From the very beginning, a small group of researchers were part of the Goslings program. In the first iteration of Goslings, the research involved surveys taken both before and immediately after each Goslings session. In addition, selected parents were contacted after a period of time, and asked about their literacy interactions with their babies.   From the overwhelmingly positive answers, we knew that Goslings was an important program to offer.

Due to cost  of the kits which contained books and props for parents to use with their children, we worried that sending each family home with a kit after they had learned how to use it in the session, might be too expensive for many NICUS.  Thus, Dr. Brenda Hussey-Gardner and I worked together to revise Goslings based on parent feedback, and remove some of the activities and some of the props.

The new program was dubbed "Goslings-II" and again research regarding the impact of the program was present from the beginning.  The results of that research have just been published, and my favorite quotes are on page 370:

"One hundred percent of the 63 parents completing the questionnaires stated they were satisfied or strongly satisfied with Goslings-II and would recommend it to other NICU parents....Parents indicated that, after attending Goslings-II, they were significantly more likely to implement early language and literacy activities with their infant, compared with the reported frequency before the program. Parents reported increased intention to talk, read, recited nursery rhymes, and sing to their infants.

"Parents reported that, after attending Goslings-II, they were significantly more knowledgeable about infant signals of readiness for interaction and were significantly more confident about
understanding these cues. As one parent noted, their favorite part of the program was learning about “the signals your baby shows and how to accommodate those signals.”

"Cao T, Shanty L, Hussey-Gardner B. A Comprehensive Evaluation of Goslings-II: A Sustainable Early Language and Literacy Program for NICU Parents. Neonatal Network. 2024; 43(6):366-374.

To find out more about Goslings' research, click here.