o Families highlighted several ways that Family Reading Nights helped them: 60% of families agreed they learned ways to talk to their children about books; 51% of families learned the importance of encouraging their children to read during the summer; and 46% of families were able to connect with other families at their children’s school. • In addition, families also reported various ways that they engaged in literacy activities with their children, beyond reading books. Literacy-related activities included doing crafts or hobbies that required reading instructions, watching educational shows with their children, reading recipes and cooking together, and using ebooks or audiobooks.
When asked about the MSC initiative, families provided positive insights which included:
• “The free books help to expand her library and helps her younger siblings to interact with her while she reads.” (Parent, Grade 3);
• “The Make Summer Count activities are wonderful and I hope they continue. [My child] gets encouraged when she sees other children her age reading as much as she does.”(Parent, Grade 4); and
• “I think they should have more and longer family reading nights. My boys loved it.” (Parent, Grade 5).
Students also provided insight about how reading impacted them over the summer:
• Forty-two percent indicated they learned new things; 39% reported that they believe reading kept their brains active during the summer, and 38% reported that through reading they were able to use their imagination.
Looking Ahead The results from the MSC 2016 and 2017 research studies indicate the importance of providing students with resources to help them engage in reading over the summer and empowering families to support their children’s reading. The consistency in the attitudinal, belief, and behavior changes, taken in conjunction with the positive student achievement findings from 2016 4 —with 78% of students in MSC schools maintaining
4 Due to a shift in the assessments administered in Greenville County Schools from the spring of 2017 to the fall of 2017, we were unable to explore student achievement outcomes for the 2017 MSC research.
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