Charlotte Presents Community Inquiry Study Results At The NC CEC
Doctoral students Kristin Sinclair (Special Education), Jennifer Merry (Curriculum and Instruction), and Laura Price (Curriculum and Instruction) presented the preliminary results of the Community Inquiry Study in a poster session at the NC CEC conference at NC State University. The study was led by Dr. Kristen Beach and conducted by Dr. Adrianna Medina, Dr. Lan Kolano, Dr. Kristi Godfrey-Hurrell, Dr. Angela Preston, Dr. Chris O’Brien, Kristin Sinclair, Shannon Pardue, Jennifer Merry, Erica Neal, and Laura Price. The Community Inquiry Study examined the landscape of literacy services provided by nonprofit organizations in a large urban county.
Research questions included:
- Who are the non-profit, literacy-focused organizations in Mecklenburg County, and what services do they provide to whom?
- How do organizations describe the needs related to literacy in the region?
Preliminary results found the types of services provided in Mecklenburg County are academic tutoring, books and resources, PreK services, and knowledge brokers. These services are being provided year round, in the summer, an during the academic year. Students are being supported from PreK through 12th grade. The organizations that participated reported that their need for supports are training and professional development, evaluation of programming, and seed fund grant support. These organizations also reported that the literacy needs in their county are family, community, and students literacy support. The organizations interviewed and surveyed explained that the responsible parties in addressing the literacy needs were PreK-12 educators, school districts, and parents/families/caregivers. Qualitative analysis of the entire survey is currently underway.