"Read and Succeed" campaign a great success in the province

On September 8, 2001, the Department of Education launched Read and Succeed, a province-wide public awareness campaign designed to encourage Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to make reading more of a family activity. The campaign complements the goals of the province�s Strategic Literacy Plan, and other efforts by government related to improving literacy levels in Newfoundland and Labrador.

"The Read and Succeed campaign is without a doubt, one of the most successful initiatives ever undertaken by this department," said Minister Reid. "I have had the opportunity to visit several schools in the past few months, and in almost every school I have visited, I�ve seen the Read and Succeed posters, t-shirts, and I think everyone has heard the popular Read and Succeed song. More importantly, I have heard first hand accounts of how effective this campaign has been in encouraging our children and youth to increase their reading levels." The Read and Succeed web site located at www.gov.nl.ca/readandsucceed contains success stories from Newfoundlanders and Labradorians of all ages who have been positively influenced by the campaign.

An external evaluation has been conducted to determine the success of this public awareness campaign. The evaluation included the following elements:

• a public opinion telephone survey of families with children who have not yet reached high school,
• a survey of students enrolled in adult literacy programs, and,
• a survey of school principals.

The public opinion survey results were very positive, with more than 43 per cent of parents responding that the Read and Succeed campaign has prompted them to encourage their children to read more, and 44 per cent indicating that their children have been prompted directly by the campaign to read more. In addition, 25 per cent of parents indicated the campaign has prompted them to read more themselves, despite the fact that the campaign was aimed at a younger audience.

"When you hear that 44 per cent of children were encouraged to read more by this campaign, you know that you have been successful in your goal," added Minister Reid. "The ads and the efforts made in schools and by other literacy stakeholders to promote Read and Succeed obviously had a great impact. Whenever families increase the emphasis on reading, I consider that a great success."

The adult learners survey was fairly consistent with the public opinion survey. Of those surveyed with younger children, more than 51 per cent indicated that the campaign has prompted them to read more to their younger children. Almost 42 per cent indicated that the campaign has prompted them to encourage their older children to read more, and more than 30 per cent indicated that the campaign has prompted their older children to read more without their encouragement. Again, many adults indicated that the campaign has prompted them to read more themselves.

The majority of schools who responded to the school principals survey indicated that their schools had displayed the posters throughout classrooms and distributed the bookmarks to students. Schools also integrated the song into their daily activities. As well, 47 per cent of respondents indicated that the Read and Succeed campaign had acted as a catalyst for a special reading activity or program during this school year.

Media contact: Elizabeth Matthews, Communications, (709) 729-0048 or (709) 727-3438

2003 06 27                                     2:30 p.m.