A systems perspective of adult literacy assessment stresses use of comprehensive, holistic strategies. For literacy methods, systems theory emphasizes the holistic nature of the adult in relation to the complex web of systems. Systems theory applied to materials reflects the plurality of literacies and the need for a variety of materials. (SK)

A randomized experiment was conducted to test the effectiveness of Even Start, a federally supported family literacy program providing early childhood education, adult education, parenting education, and joint parent-child literacy activities to children and parents from low-literate families. The evaluation of 18 Even Start projects followed 463…

This book provides practical strategies and tools for assessing and teaching even the most hard to reach English language learners across the content areas. Syrja offers educators the latest information on working with ELLs (including using formative assessments) and provides a wealth of classroom-tested models and measures. These tools have…

The National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL) is addressing problems of evaluation of family literacy programs through portfolio assessment. Beginning in fall 1991, 15 programs began using portfolios to document parent-child interactions. This guide provides a description of the introduction of portfolio assessment into these programs and…

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…

A family literacy demonstration project was conducted to offer family literacy classes in three public schools in Philadelphia. Instruction was offered for 2.5 hours per day 4 days per week for parents of kindergartners and first graders from January to June and for parents and children together in July. The project was designed to help adults…

The following 22 research papers are included in this proceedings: "Relationships between Scholarly Activities of Teaching and the Scholarly Activities of Research" (Ahmed Khaled Ahmed and James McElhinney); "Making the Invisible Visible: British Caribbean Immigrant Women & Their Learning Experiences in Institutions of Higher Learning" (Mary V.…