A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Introduction

In early 1995, staff members at the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) began a dialogue with researchers and practitioners on the subject of family literacy. What began as an informal trading of papers, articles, and other information, soon grew into a project and a mission. The purpose of the project was to bring together as much existing information on the subject of literacy--especially family literacy--as possible. The mission--the first federal effort of its kind to be attempted on a nationwide scale--was to take the existing research and life experience available now and to synthesize that information into a "road map" for practitioners, researchers, and for the millions of Americans who need our help to become full participants in society.

Providing educational support to any family, particularly to families who lack educational and economic resources, is an awesome challenge. It combines the need to establish a basis of support services with particular skills and strategies for dealing with a family's learning needs.

It has become increasingly clear that any family's stability and productivity are linked not only to employment and employability, but also to the education levels of family members. Some early childhood programs like Head Start and Even Start were designed to "break a cycle" before it began. Current family literacy research and practices focus attention on the proposition that the cycle of deprivation and distress that so often accompanies lower levels of literacy skills could at the very least be mitigated by effective interventions.

Family literacy can be thought of in at least two ways:

• as the set of oral, graphic, and symbolic means by which family members exchange and retain information and meaning; and

• as the general level at which family members use their writing, reading, computing, communication, and problem-solving skills to accomplish the various tasks of their daily lives.

Wherever the emphasis is placed, the goals of research and practice must ultimately be to further our understanding on family learning and improve the reading, writing, numeracy, communication, and problem-solving skills of both children and adults within the family. We recognize that the construction of a research agenda, therefore, must start with the assumption that any idea or program is only fundamentally sound when it has been tested. As yet, there is not a sufficient research base for existing programs in family literacy.

The changing demographics of the American family have presented many questions for which there are no easy answers. These questions involve

• the ways families acquire literacy and sustain literacy;

• the necessity of choosing and pursuing finite goals;

• the best ways to organize programs around those goals; and

• the most effective strategies for helping families achieve higher levels of literacy.

As we studied the extant work on family literacy and family literacy programs, it became apparent that we needed to help build bridges between family literacy and the existing research on family support, early childhood, special education, and adult learning research and practice.

In deciding to hold a symposium, we determined to take the first step in structuring an ongoing research agenda focused on family literacy. We designed a Research Design Symposium on Family Literacy to bring together practioners and researchers to discuss common themes and issues.

The symposium was designed around categories of questions that would help the participants focus their dialogue. The questions were designed to

• define and characterize the family and a family's literacy;

• conceptualize and structure family literacy programs;

• further define the target populations;

• distinguish a family support program from a family literacy program;

• identify needed and effective services to strengthen programs; and

• combine strategies and resources in effective collaborations to shape and move the dialogue thematically.

While there are excellent sources of research-based information on intervention programs in early childhood, the study of family literacy programs remains limited. This is not surprising, as such programs have been established as a separate area of study only in the past decade. With help from such organizations as the National Center for Family Literacy and the National Center on Adult Literacy, study and evaluation have, however, grown in size and immediacy. In fact, several family literacy program evaluations have provided initial insight into program effects and goals.

We chose distinguished practitioners to participate, and we commissioned 10 papers from leading research scholars that served as background reading for the symposium discussion. We selected the authors and their paper topics to present knowledgeable perspectives on diverse but relevant themes that would address the most pressing concerns of the various stakeholders in family literacy and related fields.

The papers are published here, along with a summary of the symposium. The authors and corresponding titles of their papers are listed below, with a short summary of each paper:

• Judith Alamprese, Integrated Services, Cross-Agency Collaboration, and Family Literacy. Two levels of coordination operate within family literacy programs: within the construction of the program itself, and federal or state coordination of funding. There is very little research on coordination, although a theoretical framework exists that could be tested.

• Richard Durán, English Immigrant Language Learners: Cultural Accommodation and Family Literacy. Programs must accommodate the clients' cultures; this is often a real issue with immigrant families for whom English is a second language. Literacy is not just language--it is also a cultural understanding of reality. Currently, there is a mismatch between the services offered to families and their real needs, although ethnography could be used to understand the challenges of these immigrant families. It is essential to understand the families who are the recipients of family literacy programs.

• Vivian L. Gadsden, Designing and Conducting Family Literacy Programs That Account for Racial, Ethnic, Religious, and Other Cultural Differences. Families have strengths, and realistic goals can be constructed based on reading, writing, and other basic skills. It is important to understand how cultures draw from various traditions, as well as how people define themselves within their culture. Something meaningful to the client must be presented within the context of family literacy.

• Beth Harry, Family Literacy Programs: Creating a Fit with Families of Children with Disabilities. Programs, when dealing with families having members with special needs, must be supportive and not interfere with the support systems that families have already constructed. Staff must both observe and participate in family life in order to identify problems and formulate solutions. To find what is most beneficial, we must consider the meaning of literacy, and how it can be used in tandem with families' already existing beliefs and practices.

• Andrew Hayes, Longitudinal Study of Family Literacy Program Outcomes. Longitudinal studies must be purposeful, and they must aim either to evaluate a program or to answer specific research questions. Researchers should focus on the problems, not the symptoms. They should consider the complexity of the audience, as well as whether they will focus on how people may make decisions, or how they will make decisions.

• Larry Mikulecky, Family Literacy: Parent and Child Interactions. Research shows which parental teaching strategies work better and which are less effective. How this information is used is critical. Family literacy can work, and does work, in some instances, with quality control. It does not work when resources are over-extended.

• Douglas Powell, Teaching Parenting and Basic Skills to Parents: What We Know. Programs designed to change parenting behavior indicate success in several different ways: allowing parents to integrate new ideas with pre-existing beliefs; acknowledging the relationship between parenting and other individual functioning; tailoring information and skills to the parents' reality, including their relationship with their children; keeping the focus on parenting; and providing long-term, intensive programs.

• Catherine Snow and Patton Tabors, Intergenerational Transfer of Literacy. What goes on in the family around literacy learning? Positive affect is important. Physical closeness and individual attention can contribute. Although a child's simple literacy skills may be sufficient for the first few grades of school, this does not always translate to the comprehension necessary by third grade. It is clear that different outcomes occur or manifest themselves at different stages, and that there are many levels for characterizing what happens between parents and children concerning literacy.

• Robert St. Pierre and Jean Layzer, Informing Approaches to Serving Families in Family Literacy Programs: Lessons From Other Family Intervention Programs. The research on family literacy programs shows that, while some small positive effects are in evidence among participating mothers and children, there are no large effects. The broader research on family interventions reveals that high-quality, high-intensity programs produce large effects. Family literacy should support programs aiming for large effects; although fewer clients will benefit, they will benefit more completely.

• Dorothy Strickland, Meeting the Needs of Families in Family Literacy Programs. Family needs must be identified and related to the program design. It is important to have a specific plan to address needs in an ongoing way. Also, programs should be client-driven, and clients should be involved in the evaluation process. Their needs mandate a flexible program structure.

This publication lays the foundation for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to continue constructing a family literacy research agenda. The agenda-setting process is ongoing and must continue so that we can broaden the knowledge base and improve services and outcomes for families.

L. Ann Benjamin
National Institute on Early Childhood Development and Education

Jerome Lord
National Institute on Postsecondary Education, Libraries, and Lifelong Learning

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[Acknowledgments]

[Summary of the Research Design Symposium on Family Literacy]