Explains the role shift from an elementary school library into a public library after school hours are over. Topics include family literacy; role setting; circulation; facilities; security; patrons, including teachers and the general public; maintenance; bibliographic record quality; and public relations. (LRW)

A feminist analysis of the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act shows that its emphasis on women's role as mothers impedes their literacy development. Adult education policies should be reexamined because of the competing interests of women's development for parenting (family literacy) and for work (welfare reform). (Contains 20 references.)…

This paper describes a family literacy project that involved parents whose children were attending a pre-school centre in a low socio-economic suburb of Perth, Western Australia. A formative experimental design was used to examine the home literacy practices of the families as described by the parents, and to construct a series of workshops. The…

Through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, the staff and faculty of Colorado State University and the Poudre School District collaborated to implement an "Even Start" family literacy project to reduce the level of poverty and illiteracy for families in the Poudre Valley Mobile Home Park. To truly establish a partnership based…

The purpose of this working paper is to review current literature on literacy programs for parents of English language learners (ELLs). The paper includes a summary of five literacy programs for ELL parents throughout the United States of America. Four of these were system-wide interventions affecting more than one school or classroom. Each…

The authors explore the interdependent relationships between learning English(es) and learning digital literacies in global contexts, and, collaborating with two women, Lu Liu and Yi-Huey Guo, who have moved and continue to move between the United States and Asia, highlight the crucial role that the practice of guanxi has played in advancing…

Creating meaningful links between home and school is a particular concern of teachers and families. As classroom teachers, Betty Shockley and Barbara Michalove heard their students talk often about home literacy events. They wanted to find a way to learn what families valued and practiced, and they wanted to communicate to families how their…

The study described in this issue of "Look at Even Start" evaluated the Staff Mentoring Sites program, a mentoring program provided as technical assistance in Even Start family literacy programs. Staff from five Even Start programs with successful family recruitment and retention records were selected as mentors. Requests for nominations…

Part 1 of a two-part handbook presents course information, reading materials, and sample exercises for a distance education course designed to enhance an understanding of the nature of family literacy needs and to show how to develop and teach in family literacy programs. The first section discusses the structure of the course, the assessment…

This paper investigates existing research about the strengths and weakness of current family literacy programs and presents a 98-item list of family literacy activities across the curricula for adult educators to promote intergenerational literacy. Educational experts feel that family literacy programs need more evaluation, and that the…

This report describes a summer project using children's literature as a teaching tool in the literacy section of the Family Literacy Reading Project. The idea for the project arose in response to a need for other resources for the English-as-a-Second-Language program and to students' desire to read to their children and grandchildren as one…

A project was conducted to help parents in adult literacy classes learn how to help their children with mathematics. During the project, numerous kits were created for parent and child to sign out and take home. The kits contain all the materials needed for a mathematical activity, including the mathematics concept targeted in the kit and…

Designed to be used independently by parents or other family members with their preschool or kindergarten-age children, this book presents (in easy-to-read cartoon-style letters) specific ideas for developing literacy skills during day-to-day activities. The book provides practice for children in the following skills: 1) life skills (such as…

In light of research confirming the important effects of parents' literacy skills on their children's eventual acquisition of literacy skills, a project was undertaken in the Altoona Area School District in Blair County, Pennsylvania, to provide basic literacy training to a group of Head Start parents who were unable to read and who were not…

For parents of young children, this packet offers ideas of things to do at home to help in the development of children's reading and writing. The packet discusses how children learn and how parents can help; shows the stages a child goes through in learning to write; offers ideas for activities parents and children can do together; explains how…