The aim of this meta-analysis was to investigate effects of family literacy programs on the emergent literacy skills of children from low socioeconomic status families (0-6) and to establish which program, sample, study, and measurement characteristics moderate program effects. Outcomes of 48 (quasi-)experimental studies covering 42 different…

In this article, we review the literature on the impact of family literacy programmes on young children's language and literacy learning. After defining family literacy, we present a brief historical overview of family literacy programmes, including persistent questions regarding their effectiveness with respect to young children's language and…

As obtaining education funding becomes increasingly competitive, family literacy programs must communicate their message of success to receive public and private funding and support. A critical component of educational excellence is parental engagement, but how do communities and schools effectively implement parent engagement and family literacy,…

This multi-sited ethnographic study examines the ways in which Latino and Asian immigrant parents' English learning through two church-based ESL programs in a Southeastern U.S. city affects their family literacy and home language practices. It demonstrates that the parents' participation in the programs is an empowering experience promoting ESL…

The purpose of this research is to provide insight into immigrant Latino parents' perspectives on parental involvement in elementary school settings as influenced by the Title I Family Literacy Program (TFLP). A comparison is made of Latino parents who have been participating in the TFLP for more than one year, participants new to the program and…

The purpose of this article is to examine developments in the area of family literacy over the last decade. Acknowledging the bifurcation that has occurred in the field of family literacy, as well as changing conceptions of literacy and of families, we review naturalistic studies of literacy embedded and enacted in communities and families across…

This article reports a multi-method evaluation of a one-year small-scale preschool family literacy programme with bilingual Pakistani-origin families in the UK. The programme was implemented mostly through home visits and included provision of literacy resources, some postal communication and group meetings. The study was conducted in…

Background/Context: As accountability pressures have mounted toward ever-higher targets under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, low-achieving schools have sought new tools for raising achievement. The association between parent involvement and student achievement is well established, though the association is an indirect relationship mediated…

This book provides practical strategies and tools for assessing and teaching even the most hard to reach English language learners across the content areas. Syrja offers educators the latest information on working with ELLs (including using formative assessments) and provides a wealth of classroom-tested models and measures. These tools have…

The first phase of Book Bridges, an English-as-a-Second Language literacy project for immigrant women and their children, was evaluated. Fifteen clients completed the first 10-week, 60-hour program designed to increase English vocabularies, give clients opportunities to express ideas in English, and provide a framework for facilitating…

In much research, learners' perspectives tend to be considered in light of a program's expectations or U.S. society's definitions of learner needs, rather than considering how learners would define and make sense of their own experiences, hopes, and needs. In contrast, this study considers learners' meanings as the fundamental starting point for…

The authors carefully followed for a year or more the inner experiences of learning and change of 41 ABE/ESOL (Adult Basic Education/English for Speakers of Other Languages) learners from all over the world. They were enrolled in three distinct U.S. programs (a community college, a family literacy site, and a workplace site), each oriented to…

How do ABE/ESOL (Adult Basic Education/English for Speakers of Other Languages) programs shape adult learners, and how do adult learners, in turn, shape their programs? Beyond the acquisition of important skills (such as greater fluency in the English language) what are the bigger internal meanings for adults of participating in ABE/ESOL…