This Seminar guide is part of NCSALL's (National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy's) effort to help connect research and practice in the field of adult education and family literacy. The purpose of the three-hour seminar is to help practitioners, program directors, state staff, and other policymakers read and discuss NCSALL's…

This book addresses family literacy as a theoretically sound field of research and practice that can be used to improve literacy worldwide. The book's 14 chapters are divided into four sections. Following the "Introduction" (Andrea DeBruin-Parecki and Barbara Krol-Sinclair), under Section I--Theoretical Perspectives Related to Family…

Literacy is power--the power to improve one's life and shape one's community. All people should know how to read and write, yet 771 million people (18 percent of the world's population) are illiterate. The programs described in this booklet address this challenge. They are samples of a few of the many hundreds of excellent programs around the…

Two pamphlets (one in English and one in Spanish) describe the Nevada Even Start (NEST) program, a home-based system designed to help parents become full partners in the education of their children and to help children and parents reach their full potential as learners. The pamphlets note that the program intends to break the cycle of…

The U.S. Senate conducted a hearing consisting of two panels: the first panel discussed overcoming reading difficulties with a primary focus on children and the second panel focused on reading and literacy outreach activities that are ongoing in the U.S. After opening statements of the Hon. James M. Jeffords, the Hon. Edward M. Kennedy, and the…

In preparation for reauthorization of Even Start and other Federal education programs, these hearings transcripts recount testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce concerning the Even Start and family literacy programs. Testimony was presented by: (1) the president of the National Center for Family Literacy, giving…

This book is designed to clarify the finer points of implementing family literacy programs, developing curriculum, and meeting the needs of adults, children, and families, while providing resources for effective family literacy programs. It is an answer book to many of the questions the National Center for Family Literacy is asked most often. Each…

Achievement data from the 2002-2003 school year for public schools with poverty rates of 40% or greater in the state of Indiana are presented as required for State formula grant programs authorized by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). Tables present the number of schools…

Discusses the importance of family literacy. Highlights include daily reading at home before children go to school; the home/school connection; examples of successful programs implemented by school library media specialists; and ideas from the National Center for Family Literacy for starting family literacy programs, including community needs,…

Suggests that the competitive economy of education has led to particular ways of implementing family literacy and a view of families as education consumers rather than users. Notes literacy education thus is used for reproduction of school-based literacy usage and cultural norms. (SK)

Examines children's motivation for reading in relation to parental beliefs and home literacy experiences. Reveals that the beginning readers had generally positive views about reading and that no differences in motivation were associated with income level, ethnic, or gender. Demonstrates the importance of looking beyond quantitative indices of…

Compares children's scores on a reading and language inventory to parents' responses to questions about the home literacy environment. Finds that some parents provided a positive literacy environment for their children. Notes that children with higher scores are more likely to have parents who provided their children with a rich literacy…

Finds that the supportive environment of "women helping women" was the hallmark characteristic of a local Even Start family literacy program and that participants were not consciously thinking about family literacy but joined the program for themselves and gave no indication of seeing the connection between the adult literacy component…

Examined contribution of home reading practices to school reading achievement of European American and Hispanic second graders. Found that how often and with whom children read, and child's initiation of reading were related to reading achievement. Relations were more pronounced for European American boys and Hispanic girls, less so for Hispanic…

This study assessed the emergent literacy skills of 48 4-year-old migrant Mexican American preschoolers in their dominant language and evaluated the amount of literacy exposure in the home and the Head Start program. Results suggested that although both environments influence emergent literacy skills, the home literacy environment has the greatest…