use of supplemental workshops such as visits from subject matter experts and science workshops. These modifications allowed us to maintain engagement during a year of remote learning. To assess these expanded sections we evaluated the accessibility and engagement with the anchor texts and workshop offerings. This evaluation process represents a cost - effective and sustainable methodology to assess our work and improve programs. This document highlights important areas of strength and areas on which to build. World!

+ Educator Results

Teacher survey questions measure the impact and benefit of Behind the Book workshops and anchor texts on student engagement and teacher pedagogy. At the end of the 2020-2021 school year, the teachers with whom we partnered reported the following: • 86% of teachers saw extremely high student engagement in literacy during our program • 95% of teachers rated the anchor text extremely culturally appropriate to students • 90% of teachers rated the anchor text high in reading level appropriateness • 74% of teachers felt the writing workshop positively increased students engagement with the writing process Behind the Book continues to increase literacy engagement in classrooms with 91% of teachers reporting that author visits greatly increased student engagement. Long-form responses from educators show that in-person author workshops continue to have an impact on students’ reading engagement and writing skills. The students were excited to meet the author of the book. They were interested in knowing the process of what it took to become an author. Many of them have decided that they were also going to become authors one day. Ms. Nelson 1st grade teacher at P.S. 197 In addition to the student impact, teachers also noted positive changes for themselves, with 75% of educators remarking they learned new strategies for teaching, as a result of their Behind the Book programs. I will try to include the workshop model that BtB uses for my science lessons. I feel it will engaged my students more in the lessons. Ms. Abreu, 6th Grade Teacher at M.S. 328 I will incorporate more art into our lessons, [art] keeps students interested and develops a sensitivity towards beauty. Ms. Acevedo, 4th Grade Teacher at P.S. 154 Yes! We really enjoyed this program with [Behind the Book]. The discussions were complex and built students vocabulary. I hope to incorporate drawing activities, virtual field trips and author visits into my future activities with my students. Ms. Callanan 4th grade teacher at P.S. 43

+ Student Results

Before COVID-19 Behind the Book's student evaluations were completed anonymously in person for grades 3 and above. We believe anonymity is important in order to respect any student sensitivity to providing honest feedback. Last year’s evaluation was distributed digitally and we found it difficult for elementary aged students to capture their answers on a digital platform. It was also difficult for us to identify students that were unable to complete the evaluation and ensure a high percentage of responses. Student workshop absences increased due to the lack of laptop access and navigating the pandemic and as such Behind the Book decided to eliminate student evaluations for this school year.

Results

+ Evalution Results

ONE SHEET Behind the book is committed to providing enriching literary experiences for students and supporting teachers in creating literacy engagement curriculum. We strive to increase students’ motivation and self-identification as readers and writers, as well as improve their implementation of the writing process. To ensure that our programs and impact are aligned, we collect survey data from the educators with whom we partner and the students that we serve

Classroom teachers complete surveys before and after Behind the Book programs and students complete surveys at the end of their experience. This year, our surveys were written in English and Spanish to ensure our English Language learners has equal participation. All data is collected immediately upon the completion of the program, then complied and analyzed to measure changes in students’ skills and mindset. The majority of programs are included in this evaluation analysis. Our evaluation process represents a cost-effective and sustainable methodology to assess our work and improve programs. This document highlights important areas of strength and areas on which to build.

+ Educator Results

Teacher survey questions are designed to measure their assessment of changes in students’ reading engagement and improvement of writing skills, as a result of Behind the Book programs. At the end of the 2018-2019 school year, the teachers with whom we partnered reported the following positive changes in their students:

  • 85% demonstrated increased reading engagement
  • 80% demonstrated an increased motivation to write
  • 83% demonstrated increased motivation to read81% have improved their belief in their own skills

Behind the Book continue to increase literacy engagement in classrooms with 93% of all teachers reporting the students discussed the book and writing project without being prompted. Long-form responses from educators show the in-person author workshops continue to have an impact on students’ reading engagement and writing skills.

In addition to the student impact, teachers also noted positive changes for themselves with 85% of educators remarking the they learned new strategies for teaching reading and writing, as a result of their Behind the Book programs. This statistic is up 20% from last year’s data collected. Educators also report learning new things about their students that help inform their teachers practices.

+ Student Results

Behind the Book made the conscious choice to design student surveys that differ from the format frequently used in standardized testing. Therefore, questions are mostly long-answer and focused on student learning and engagement.

We use this commentary to better understand and improve student experience. Students from 3rd through 12th grade participated in the survey. Grade 2 and below did not complete student surveys, as we found it difficult to capture their answers without support. We categorized student surveys into three levels of language acquisition, with each level aligned to corresponding objectives.

Through our surveys we found that:

  • 74% of students reported working harder on their writing during their BtB program than other assignments
  • 78% reported that meeting the author made them want to read more
  • 73% plan to read another book by the author they met.

A common thread throughout student responses is that the nature of our programs as interactive and fun increases their engagement with the material, as well as their self-identification as readers, writers, and artists. We believe that reading engagement is the biggest driver to improvement in literacy skills, and that by keeping our programs exciting and innovative, our students will continue to thrive in their development as readers and writers.