About this paper symposium

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Panel information
Panel 32. Solicited Content: Expanded Learning & Out-of-School Time

Paper #1
Co-design and Evaluation of the Feasibility of the Literacy Eats Program
Author information	Role
Diana Leyva, Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh, United States	Presenting author
Sofina Shekhar, University of Delaware, USA	Non-presenting author
Eden Galan, Philadelphia Reading Captains, USA	Non-presenting author
Shante Antrom, Oxford Circle Christian Community Development Association, USA	Non-presenting author
Abstract
This study describes the co-design process and examines the feasibility of Literacy Eats. The program aims to empower ethnically and linguistically minoritized parents to promote two foundational skills for preschoolers’ STEM learning, approaches to learning (AtL) and language. AtL encompass a set of domain-general skills (e.g., persistence, engagement) that reflect how children navigate learning situations. AtL are central to STEM learning (Bustamante & Hindman, 2020) and predict later academic development in minoritized students (Galindo & Fuller, 2010). Additionally, two language skills—expressive vocabulary and narrative skills—are also predictive of academic success in these populations (Gardner-Neblett & Iruka, 2012). Literacy Eats employs a strengths-based approach (Gennetian et al., 2021), focuses on cooking, as this activity is integral to family life and a critical way in which minoritized parents support children’s learning at home (Civil & Andrade, 2002). Co-design process. We partnered with a community organization in a northeastern city, and collaboratively developed a family program, leveraging the organization’s extensive networks, and facilities. We assembled a community advisory board consisting of four parents of preschoolers who were primary caregivers in the target community. Through advisory board meetings, we gathered insights that guided the program’s content and structure, including the recipe selection and scheduling. Advisory board members also helped create program materials, including videos shown during the sessions. Literacy Eats involved four weekly 60-min meetings at a community center, where parents learned strategies to promote AtL and language during cooking, prepared simple recipes with their preschoolers, watched video clips of families using these strategies, practiced on-site and received feedback. Feasibility. We asked: Is attendance at the Literacy Eats program associated with improvements in children’s outcomes from pre- to post-test? Participants were 37 parents and their preschool children (M age = 54.7 months; SD = 8.97; range = 35 to 71 months) of whom 60% (n = 22) were girls. All parents were primary caregivers; 59% were born outside the U.S., and 53% spoke a language other than English at home. At both pre-test and post-test, we assessed children’s AtL and expressive vocabulary using IDELA items (Save the Children, 2017) and evaluated narrative skills through a personal narrative task (Reese et al., 2021), in which children told two stories that were transcribed and coded for narrative features. We conducted zero-order Pearson’s correlations (Table 1) to examine associations between attendance at Literacy Eats and children’s outcomes at post-test. Program attendance positively related to children’s vocabulary and marginally related to AtL at post-test, but not to narrative skills. We followed up with one-way ANCOVAs (Table 2) to compare group differences between those who attended at least 1 meeting and those who did not attend any meeting, controlling for pre-test skills. Children whose parents attended at least 1 meeting showed greater increases in AtL and vocabulary from pre- to post-test relative to those whose parents did not attend any meeting. Literacy Eats is a promising culturally responsive program that supports low-income and ethnically diverse parents in fostering preschoolers’ foundational skills critical for STEM learning.

Paper #2
The Art of Papel Picado as a Context for Math Engagement with Latine Families
Author information	Role
Paola Montúfar Soria, New York University, USA	Presenting author
Gigliana Melzi, New York University, USA	Non-presenting author
Abstract
Family math is a culturally grounded endeavor. Leading paradigms in early math, however, have relied almost exclusively on the lived experiences of families from culturally and linguistically dominant groups. Historically, this approach has led to deficit narratives of young children and families from non-dominant groups, rarely recognizing or capitalizing on their ways of knowledge and doing (Civil, 2002). A way to dismantle deficit narratives through an asset-based perspective is to generate new knowledge through investigations that center the lived experiences of children from culturally and linguistically non-dominant groups. This paper explores the Mexican craft of papel picado as a context for family math engagement. Papel picado, meaning cut paper, is a traditional Mexican craft that survived colonization and is made for celebrations in Mexico and by the Mexican diaspora. Although this craft has been previously examined as a math activity with school-age children (Civil & Andrade, 2003), it is unclear whether caregivers of preschool-aged children would engage with this craft as a math learning context. Moreover, previous work shows that novices struggle to connect their mathematical knowledge to the craft compared to those who are more familiar with it, thus math engagement may vary between Mexican heritage and non-Mexican heritage Latine families. Two research questions were asked: (a) what math talk and gestures do Latine caregivers engage in during a papel picado activity?, and (b) how do caregivers’ math engagement vary across cultural heritage? Method Participants were 40 Latine caregivers (Mage = 35 years; SD = 6.03) and their preschool-aged children children (Mage = 54.05 months; SD = 6.33; 50% girls). About half of the caregivers were of Mexican heritage. Caregivers had on average 12 years of schooling (SD = 3.95). As part of a larger project, caregivers were interviewed on their knowledge of papel picado. Dyads were then given materials (i.e., paper, scissors, pencil, eraser) to create a papel picado based on a reference design. Bilingual researchers videotaped and transcribed interactions through ELAN (Max Planck, 2018) using a standardized transcription system (MacWhinney, 2000). Global coding identified: (a) the presence of math engagement and (b) the mathematical content area (e.g., numbers, measurement, geometry). Results & Discussion Preliminary analyses show that caregivers engaged primarily with geometry during the activity, focusing their mathematical support on shapes and spatial relations. While other mathematical concepts such as numeracy, comparisons, and dimensions were also present, they were discussed to a lesser extent. This supports previous literature suggesting that caregivers engage with mathematical concepts central to the activity (Daubert et al., 2018). Patterns of math engagement show no distinct differences across Mexican and non-Mexican heritage caregivers, suggesting that math engagement may be elicited by the structure of the activity rather than familiarity with the activity. Results extend past work and show that papel picado is a math-rich context for geometry engagement with preschool children. Findings will be discussed in relation to the need for culturally grounded methodologies that elevate the ways of knowing of Latine families to promote early math learning and sustainable family math engagement.

Paper #3
Playful Early Math Learning in a Community Health Center
Author information	Role
Eric Dearing, Ph.D., Boston College, United States	Presenting author
Javier Maisonet, MathTalk PBC, USA	Non-presenting author
Sara Schnizter, Boston College, USA	Non-presenting author
Margaret Joliffe, Brookside Community Health Center, USA	Non-presenting author
Anne Welch-Cameron, Brookside Community Health Center, USA	Non-presenting author
Mary DePascale, University of Albany, USA	Non-presenting author
Yilin Liu, Boston College, USA	Non-presenting author
Omowale Moses, MathTalk PBC, USA	Non-presenting author
Abstract
Much of children’s early math knowledge comes through informal, incidental exposure to mathematics as they explore the world around them (e.g., Eason et al., 2022). Yet, many families face obstacles to supporting children’s math learning in day-to-day life due to factors such as socioeconomic disadvantage and language barriers. The current project is a pilot study of community health centers as places that can help bridge early math learning opportunity gaps. Community health centers are uniquely positioned to support the learning of young children given (a) universal reach of well child visits (~90% of US children) and (b) a social justice mission (Pérez & Martinez, 2008; Wright, 2005). In this pilot project, we co-designed and are studying the results of a playful early math learning installation in a community health center. The center serves a predominantly Latine community in which just over 50% of children are living in low-income households. The installation (see Figure 1) was co-designed as part of a research-practice partnership between pediatric providers, developmental psychologists at a research university, and a non-profit organization of mathematics experts, designers, artists, and families who are creating math installations in public spaces. The installation was designed to provide: (1) early math learning through conversation, exploration, and playful activity with a focus on numbers/counting, measurement, and shapes; and (2) best practice for pediatric care (e.g., stimuli for anticipatory guidance with caregivers) and improved space use (e.g., giraffe footprints encourage talk about distance and guide families to the bathroom). We are using a pre-post design to offer preliminary evidence on the hypothesis that playful early math installations in pediatric clinics can increase mathematical conversations and interactions between providers, caregivers, and children. Our pre-post installation comparisons are based on: (1) surveys of caregivers of 3- to 8-year-old children (n = 75; 38 who visited the center pre-installation and 37 who visited post-installation) and (2) direct observations of caregiver-child interactions while visiting the clinic. While we did not detect pre-post survey differences for measurement talk, there were large differences in reported rates of numbers/counting and shape talk (see Table 1). Compared with caregivers surveyed prior to the installation, those surveyed after the installation were much more likely – nearly 10 to 17 times greater odds – to report provider conversations/interactions with them and their children about numbers/counting and shapes. Caregivers surveyed after the installation were also more than three times as likely to report child-initiated conversations about paintings, posters, and signs in the clinic, and these child-initiated conversations were associated with much higher reported rates of conversation between caregivers and children about numbers/counting and shape. In addition to these survey results, our paper presentation will include observation results; pre-installation observations were completed with high (Kappa > .90) inter-rater reliability, and we are presently collecting the post-installation observational data. Underscoring our co-design approach, our co-presenters include a developmental scientist and a community organization leader bringing early math learning into public spaces.

Paper #4
Latine Parents as Community Researchers: Exploring the Impact of Playful Learning Landscapes on Community Perceptions
Author information	Role
Vanessa N. Bermudez, University of California, Irvine, USA	Presenting author
Annelise Pesch, Temple University, USA	Non-presenting author
Maria J. Anderson, University of California, Irvine, USA	Non-presenting author
Julie Salazar, University of California, Irvine, USA	Non-presenting author
Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Temple University, USA	Non-presenting author
June Ahn, University of California, Irvine, USA	Non-presenting author
Andres S. Bustamante, University of California, Irvine, USA	Non-presenting author
Abstract
Children in marginalized and under-resourced communities often have less access to enriching informal learning experiences in community spaces like museums and science centers (Crispin & Beck, 2023; Dawson, 2014). These environments typically promote conversations that support early science learning, such as constructing explanations and making predictions (Gaudreau et al., 2021; Haden, 2010). However, they are often designed for “expected” visitors, overlooking the cultural practices and ways of knowing of marginalized communities (Dawson, 2014; Feinstein & Meshoulam, 2014; Garibay et al., 2017). This disconnect results in irrelevant learning opportunities. This study, part of the Playful Learning Landscapes initiative (Bermudez et al., 2023; Pesch et al., 2022), aims to make informal science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning more accessible and inclusive by re-designing community spaces—parks, bus stops, and grocery stores—in collaboration with Latine families. Guided by strength-based perspectives, we utilize Funds of Knowledge as a theory (Moll et al., 1992) and community-based research methods (Leavy, 2017). As part of a five-year research-practice partnership with the Santa Ana Early Learning Initiative, we collaborated with 32 Latine parents, mostly Spanish-speaking mothers (97%) of Mexican heritage (91%). Through co-design sessions, we used storytelling and value mapping to explore families’ values around play, science, and math. Parents also created prototypes for installations, blending their experiences and ideas with playful learning principles and Early Science Framework practices (Hirsh-Pasek et al., 2020; Greenfield et al., 2017). This process led to three STEM signs at a grocery store and an Abacus game at a bus stop in Santa Ana (Figure 1). By the end of 2024, we will also install three life-sized games—La Lotería, How Tall Am I, and Santa Ana Parkopolis—alongside a series of I-Spy murals in local parks. Following the design process, 23 parents participated as community researchers. We held three virtual sessions to discuss ethical research and the survey on perceptions of community spaces, facilitating parents’ sharing of strategies for engaging community members. Their involvement was highly effective, resulting in 256 completed surveys prior to installation across seven sites—four playful learning landscapes (one bus stop, one grocery store, and two parks) and three control sites (one bus stop, one grocery store, and one park). Community researchers began post-surveying in September 2024 and will continue post-data collection through January 2025. Baseline data revealed three key descriptive findings: 1) community members frequently visited the targeted public spaces but perceived them as unsafe, 2) they saw few learning opportunities, and 3) while they believed children could play and learn simultaneously, they felt their neighborhood lacked sufficient safe play spaces (Figure 2). In this session, we will also share post-data findings, focusing on whether the playful learning landscapes improved perceptions of safety and increased learning opportunities compared to control sites. We will also discuss the process for engaging Latine parents as community researchers and their experiences. Overall, this study exemplifies a strength-based model of research that centers families’ voices in creating relevant informal STEM learning opportunities, with the potential to activate community spaces and positively influence perceptions of play and learning.

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