Citation: Ricciuti, A.E., R.G. St.Pierre, W. Lee, A. Parsad & T. Rimdzius. Third National Even Start Evaluation: Follow-Up Findings From the Experimental Design Study. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance. Washington, D.C., 2004. Background: The Even…

Living in an age of communication, literacy is an extremely integral part of our society. We are impacted by literature during our infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. "Literacy for the New Millennium" includes information from specialists in the field who discuss the influence of popular culture, media, and technology on…

The 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) assessed the English literacy skills of a nationally representative sample of more than 19,000 U.S. adults (age 16 and older) residing in households and prisons. NAAL is the first national assessment of adult literacy since the 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey. Three types of literacy were…

The "Fiscal Year 2008 Illinois Community College System's Performance Report" contains summary information about state and common institutional outcome indicators. External comparative benchmarks are cited whenever possible using the latest available data--national reporting typically trails what is available at the state level.…

This issue of "Focus On" provides an overview of several key early literacy components: phonemic awareness, alphabet knowledge, concepts of print, oral language development, writing, family literacy, and reading aloud. Suggestions for assessing early literacy development are provided, and examples of implementation of effective early literacy…

The purpose of this publication is to present Iowa's adult literacy program approved projected benchmark percentage levels for Program Year 2006 (July 1, 2005-June 30, 2006). The passage of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) [Public Law 105-220] by the 105th Congress has ushered in a new era of collaboration, coordinator, cooperation and…

There is a growing ideological divide in the field of family literacy between programs that are striving to colonize families with middle-class European-American literacy practices, and those based on Freire's philosophy which works toward affirming diverse family literacy practices. The Freirean alternative includes "culture circles" for the…

Creating meaningful links between home and school is a particular concern of teachers and families. As classroom teachers, Betty Shockley and Barbara Michalove heard their students talk often about home literacy events. They wanted to find a way to learn what families valued and practiced, and they wanted to communicate to families how their…

The study described in this issue of "Look at Even Start" evaluated the Staff Mentoring Sites program, a mentoring program provided as technical assistance in Even Start family literacy programs. Staff from five Even Start programs with successful family recruitment and retention records were selected as mentors. Requests for nominations…

Part 1 of a two-part handbook presents course information, reading materials, and sample exercises for a distance education course designed to enhance an understanding of the nature of family literacy needs and to show how to develop and teach in family literacy programs. The first section discusses the structure of the course, the assessment…

This paper investigates existing research about the strengths and weakness of current family literacy programs and presents a 98-item list of family literacy activities across the curricula for adult educators to promote intergenerational literacy. Educational experts feel that family literacy programs need more evaluation, and that the…

This report describes a summer project using children's literature as a teaching tool in the literacy section of the Family Literacy Reading Project. The idea for the project arose in response to a need for other resources for the English-as-a-Second-Language program and to students' desire to read to their children and grandchildren as one…

A project was conducted to help parents in adult literacy classes learn how to help their children with mathematics. During the project, numerous kits were created for parent and child to sign out and take home. The kits contain all the materials needed for a mathematical activity, including the mathematics concept targeted in the kit and…

Designed to be used independently by parents or other family members with their preschool or kindergarten-age children, this book presents (in easy-to-read cartoon-style letters) specific ideas for developing literacy skills during day-to-day activities. The book provides practice for children in the following skills: 1) life skills (such as…

In light of research confirming the important effects of parents' literacy skills on their children's eventual acquisition of literacy skills, a project was undertaken in the Altoona Area School District in Blair County, Pennsylvania, to provide basic literacy training to a group of Head Start parents who were unable to read and who were not…