Racial and ethnic diversity has increased dramatically over the past 35 years, enriching our public schools with students whose families embody a global village. Of the children born in the U.S. to at least one foreign-born parent, the majority are Hispanic. This is a pattern that reflects the recent rise of immigration from Latin America.…

Reflects upon the development, implementation and research of specific intergenerational family literacy initiatives in the Anglophone section of New Brunswick. Presents four initiatives and discusses working with the community, working in the neighborhood, and working within a university context. (SG)

This report briefly describes an intergenerational, interagency project in Lancaster and Lebanon counties of Pennsylvania. The project attempted to show that with training and group bonding, members of different generations reading preschool materials together for 8 weeks could change their attitudes and habits about reading in general and reading…

Family and intergenerational literacy programs are intended to improve the literacy of educationally disadvantaged parents and children, based on the assumption that improving the literacy skills of parents results in better educational experiences for their children. A typology for classifying family literacy programs has two dimensions: type of…

Implemented in September 1989, the Parents and Children Together project was intended to engage approximately 30 adult basic education (ABE) students in schooling to improve their skills as learners and, at the same time, involve them in the learning activities of their preschool children. A process and product evaluation was carried out on the…

A study examined the influence of an intergenerational approach on the literacy development of parents and on the practice of family literacy at home. During a 3-year period, 367 families enrolled in multilingual, multiability literacy classes for at least one instructional cycle. The adult basic education classes were held in a community center…

A demonstration project was conducted in three diverse, multiethnic Western Pennsylvania communities to use older adult tutors to improve Head Start parents' literacy skills so that these parents could aid and encourage the development of their own children's literacy. During the project, the partnerships in two Pennsylvania counties developed and…

These two documents discuss two related family literacy projects that were conducted to develop a model for providing sustained literacy and developmental activities to economically disadvantaged families throughout Pennsylvania. The first document details the development/implementation of the Families Reading Together program, which built upon…

A family literacy program was developed for families containing young children and learning-challenged adults whose limited reading skills made it impossible for them to read aloud to their children. The program's primary objective was to upgrade the parents' reading skills and knowledge of children's literature. The program was staffed by a…

An intergenerational literacy project involving economically disadvantaged parents, their preschool children, and preservice teachers was conducted at Eastern Montana College. Parents enrolled in the Head Start and Even Start programs attended sessions at which they were trained to be literacy tutors at training meetings and/or combination…

An evaluation was made of PACE (Parent and Child Education), a family literacy program initiated in Kentucky in 1986. PACE was created because of the widespread belief that the state has a serious problem with undereducation of its adult population and the belief also that this problem is the result of persistent patterns of educational failure…

An adult basic education (ABE) class was developed to help parolees of the Schuylkill County Prison develop reading, writing, and communication skills and use those skills in a community service project aimed at helping at-risk youth. Parolees were recruited into the project through county parole officers, and their reading, writing, self-esteem,…

This guide was developed during a demonstration project conducted in three diverse, multiethnic Western Pennsylvania communities to use older adult tutors as mentors to improve Head Start parents' literacy skills and ability to develop their children's literacy. The guide is intended to facilitate tutors' learning about family literacy and to give…

This guide describes various tutoring methods and supportive roles performed by volunteers in adult literacy programs. The practices described usually complement instruction in adult education and literacy classes as well as expand the delivery system of programs and services to the adult learner. The 25 practices described are grouped under the…

This article describes models of literacy education using the intergenerational approach. This approach attempts to teach both parents and children reading and writing, while also improving the parenting and job readiness skills of the parents. Several ongoing projects are described, such as the Kenan Trust Family Literacy Project in Kentucky and…