New article published in Social Psychology of Education

The study “Number of books at home and student achievement: new insights from two assessment methods and their interplay with the home literacy environment” by Birgit Heppt, Anna Volodina, Patricia A. Iglesias and Melanie Revilla investigates how different variants of the books-at-home home index relate to student achievement and the home literacy environment.

Drawing on cross-sectional data from 332 parents of primary school children in Grades 1, 3, and 5 in Spain, the authors analyse how different variants of the books-at-home index (children’s books vs. books for adults) are related to the home learning environment and academic achievement, and whether the assessment method matters. The number of books was recorded in two ways: first, through an open-ended question in an online questionnaire; second, participants were asked to photograph the books in their household using an app.

The findings show that the number of children’s books – but not the number of books for adults – is associated with better achievement in Spanish and mathematics when assessed via open-ended questions. In addition, the number of children’s books predicts the home literacy environment, which, however, is not directly related to students’ grades.

A comparison of two assessment methods reveals high correlations between open-ended responses and photo-based measures, while open-ended questions yield substantially higher response rates. The results suggest that open-ended questions are a viable and efficient approach for assessing the number of books in educational research.

To the Article: Article in Social Psychology of Education