Assumptions about learner identity are often based on a deficit view of the working classes. This chapter illustrates an alternative discourse that shows how one family literacy program in Scotland generated useful knowledge.

Early reading experiences in the home prepare children for formal literacy instruction when they enter school. Most practitioners and researchers support the need for educational initiatives for increasing parents' involvement in early literacy. However, there is less of a consensus about how to develop family literacy models for Latino families.…

Different research on literacy demonstrates that the family has an important impact on literacy in general and it seems that there may be an inter-generational transfer of literacy level and reading habits within families. In order to compensate for lack of encouragement of reading at home, different initiatives have been developed involving work…

Literacy in the home is often judged as an inferior version of school literacy. In multilingual contexts, family literacy practices tend to be characterised as traditional and more reliant on oral than literate practices, with the children being seen as disadvantaged by the lack of parental literacy support. This paper argues that literacy…

The population of Spanish-speaking families in Iowa has increased dramatically over the last decade. Needs assessment activities identified the need to reach out to these families with Extension educational programs designed to increase parenting skills. Iowa State University Extension prepared family life specialists to implement such parent…

In keeping with a sociocultural view of children's literacy development, this study investigated the book reading behaviors of African American and Puerto Rican mothers and their Head Start children. Ten African American and 10 Puerto Rican mothers and their children participated. The communicative behaviors of the mothers and children produced…

My paper looks at "signatures" in the form of "ciphers" (kao) and other personal marks made on population registers, town rules, and apostasy oaths in the early seventeenth century to provide some empirical evidence of very high literacy among village leaders. The essay also argues, using the same data, that literacy had…

Based in a constructivist paradigm, socio-cultural views of literacy place a high degree of importance on how students connect to what they read. This means that instruction must follow constructivist principles and allow ample opportunity for discussion and learner-centered activities. In addition, this framework requires careful attention be…

The goal of the family literacy workshop "Reading Theatre, Parents as Actors: Movie production in a Family Literacy Workshop" is to empower and motivate parents to learn various storytelling strategies through theatrical production experiences and apply them at home. This is a theory-based family literacy practice supported by McClelland's…

This case study addresses a middle class family's role in their son's literacy development through an investigation of the socio-cultural practices that support his literacy acquisition. Rogoff's socio-cultural framework, which proposes three planes of analysis for observation of human development, is used for the analysis. The literacy practices…

This study examined whether parents who lack numeracy, literacy, or writing skills transmit their difficulty to their children. The study also sought to determine whether other family or child characteristics relate to children's basic skills; if child outcomes or predictors display between-family variation; and if child outcomes display any…

A study produced a profile of family literacy in Colorado to provide information on current services and baseline data for evaluating future development. Surveys were sent to 84 adult basic education (ABE) programs, 5 EvenStart programs (a national family-focused program), and 2 programs that were both ABE and EvenStart. Surveys were completed by…

Designed to increase awareness of family literacy programs, this project report deals with definitions of literacy, the research base, typology of family and intergenerational literacy programs, and evaluation of these programs. The report is designed to be a resource for teachers/practitioners and administrators/funders of family literacy…

This report describes the "Year of the Lifetime Reader" campaign, which focused on family literacy. The report has a threefold purpose: to review the events, projects, and activities that took place across the country; to stimulate thinking on how to make future campaigns even more effective; and to make available the ideas that have…

The federally funded Even Start Family Literacy Program supports local family-centered education projects intended to help families with young children break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy. This report documents the efforts of nine Even Start projects that demonstrate promising practices in serving infants and toddlers and their families. The…