In a 5-year longitudinal study, the home literacy environments of 60 preschool children in Canada were assessed. Over the preschool and early school experiences of these children, they were administered various measures of meta-literate awareness and later, standarized reading measures, to determine the nature of the home environment's influence…

The University of Akron's Reading Assessment Component (RAC) research study assessed the effectiveness of a computer-based literacy program, Principles of the Alphabet Literacy System (PALS), as an alternative to classroom instruction for functionally illiterate adults living in Summit County, Ohio. The RAC study assessed four objectives: (1)…

A YWCA-based family literacy model curriculum in Elgin, Illinois is described. In 1990, the Elgin YWCA had the following program components in place: six daytime and five evening ability level classes for adults taught by certified teachers; a preschool English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) program for 3- to 4-year-old children of adult students;…

This annotated bibliography describes studies and reports on issues related to family literacy in multiple contexts. With the exception of five entries, it is limited to programs and studies in the United States. Materials include conceptual discussions, bibliographies, and studies that use experimental, ethnographic, and program evaluative…

A study investigated whether the much publicized campaign geared to parents and teachers about reading aloud to children has had any impact on the U.S. public. Subjects, 236 parents and 17 teachers from an urban private school with a large Portuguese population, filled out questionnaires. Results indicated that parents have been influenced by the…

This report of a hearing presents testimony on H.R. 2535, the School Excellence and Reform Act, also cited as the "Even Start Act," a bill aiming to combine into a single educational program adult basic education for parents and school readiness training for children at risk. The specific intent of the legislation was to establish a…

The Committee on Education and the Workforce, to whom was referred the bill (H.R. 27) to enhance the workforce investment system of the Nation by strengthening one-stop career centers, providing for more effective governance arrangements, promoting access to a more comprehensive array of employment, training, and related services, establishing a…

Even Start programs integrate early childhood education, adult literacy or basic education, parenting education and support, and parent and child time together to help break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy. This progress report describes the Even Start program in Colorado and presents evaluation findings from the 2001-2002 implementation year,…

This study investigated whether Mississippi's Parents as Teachers (PAT) program was advancing parent involvement in children's learning at home and when children entered formal schooling. It focused on whether there were differences in frequency of school participation and in levels of engagement in home learning activities between parents who had…

This paper examines the literature in the growing field of education and inequality that is concerned with how individuals sort, and the consequences of this knowledge for the accumulation of human capital, equity, efficiency, and welfare. It argues that how individuals sort across neighborhoods, schools, and households (spouses) can have…

The FLITE (Family Literacy Involvement Through Education) program is a partnership between a public school in the Bronx, New York, and the City University of New York that brings together two federal funding streams (FAMILY FIRST: Family-School Partnership Program and Even Start) to provide adult literacy, parenting education, and early childhood…

This report presents results of special analyses of data on seven of the nine Even Start programs administered by tribes or tribal organizations in 1994-95. The tribal Even Start program is a set-aside component of the U.S. Department of Education's Even Start Family Literacy Program. Even Start combines adult literacy, early childhood education,…

This report examines the effectiveness of elementary school-based family literacy programs and describes the first year evaluation of a middle-school-based family literacy program in Baltimore, Maryland. In section one it reviews the literature on adult education and early childhood intervention and proposes a hypothesis of the broad pathways by…

The National Education Goals Panel has not met its goal of having every adult American literate by the year 2000. There are many adults who "slipped through the cracks," and have only rudimentary reading and writing skills. The large number of foreign born residents who do not have the necessary reading and writing skills to communicate…

McCosh Even Start is a federally funded project at McCosh School in an inner-city Chicago neighborhood and is administered as a partnership between Northeastern Illinois University and the Chicago Public Schools. The program's goals are to help parents: (1) become involved with the school by becoming comfortable at the school, making friends, and…