THEORY OF CHANGE
Children learn to read with confidence and joy when they: 1) have access to quality resources; 2) are immersed in a culture of reading; and 3) are surrounded by engaged adults who have the
will and skill to support their learning. By helping to create a literacy-rich environment, and by building the capacity of parents and educators to more effectively support literacy development,
Calgary Reads and its community partners help to achieve a thriving community where all children read with confidence and joy.
PROBLEM
POPULATIONS
Reading scores for Alberta have been decreasing
steadily since 2000. Reading for pleasure among
children is also in decline.
Why?
Research suggests that the following four factors
play a significant role:
1.
VALUES: Educators and parents don’t
make literacy/reading a priority because
it is not sufficiently valued
2.
CAPACITY: Educators are not always
equipped to teach reading, and many
parents are not confident or habitual
readers themselves
3.
4.
ACCESS: Low income parents have limited
access to printed materials, and literacy is
under-funded in schools
ENGAGEMENT: Children (and parents)
tend to associate reading with school and
drudgery
SUPPORT THE
SUPPORTERS
Calgary Reads works
with the adults/youth
who have the
greatest potential to
influence a child’s (08) proficiency in, and
enjoyment of,
reading. This includes
parents, educators,
and community
members.
KEY STRATEGIES
CHANGE VALUES: Work with
schools, communities, businesses
and families to create a “Reading
Revival” movement
INCREASE CAPACITY: Increase the
capacity of parents/caregivers,
educators and tutors to prepare
children to read with confidence
and joy
INCREASE ACCESS: Ensure access to
quality literacy resources in schools
and homes
INCREASE ENGAGEMENT: Support
schools to more effectively engage
children, families and the broader
community in reading and
language
KEY OUTCOMES
IMPACT
Educators and parents make time
for early literacy and reading
because it is a priority in homes and
schools
By grade three, young readers have
acquired the skills to be proficient,
lifelong readers
Schools have quality resources to
support reading initiatives; low
income parents are connected to
quality literacy resources
A thriving
community where
all children read
with confidence
and joy
Parents are engaged in their
children’s learning (including
language and literacy); children are
reading with pleasure and purpose;
Community members are engaged
in child literacy and are supporting
struggling readers
ASSUMPTIONS:  Technical proficiency is not enough – children need to be supported to find pleasure and purpose in reading  This requires a larger cultural shift, as well as the combined efforts of
educators, parents, and the broader community  Calgary Reads will work with diverse partners to further develop the influence, resources, relationships, and expertise, to impact these areas
4.0 Developing an Evaluative Approach at Calgary Reads
In addition to conducting a formal evaluation of its approach, Calgary Reads would like to increase its capacity as an organization for evaluative thinking across all strategies and initiatives. This
requires equipping staff with a consistent set of questions that can be used to guide strategic development and learning. The evaluation questions that are included in this framework are highlevel enough to provide a structure for informal learning and inquiry among staff and/or stakeholders. For every initiative that they are involved in, staff should be considering the four
dimensions that Calgary Reads seeks to influence (values, capacity, access and engagement), and ask themselves the following questions:

VALUES - How does this initiative potentially help to shift values around reading? What would I look for to determine whether values were indeed shifting? Am I seeing that evidence?
Am I seeing any disconfirmational evidence (i.e., something that indicates that values are not shifting)? Is there anything that would help to increase further impact in this area?

CAPACITY - How does this initiative potentially help to build reading skills among children and/or the capacity for adults to support literacy development? What would I expect to see
if this were actually happening? Am I seeing that evidence? Am I seeing any disconfirmational evidence? Is there anything that would help to further increase impact in this area?

ACCESS – How does this initiative potentially help to increase children’s access to quality literacy resources? What evidence would indicate that Calgary Reads has helped to increase
access? Am I seeing that evidence? Am I seeing any disconfirmational evidence? Is there anything that would help to increase further impact in this area?

ENGAGEMENT – How does this initiative potentially help to increase engagement? (Either children’s engagement in reading, and/or parents engagement in their child’s learning,
and/or the community’s engagement in literacy efforts). What would indicate an increase in engagement? Am I seeing that evidence? Am I seeing any disconfirmational evidence? Is
there anything that would help to increase further impact in this area?
Developing structures or processes to support informal learning and evaluation can also be very helpful. For example, staff meetings could be structured around one of the four dimensions,
with staff bringing forward what they are learning about how to change values around reading or how to increase access to books, etc. Program plans can be structured around the four
dimensions, so that staff articulate how the initiative will address one or more dimension. Professional development opportunities might also be aligned with the dimensions (e.g., staff could
attend a workshop on increasing parent engagement, or be given resources on changing culture, etc.). The more that the dimensions are built into every aspect of organizational culture, the
more likely it is that staff efforts and evaluation efforts will harmonize in a natural and mutually supportive way.