This bilingual multimedia program was developed to provide preschool educators with the tools needed to help preschoolers develop literacy skills and to involve parents in the process. Contained in this English- and Spanish-language program are the following: (1) a bilingual videocassette for use with adults in parent workshops to help them…

Noting that the need for basic skills education among the current labor force cannot be easily met by vocational training alone, this booklet presents the case for family literacy education to improve the skills of unemployed workers and describes the work of the National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL). Family literacy is defined as having four…

The "literacy.ca" newsletter is a vehicle for literacy workers and supporters to share information, ideas, resources and research on emerging literacy issues. This issue of "literacy.ca" contains the following article: Hot time for literacy: Opportunities and Challenges. Regular sections are also included: (1) Focus on…

Examines a family literacy program based in a disadvantaged area of Scotland, to show how deficit views of children and their parents (feeling that one's own ways of speaking and writing are "wrong") might be challenged and overcome so that real learning can take place, learning that focuses on people's strengths and different types of…

A collaborataive program allowed early childhood certification students to gain experience working with parents of young children. Preservice teachers from Sam Houston State University worked with the Conroe Independent School District (Texas) Even Start Family Literacy Program as part of their parent education program. Students developed and…

As the numbers of migrant farmworkers active in the United States increases, so does the need to provide effective literacy programs for them and their families. Homestate and upstream programs are designed to meet the needs of migrant workers. The paper provides examples of successful programs that involve whole migrant families in literacy…

Using interviews and videotaped observations, this study examined family contributions to their 5-year-olds' literacy development in a 5-month family literacy program developed by their children's teachers. Results suggested that children's literacy can be developed through everyday family experiences and that the richest resource for literacy…

Among the great scientific discoveries of the 20th century, attachment theory provides an explanation for the intense and enduring bonds which are formed in infancy and extended and developed through childhood and adult life. Those early attachments, formed within families, provide people with a framework for understanding themselves and others…

In this ethnographic study, I contrast the educational experiences of two Central American immigrant women in an English as a second language (ESL) family literacy program in the San Francisco Bay area in 2002. Based on life-history interviews and classroom observations, I argue that these learners' second language and literacy development can…

The four papers in this series were commissioned for the first meeting of the National Commission on Adult Literacy, which met in Nashville on November 14, 2006. The first paper, "Adult Education and Literacy Legislation and Its Effects on the Field," provides the basic provisions of the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA,…

A traditional part of American education has been to include the families in the educational process of their children. The needs and complexities of today's families and classrooms have never been greater. Programs and activities used with families, and school interactions 10 to 15 years ago are not effective for today's complex families and…

Pediatricians can play a role in promoting family literacy. Boston City Hospital has developed a model program that integrates family literacy into pediatric primary care, and has designed a program of research to evaluate its effects. The program has three components. In the waiting room, volunteers model for parents how to listen, question,…

This document contains 10 commissioned papers presented at a research design symposium on family literacy. It also contains a summary of the symposium, which was structured around five themes: assumptions and perceptions about family literacy; what we know from research and practice and how we know it; defining the characteristics of family…

Data regarding a subsample of 815 families surveyed in the 1991 National Household Education Survey were analyzed to identify factors related to parent participation in adult education (AE) and completion of AE courses and to determine the impact of participation in AE on selected indicators of home support for children's learning. The data were…

Offering voices and perspectives from multiple generations of literacy educators, this yearbook includes articles which represent an assortment of literary styles and paradigms. Articles and their authors are: "Motivation Matters" (L. B. Gambrell, keynote address); "The Use of Cloze as a Measure of the Interactive Use of Prior…