Family Literacy: An Annotated Bibliography

(August 2000)

Part A: Family Literacy

Section 2: Family Literacy Program Studies

Baker, A. J. L., Piotrkowski, C. S., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (1998). The effects of the Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) on children's performance at the end of the program and one year later. Early Childhood Research Quarterly,13, 571–588.
The Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) is a 2-year, home based early childhood education and parent involvement program for parents with limited formal education. The key program features are bimonthly home visits and bimonthly group meetings during which parents
use HIPPY story books and educational activities with their preschool children. This report presents findings on the effectiveness of HIPPY programs for children in the early school years. A two cohort experimental design with a randomized control group was implemented. Children were assessed at baseline, at the end of the program and 1 year later on cognitive skills, adaptation to the classroom, and standardized achievement. HIPPY Children from Cohort 1 performed significantly better than comparison group children on all measures of school performance both at the end of the program and one year later. However, no effects were found for Cohort 2. No significant differences between groups or cohorts account for this lack of replication. The authors also report on a concurrent evaluation that was conducted in a different state. Although the design differed and the study was quasi-experimental, the same pattern was found—significant effects were found for cohort 1 but not cohort 2. The authors interpret these findings as mixed support for HIPPY.

Brooks, G., Gorman, T., Harman, J., Hutchinson, D., & Wilkin, A. (1996). Family literacy works. London, England: The Basic Skills Agency.
This book reports on the evaluation of The Basic Skills Agency's Family Literacy Demonstration Programs by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER). The first part of the book describes the family literacy initiative in general and the various programs and their evaluations. The latter half is devoted to answering the following questions: (1) How effective were the Family Literacy Demonstration Programmes?; (2) Why were they effective?; and (3) What lessons and recommendations can be drawn from this information?

Connors, L. J. (1993). Project Self-Help: A family focus on literacy (Rep. No. 13). Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University, Center on Families, Communities, Schools, and Children's Learning. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 380 230).
This document describes Project Self-Help, a school-based family literacy program serving parents and grandparents and their preschool and elementary-aged children. During the year, adult literacy classes and child classes met 2 times a week. During the summer, families had the opportunity to participate in a summer reading program that included educational field trips. The author describes the program in detail and provide information regarding the gains of both adults and children while enrolled in the program. Three case studies are included to highlight the different outcomes of adults depending upon their individual situations. The last part of the document includes a section about the essons the program coordinator was able to learn from the implementation of Project Self-Help and is useful for individuals implementing school-based or other types of family literacy programs. Issues related to implementing family literacy programs and discussion of further research needed are also presented in this article.

Darling, S., & Hayes, A. E. (1989). The William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust Family Literacy Project. Final Report 1988–1989. Louisville, KY: National Center for Family Literacy.
This document reports on the Kenan Trust Family Literacy Project carried out in seven sites in Kentucky and North Carolina in 1988–89. The goal of the project was to improve the educational outcomes of children and their parents labeled "at risk" by combining efforts to provide quality early-childhood education with efforts to improve the literacy and parenting skills of undereducated parents. The children participated in a preschool program while their parents received education and vocational training. The project also included Parent and Child Together (PACT), when parents and children worked and played together, and group Parent Time (PT), where parents met to discuss personally significant topics and problems. Research revealed seven types of parents with unique characteristics related to program participation, motivation, capability, needs, and the likelihood of accomplishment. In two groups, the majority of parents did not expend sufficient time or effort to make progress in their own or their children's lives. In the other groups almost all of the parents and their children made significant gains. The report lists recommendations for adoption of the model.

Debruin-Parecki, A., Paris, S. G., & Siedenburg, J. (1997). Family literacy: Examining practice and issues of effectiveness. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 40, 596–605.
The authors of the article work on the assertions that the field of family literacy struggles to define goals and practices and that single descriptions of family literacy are not possible because individual programs must tailor goals and services to the target population. To address these issues, the purpose of this study was to examine the broad range of family literacy programs throughout Michigan. Of 700 literacy programs contacted, only 50 programs fit criteria selected by the authors as family literacy programs, and 11 programs were selected for further in-depth analysis. Information on program processes was collected through classroom observations, interviews, and surveys. This article elaborates on two case studies to describe how family literacy program processes are implemented under different circumstances. This article ends with four factors important for the design of an effective family literacy program: access to participation, curriculum with meaning in participant's lives, collaborating staff and administration with varied backgrounds, and stable funding.

Delgado-Gaitan, C. (1994). Sociocultural change through literacy: Toward the empowerment of families. In B.M. Ferdman, R.M. Weber, & A.G. Ramirez (Eds.), Literacy across languages and cultures. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
Asserting that literacy is more than a collection of discrete cognitive skills, this study investigates the sociocultural process surrounding parent-child bookreading. Three questions guided this study: (1) how does parental use of literature with their children influence the parent's perception of self-efficacy regarding literacy tasks? (2) how are household relations affected as a result of parent-child literacy activity? and (3) how did the literacy project create new social networks for parents? During monthly training sessions lasting 8 weeks, parents learned four types of questioning strategies to be used when reading to their children. Parents then engaged in these activities in their homes. Information was collected in five videotaped sessions. The author concludes that the book reading experience was much more than reading text and recalling previous experiences related to the text. These parent-child reading sessions transformed the home through sharing values and opinions about family, identity, emotional support and freedom.

Elish-Piper, L. (1997). Literacy and their lives: Four low-income families enrolled in a summer family literacy program. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 40, 256–268.
This article describes a qualitative study of 13 low-income families who participated in a summer family literacy program. In her examination of families, the author was guided by the sociocontextual perspective that calls for looking at strengths and intact literacy patterns in families, (see Taylor, 1983; Taylor & Dorsey-Gaines, 1988; and Heath, 1983). Multiple data collection methods were used to obtain information through parent interviews, dialogue journals done by parents, field notes taken by the researcher and literacy artifacts. This article highlights four family profiles thought to represent the range of situations within the families. The four profiles include families in which (a) literacy was used to handle personal issues and challenges, (b) literacy activities emerged as the source of competition between parent and child, (c) revaluation of literacy activities took place, and (d) literacy activities were used to show nurture and support for one another. The author concludes that the families in the study all used literacy for meaningful purposes and these purposes differed based on the social-contextual factors within each family at that point in time. She
further concludes that the activities around literacy used by families were not necessarily the school-types of literacy that dominate family literacy curriculum.

Gamse, B. C., Conger, D., Elson, D. & McCarthy, M. (1997). Follow-up study of families in the Even Start In-depth Study. Final report. Cambridge, MA: Abt Associates, Inc.
This report discusses the findings of a study designed to follow-up the children of families studied in the original In-Depth Study (IDS) done in the first National Even Start Evaluation. In the IDS, families from five sites were randomly assigned to either Even Start programs or a comparison group. For the follow-up study, data was collected on 128 of the 179 children (72 percent) included in the random assignment group of the IDS. The majority of the children in the follow-up study were in the first or second grade. Data was collected from school records and included attendance rates, grades and achievement tests. In addition, information was obtained from school staff on school-level policies. The authors report that the school environments attended by both the intervention and comparison groups were relatively homogenous. There were no significant differences between the Even Start and comparison group for level of participation in special programs. There was great variation in the type of achievement tests given as well as the purpose of administering the test. However, when children were given the same test, no significant differences were found. No grade differences were found between the two groups when controlling for a number of child and family variables. While the average rate of participation did not differ for children in Even Start and the comparison group, the average tardy rate was significantly less for the Even Start children. The authors conclude by explaining that these findings are not surprising, because programs demonstrating significant effects used a wider variety of measures and had a longer duration between completion of the program and follow-up studies. They suggest that with a longer interval and more comprehensive measures, "meaningful differences" may emerge.

Handel, R. D. (1999). Building family literacy in an urban community. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
This book reports on the Partnership for Family Reading, an intergenerational literacy program developed by the author and implemented through a collaboration between Montclair State University and the Newark, NJ school system. Handel first discusses the "multiple meaning of family literacy" and provides descriptions of a variety of family literacy programs before discussing the development and implementation of the Partnership for Family Reading. Based on interviews conducted by the author, narratives are provided to give the reader insight into the women who participated in the program. Individual chapters focus on the teachers of the family literacy program as well as home-school connections. Further, Handel discusses issues such as gender, class, race, and new welfare regulations in relation to family literacy and family literacy programs.

Levin, M., Gamse, B., Swartz, J., Tao, F., & Tarr, H. (1997). National evaluation of the Even Start Family Literacy Program: Report on Migrant Even Start Projects. Bethesda, MD: Abt Associates and Fu Associates. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 411 118).
This report evaluates three Even Start Migrant Education Programs: the Arizona Migrant Even Start Project, the Pennsylvania Migrant Even Start Project, and the Wisconsin Migrant Even Start Project. Discussion of each project includes: program structure and administration, characteristics of the communities served, family recruitment, content and delivery of services, staff characteristics, service component coordination, participation and follow-up strategies, evaluation of Even Start Information System, and conclusions. The challenges faced by programs are as follows: hiring qualified staff, adapting service delivery to families' schedules, interagency collaboration, continuity of services between home base and receiving site, providing support services, dealing with isolation in the community, and obtaining Spanish language curriculum. Recommendations from this report include: increase collaboration across Even Start sites, encourage communication between migrant Head Start and Even Start programs, provide more technical assistance, and provide opportunities for Migrant Even Start projects to share experiences with other Even Start Projects.

Levin, M., Moss, M., Swartz, J., Khan, S., & Tarr, H. (1997). National evaluation of the Even Start Family Literacy Program: Report on Even Start Projects for Indian tribes and tribal organizations. Bethesda, MD: Abt Associates and Fu Associates. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 415 084).
This report presents an evaluation of three tribal Even Start projects: The Cherokee Nation Even Start Project, Makah Even Start Project, and Pascua Yaqui Even Start Project. The Cherokee Nation Even Start Project was based on home-based services and the Makah Pascua Even Start Projects implemented a combination of home-based and center-based services. The report covers the following: community characteristics (economics, education, health), family recruitment, staff characteristics, content and delivery of services, coordination of service components, participant and follow-up strategies, project impacts, and features important to success and challenges faced.

Morrow, L. M., & Young, J. (1997). A family literacy program connecting school and home: Effects on attitude, motivation, and literacy achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 736–742.
This study investigated the effects of connecting home and school literacy by involving parents in developmentally appropriate and culturally sensitive literacy activities with their children. Fifty-four children in first, second or third grades were randomly assigned to either a combined home and school based or school-based intervention. The school based program included classroom literacy centers, teacher modeled literacy activities, and WRAP (Writing and Reading Appreciation for Students) time. The home based program provided additional parent-child literacy activities similar to the school based activities. Differences between pre- and post-test achievement and motivation data favored children in the combined school and home based program.

Neuman, S. B., Hagedorn, T., Celano, D., & Daly, P. (1995). Toward a collaborative approach to parent involvement in early education: A study of teenage mothers in an African-American community. American Educational Research Journal, 32, 801–827.
This qualitative study explored beliefs about children's literacy and learning held by 19 African-American teenage mothers participating in a family literacy program. Even within this relatively similar group, parents held a variety of beliefs on their role and their child's role in learning and literacy. Further, parents varied on general beliefs about learning and literacy and schooling. Although parents varied in their perspectives, the authors also noted that mothers held shared goals demonstrated through four quotations: (1)"You gotta teach them something;" (2)"I want my child to be safe;" (3)"A good teacher is keeping that respect;" and (4)"What I'm doing, I'm doing for her." The authors stress that practitioners and researchers need to be careful not to view ethnic or cultural groups as homogenous in their beliefs. Through developing collaborative relationships between parents and staff that acknowledge the importance of parent beliefs, partnerships can be established to promote children's success in school.

Philliber, W. W., Spillman, R. E., & King, R. (1996). Consequences of family literacy for adults and children: Some preliminary findings. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 39, 558–565.
This study describes the Toyota Families for Learning Program which employs the Kenan Model developed by the National Center for Family Literacy. This family literacy program is compared to both adult-focused education programs and child-focused education programs to determine whether family literacy programs are more effective than those programs that focus on just one generation. Although these results are preliminary, all the outcomes measured for both adults and children, more gains were made in the family literacy program. The author also offers insight into why this difference may exist.

Ponzetti, J. J., & Dulin, W. (1997). Parent education in Washington State Even Start Family Literacy Programs. Early Childhood Education Journal, 25(1), 23–29.
The authors argue that parent education is the most critical component of family literacy yet it is the most elusive in the literature. The purpose of this study was to understand and document parent education practices in Even Start Family Literacy Programs. In 1991–92, the 24 Even Start Programs in Washington state were asked to complete a survey on the educational preparation of instructors, the content of parenting education classes, as well as the methods used by parent education teachers. The findings are based on responses from 16 sites. The programs focused on parents and their unique needs, provided services in a variety of settings for easy access, and educated parents about their influences in the practices of family literacy. The authors discuss the importance of state mandates to guide parenting education efforts. They conclude by noting that quality parenting education efforts need not be to the detriment children's education programs. The programs that responded appeared to be able to provide parent education without neglecting the education of children.

Popp, R. J. (1991). Past and present educational experiences of parents who enrolled in Kenan Trust Family Literacy Programs. Louisville, KY: National Center for Family Literacy.
This document examines the education, both past and present, of 34 parents who had dropped out of high school and were enrolled in 5 Kenan Trust Family Literacy programs in Kentucky and North Carolina. More than half of the respondents had been previously enrolled in adult education courses from which they had dropped out before completing the high school equivalency certificate. The study was conducted to determine the reasons participants had dropped out of high school and why they had subsequently enrolled in adult education programs. Results indicated that the main underlying cause of school dropout was a process of disengagement from schooling that the respondents began to experience as early as the transition from elementary to middle school. This alienation also played a large role in the dropout of participants from adult education programs, in which they had enrolled primarily to get their GED. The author of this document states that a chief reason participants remained in family literacy programs was that these programs addressed their sense of alienation, enabling them to identify with schooling.

Puchner, L. D. (1997). Family literacy in cultural contexts: Lessons from two case studies. (Technical Report TR97–01). Philadelphia, PA: National Center on Adult Literacy. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 412 376).
Three sets of assumptions usually generalize across numerous models of family literacy programs in the U.S. First, these programs assume that literacy flows in a unidirectional path from parent (usually mother) to child. Second, programs assume certain literacy interactions occur in the home. For example, children develop strong literacy skills in the home because parents provide children with opportunities to engage in school-like activities. Third, these programs assume that becoming literate affects families positively. However, Puchner argues that the ability to become literate in a language can significantly impact, change, and may even breakdown existing community and family structures. In two case studies—one of Southeast Asian immigrants in the U.S. and another of four villages of southern Mali—the author provides empirical evidence to question the appropriateness of these assumptions. Puchner concludes with recommendations for flexible approaches to family literacy, the understanding of positive and negative effects of literacy programs on communities, and the need to integrate and implement evaluation into family literacy program components.

Riedinger, S. (1997). Even Start: Facilitating transitions to kindergarten. Washington, DC: US Department of Education, Planning and Evaluation Service, Office of the Undersecretary.
The purpose of this report was to document and describe effective kindergarten strategies used by Even Start projects, as well as to develop recommendations for the U.S. Department of Education, other federal agencies, and early childhood and parenting education programs who have an interest in the transition to kindergarten. Data was analyzed through the Even Start Information System. Qualitative data was also collected and analyzed through visits to five Even Start projects with transition programs perceived as being high quality. The transition services described were specifically designed to support families as children moved to kindergarten and included such approaches as kindergarten orientation, educating parents about transition services, and meeting with school staff about children's strengths and needs. Approaches considered successful across the Even Start projects include emphasizing family strengths, developing and maintaining long-term relationships with families, empowering families to identify their needs, and being flexible in providing services. Difficulties of transition projects are also discussed, as well as recommendations.

Rodriguez-Brown, F. V., & Mulhern, M. M. (1993). Fostering critical literacy through family literacy: A study of families in a Mexican-immigrant community. Bilingual Research Journal, 17, 1–16.
This article presented a study on Project FLAME (Family Literacy Aprendiendo, Mejorando, Educando [Learning, Improving, Educating]), a family literacy program aiming to increase the literacy skills of 3- to 5-year-old children by working with their Mexican-immigrant parents. This program offered four components. Literacy modeling helped parents become literacy models for their children. The literacy opportunity component showed parents how to increase the availability of literacy materials for their children and the literacy interaction component assisted parents in learning how to engage their children in literacy activities. Last, the home school relationships component encouraged parent involvement with the school. Through case studies, interviews, and anecdotal evidence, the authors demonstrated that Project FLAME assisted parents in helping with their children's literacy skills. The authors argue that through helping parents develop their functional literacy skills (literacy skills to meet individual needs for functioning in society), critical literacy is fostered so that families can become empowered to make changes in their lives and their community.

St. Pierre, R., Ricciuti, A., & Creps, C. (2000). Synthesis of state and local Even Start evaluations. Washington, DC: US Department of Education.
Commissioned by the U.S. Department of Education, the objective of this synthesis was to report on the presence and nature of Even Start Family Literacy Program state and local evaluations that exist. Specifically, this study reviews state and local evaluation through describing the types of evaluations conducted, summarizing the findings of these evaluations, and developing recommendations for improving state and local evaluation practices. Information for the evaluations was requested during the 1996–97 school year. Because the process of obtaining evaluation reports proved to be difficult, this study had a sample of convenience which examined closely 24 "high quality" evaluations. This report found a diversity of local evaluation methods, an indication that projects used evaluation funds for primary concerns to the local project. The authors also discussed the inherent conflict of multilevel (i.e., local, state, and national) evaluation that Even Start faces. Further, the authors discuss the influences of the evaluation's design (i.e., age of project, amount of funds). This report concludes with a list of recommendations for local and state evaluations.

St. Pierre, R., & Swartz, J.P. (1995). The Even Start Family Literacy Program. In I.E. Sigel (Series Ed.) & S. Smith (Vol. Ed.), Advances in applied developmental psychology: Vol. 9. Two generation programs for families in poverty: A new intervention strategy (pp. 37–66). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
This article provides a well-detailed overview of the Even Start program and the Even Start National Evaluation conducted by Abt Associates. After describing the history of the development of family literacy programs, the authors define core components as well as describe a comprehensive model placing Even Start in the context of population, community, and service characteristics. A description of the National Even Start Evaluation is also provided. Some highlighted areas from the Evaluation include: characteristics of Even Start participants, descriptions of core services (early childhood education, adult education, and parent and child time together), home-based services, support services and special events, service integration, program participation, recruitment strategies, retention strategies, and participation rates.

St. Pierre, R., Swartz, J., Gamse B., Murray, S., Deck, D., & Nickel, P. (1995). National evaluation of the Even Start Family Literacy Program: Final report. Bethesda, MD: Abt Associates, Inc.
The Even Start Family Literacy Program was authorized in response to the conceptualization of "family literacy" that united two previously separate areas of adult education and early childhood education. This report presents a 4-year national evaluation of the Even Start Family Literacy Program (1989–92) and provides detailed information about the first four cohorts studied in the project. The 13 chapters discuss the following: (1) background information on the program; (2) program design and the components of evaluation; (3) characteristics of families and project activities; (4) the population served by Even Start; (5) characteristics of Even Start projects and staff; (6) the depth of Even Start services; (7) their approach to the assessment of effects; (8) effects on children served by Even Start; (9) effects on parent literacy; (10) effects on parenting skills; (11) effects on the family as a whole; (12) the cost of Even Start; and (13) a summary and conclusions. The conclusions drawn in this report address only the short-term effects of the Even Start project on families. The authors recommend a longitudinal study to examine the long-term impact of the program.

Tao, F., Gamse, B., & Tarr, H. (1998). National Evaluation of the Even Start Family Literacy Program, 1994–1997 Final Report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Planning and Evaluation Service.
This final report for the second national Even Start evaluation covers the program years 1993–97. During this time period, the number of projects participating increased from 439 to 605. At least 90 percent of projects submitted data on participant characteristics, services, implementation, costs and participant outcomes for analysis in the Universe Study for each year of the study. For the most part, the programmatic trends reported in the first evaluation remained constant. In addition, 57 Even Start projects were selected to submit more comprehensive data on child cognition, adult educational progress, and parenting education. Following new families for up to 3 years beginning in 1993, participant outcomes were determined based on pretest-posttest differences and growth curve analysis. Children continuing to participate in Even Start made greater gains than expected on the basis of development alone. The educational gains for adults in Even Start were modest and comparable to those seen in the first evaluation and other adult education programs. Positive gains were seen in scores in parenting education for parents with children between birth and 3 years of age
and parents with children ages 3 through 6.

Tao, F., Swartz, J., St. Pierre, R., & Tarr, H. (1997). National evaluation of the Even Start Family Literacy Program: 1995 interim report. Washington, DC: US Department of Education Planning and Evaluation Service.
This report discusses the second national 4-year (1993–97) evaluation of the Even Start Family Literacy Program at the completion of its second year (1994–95). Data from a sample of 57 out of 513 programs across the U.S. operating during 1994–95 were used for the evaluation. The report addresses several key issues in its 10 chapters, beginning with an introduction to the Even Start Program and description of both the previous and current evaluation. A comprehensive description of the Even Start families is included as well as ways in which these families are served by the program and participant use of services. One chapter addresses whether or not those families in greatest need were served by and benefited from Even Start. Next, educational and developmental outcomes are provided for the 57 projects in the Sample Study. A discussion of how the findings relate to the results of the first 6 years of the program and ways in which these outcomes vary as a function of participant and project characteristics are included. The report concludes with a discussion of technical, administrative, and other issues involved in the implementation of Even Start programs as well as important evaluation findings.

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