A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

I.    Literacy Development During the Preschool Years

Workshop 4
Promoting Language and Literacy Growth: Family Literacy

Speakers:
Fran Tracy-Mumford, State Supervisor, Adult and Community Education, Department of Public Instruction, Dover, Delaware

Andrew E. Hayes, Director of Research, Department of Specialty Studies, School of Education, University of North Carolina—Wilmington, Wilmington, North Carolina

Scholley Bubenik, Coordinator of Taylor Even Start, Taylor Independent School District, Taylor, Texas

Moderators:
Ronald S. Pugsley, Director, Division of Adult Education and Literacy, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education

Patricia McKee, National Even Start Family Literacy Director, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, U.S. Department of Education

Abstract:
Research with preschool children has demonstrated that: (1) adult-child shared book reading that stimulates verbal interaction can enhance language development and knowledge about concepts of print; and, (2) activities that direct young children’s attention to the sound structure within spoken words (e.g., play with songs and poems that emphasize rhyming, jokes, and games that depend on switching sounds within words), and to the relations between print and speech, can facilitate learning to read. Other preschool abilities, such as identifying letters, numbers, shapes, and colors, may correlate with future reading achievement, but neither research findings nor theories of reading are available to support the notion that they have a causal link to learning to read.

This workshop will discuss components of successful family literacy programs. The workshop will be led by a panel of five experts in the fields of family literacy and adult education and the Even Start Family Literacy program. The speakers and moderators will examine the role parents and caregivers play in the language-literacy growth of children as well as strategies that can be used to assist and encourage adults with low level literacy skills to read to their children. Additionally, collaboration among educators, human service professionals, and the private sector in local communities has been shown to be a critical element in thriving family literacy programs. Participants and speakers will have the opportunity to exchange experiences, initiatives and ideas for creating collaborative partnerships. Participants will have access to publications and Internet addresses related to family literacy, adult education and Even Start Family Literacy programs.

Notes

On behalf of the Reading Summit, Mr. Pugsley welcomed a crowded room of participants to the workshop and introduced his co-moderator, Patricia McKee, and the panel.

Mr. Pugsley highlighted passages from Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children that illustrate the importance of a literacy-rich home environment on preparing children to learn. This information was related to Level 1 adults from the National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS), published in 1993. These adults (see accompanying map) have minimal literacy skills and are ?at risk? in their ability to create a literacy-rich environment for their children.

Ms. McKee explained how the Even Start Family Literacy Program addresses four of the eight National Education Goals: all children will start school ready to learn; all children will demonstrate competency over challenging subject matter; every adult will be literate, be competitive in a global economy, and exercise responsible citizenship; and every school will promote partnerships that will increase parental involvement and participation. Core components that focus on the family are: early childhood education, adult education, parent and child together, parenting education, and home instruction. Even Start?s purpose is to help break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy and should help those most in need. Factors that must be considered are low income and low adult literacy skills or English language proficiency in conjunction with any State requirements. Parents are eligible for adult basic education under the Adult Education Act or if they have children who are within compulsory school attendance age. The child or children are eligible from birth through age seven. Once eligible at intake, participants remain eligible until all family members become ineligible. Even Start is an educational intervention and full participation among all collaborators is necessary for it to succeed in its mission. The National Evaluation of Even Start Programs (1997) states, ?The amount of instruction received by Even Start participants was related positively to nearly all outcomes measured.?

Ms. Bubenik said that the Taylor Even Start Family Literacy program is located in a small rural community of 13,000 people. Located 35 miles northeast of Austin, Texas, the program serves between 60-75 families per year and is beginning its sixth year. Seventy-five percent of its families are Hispanic and 60 percent are primary Spanish-speakers. Facilities include an adult education classroom, a family literacy building which houses a computer lab, a lending library, and a Child Development Center which is licensed for 34 children. These facilities are located at the high school and the program is sponsored by the local school district.

Ms. Bubenik went on to discuss practices in the Taylor Even Start Family Literacy program that support research in Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children, particularly in early childhood and parenting components. The early childhood component includes classes at the Child Development Center for children birth through age three. Classes are offered five days per week and children attend the center while their parent(s) are attending school. The early childhood component is also apparent in home visits that are conducted twice a month for full time students and monthly for part-time students.

Current research indicates that children, especially those at risk for reading difficulties, should have access to early childhood environments that promote language growth. For those visiting the Child Development Center, the following indicators can be found:

• age-appropriate books: in all rooms, beginning with infant cloth and vinyl books to preschool quality literature;
• lap reading;
• shared reading activities: for older children, this might include small group story time, reading labels around the room;
• open-ended questions: posted on walls to promote conversation;
• use of print: labels for everything;
• songs, finger plays, nursery rhymes;
• adult-child interaction: view staff and parents participating in frequent interaction with the children;
• a program that addresses the whole child: emphasizing all areas of development to include cognitive, social and physical progress.

The parenting component is what differentiates the Even Start Family Literacy Program from traditional early childhood programs. It is the thread that weaves all components together. The Taylor Even Start Family Literacy Program consists of a variety of activities based partially on what research states that parents need to know and also based on individual and group needs and interests. Primarily these activities include the following:

• Parents and Children Together (PACT)
• at home: home learning activities, book sharing, discussions;
• daily at the Child Development Center: parents work in the learning center with their children;
• public library: read together and participate in story time and crafts.

Core components of the Taylor Even Start Family Literacy Program are supports for literacy and an enriched verbal environment (see chart below).

Supports for Literacy
Provide child with easy access to reading and writing materials	Lending library Use of public library School boxes Journal writing Book making Home visits; distribute books Store items Writing briefcase Bucket of books
Read frequently and use reading and writing for getting things done	Adult summer reading program Parenting classes (environmental print and writing activities in the home) Writing lists Adult education writing activities Journals
Exhibit an enthusiastic view of reading as fun	reading incentive program parenting classes select appropriate reading materials staff enthusiasm select books over toys family literacy events living books computer program

Enriched Verbal Environment
Participate in frequent and complex verbal interactions with child	Parent and Child Together (PACT) Daily Activities Use of questions Frequent use of language during play Staff modeling interactions Adult Classes Debriefing sessions after PACT Parenting classes on language development Home Activities Home visit activities Meal time conversations
Actively engage in shared book reading	Book sharing Reading in the home Family library events Home visit activities Reading logs

Dr. Hayes reviewed program principles about young children and reading from research studies conducted by the National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL) and the designers of the Even Start Family Literacy Program. NCFL and designers of Even Start adopted a model for comprehensive family literacy services that reflects the following principles:

Children will be successful in reading and in related literacy events if they have parents who:

• obtain pleasure from literacy learning, and demonstrate that pleasure to their children;
• engage in complex language usage with their children and use a rich variety of literacy activities with them;
• make literacy materials available to their children in the home;
• demonstrate high, but age-appropriate, expectations for their children?s communications;
• demonstrate pleasure from and value of playing with their children; and
• demonstrate use of language as a tool to solve problems.

Children who have the personal capacity to learn will be successful in schooling and in academic programs in school if they:

• enter kindergarten ready to learn and developmentally ready for kindergarten relationships and tasks;
• have parents who help their children with school and schooling; and
• have parents who become and remain engaged in the schools where their children attend.

Children in low-literate families will have their literacy needs served best by a high-quality, developmentally-appropriate, early childhood program that is enhanced by parents who:

• model the value of learning and being educated;
• develop capability and commitment to support and extend school services in the home; and
• participate in schools and schooling of their children as the children continue through grades or years in schools.

Dr. Hayes added that parents (or adult caregivers) need concrete experiences and significant reflective practice to develop the capability to use principles of child development, motivation, and support. Studies have shown the following:

• Parents of children served generally have not had success in schools nor favorable schooling experiences. Therefore, to become active in schools with their children, they need to experience successful relations with school people as people and not positions.
• Almost all enrolling parents had unhappy experiences as students in K-12 schools and most did not have personal identity with teachers or administrators while in school.
• Even if the parents consider education to be important, many do not think of schools as good places to be as places where they are comfortable or as places where they can be successful.
• Most parents had few strategies for relating to, or working with, schools in the education of their children.
• They did not tend to initiate cooperative work with the schools.
• A large proportion of the parents did not have skills in personal, social, and family problem-solving issues that would be socially acceptable in workplaces or in ?mainstream? society.
• A large percent of parents show little or no understanding of the role of parent as ?teacher,? had little understanding of child development, nor understanding of the effects of their language and interaction with the child on the child?s development.

Dr. Hayes added that children reflect conditions, norms, and values of the home setting and few parents have dependable support systems to take them through steps in the change from their current state to some desired one. Most of the parents had no history of setting important goals, working to accomplish them, and accomplishing them.

Additional research on family literacy shows that parents who enroll in family literacy programs are not homogeneous on characteristics that are important to:

• participation and engagement in programs;
• the types of services required to meet their needs; and
• outcomes that can be expected from their participation.

Literacy-related activities by children and parents and children together increased after participating in family literacy programs, even after periods as short as six months. Key indicators are:

• The variety of reading and writing activities by the parents with their children increased significantly.
• The variety of reading and writing materials kept in the homes increased significantly.
• The complexity of the language the parents use with their children increased significantly.
• Children?s requests for their parents to read with them increased significantly.
• Book and magazine reading by children increased by over 80% to more than once a day.
• Book reading by parents with their children increased by nearly 70% to about once a day.
• Library trips more than doubled to once every 2 to 3 weeks.
• Parents become engaged and remain engaged in the schooling of their children.

Parents are continuing their upward spiral of improvement after participating in high-quality Even Start Family Literacy Programs:

• 62 % for whom goal was appropriate received GED or other high school equivalency certificate;
• 50 % obtained a job or a better job;
• 40 % enrolled in some form of higher education or training programs;
• 42 % reduced the amount of public assistance they receive; and
• 3 % no longer receive public assistance.

HOWEVER! There are some conditions:

• The program design must match the needs of the audience that is to be served.
• The program processes must match the learning and engagement characteristics of the audience to be served.
• The programs must be as high in intensity and of enough duration to accomplish the goals set for them.
• The adopted program model must be implemented well enough to meet design standards.
• The implementing organization must adopt family literacy as a strategy and accept responsibility for the success of the programs.
• End the time when family literacy programs are ?projects?.

Dr. Tracy-Mumford told the audience about Impact of Adult Education and Family Literacy on the Family, a study conducted in Delaware and published March 1998. The study gives insight into how adult education impacts the early literacy level of children. She stressed that it was important for parents who have low levels of literacy to obtain adult education.

When they add to their literacy levels, the following changes in parents have been shown:

• Parents become literate.
• Parents value education more.
• Parents have higher expectations for their own and their children?s educational attainment level.
• Parents bring computers, computer skills into the home.
• Parents demonstrate effective study skills.
• Parents perceive themselves as role models.
• Parents set example by reading more, writing better, listening and speaking better.
• Parents increase use of local libraries.

Parents bring an increase of learning materials into their homes. Some examples are letter blocks, flashcards, children?s books, children?s magazines, and dictionaries.

In school-related issues, the study showed that:

• Parents increased their attendance at parent-child meetings at school.
• Parents increased note writing to school and there was an increase in notes between school and home.
• Parents helped their children with homework.
• Parents enrolled their children earlier in Kindergarten.

Television viewing habits changed. Parents decreased regular television viewing by 2.5 hours per day and increase educational television viewing.

In reading and communication, the following was observed:

• Parents increased reading to their children.
• Parents talked more to their children about their child?s school day.
• Parents generally talked more with their children.

The Delaware State Family Literacy study also found changes in fathers in the following ways:

• Fathers felt they set better examples for their children.
• Fathers initiated an increase in learning materials in their homes.
• Fathers had increased contact with their children?s school.
• Fathers? television viewing habits changed.

There was a checklist of ideas on items to pursue in local communities in participants? packets of literature on adult education and the Even Start Family Literacy Program. The list can be expanded as it suits a particular community: