Barbara Wasik, professor and PNC Endowed Chair in Early Childhood Education from the College of Education and Human Development, will travel to Ireland to learn how the country has achieved high childhood literacy rates and how its educational practices could be implemented back home.

With childhood literacy a growing concern—the National Assessment of Educational Progress reported 40% of fourth graders have “below basic” reading skills, the worst rate in two decades—understanding and learning ways to improve literacy become increasingly important.

As part of her Fulbright U.S. Scholar award, Barbara Wasik, professor and PNC Endowed Chair in Early Childhood Education in the College of Education and Human Development, will travel to Ireland to study how the country has achieved high childhood literacy rates and how its educational practices could be implemented back home.

According to the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (National Center for Education Statistics, 2023)—a comparative assessment designed to measure reading achievement at the fourth-grade level—Ireland ranked second only to Singapore out of the 57 participating countries in this evaluation of children’s reading.

“Learning to read is a life skill that creates so many pathways, and the foundation for reading starts in the early years,” said Wasik. “I plan to explore Ireland’s early education system to find out what practices produce these high levels of literacy in the classroom. It’s important to be aware of and open to the linguistic and cultural differences.”

Wasik noted that children in Ireland learn two languages, both English and Irish, and is curious about how children learning two languages are being prepared to learn how to read.

Additionally, she explained that the country has implemented policies emphasizing early language development and early intervention, which she suspects may have impacted classroom instruction.

For her research, Wasik will interview teachers in the classroom and preservice teachers—college students enrolled in teacher education programs—to find out their perspectives on literacy education. She’ll be working with colleagues at Dublin City University to understand what’s taught in junior and senior classrooms, equivalent to pre-K and kindergarten classrooms in the U.S., where educators build a foundation for language development.

Throughout her career, Wasik has also trained teachers at public schools and child care centers in strategies to create opportunities for young children to develop language and literacy skills. She’s created and evaluated a research-based language and literacy professional development program for early childhood teachers called Story Talk.

“When working with teachers, I always try to find out what they need,” she said. “Teachers have a challenging job, and finding ways we can support them to be effective is one of my goals.”

Wasik looks forward to continuing her childhood literacy work in Ireland this fall. “I’m grateful for this opportunity through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar award, and Temple’s support has been critical.”