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

Section 5: Program Development, Assessment, and Evaluation Procedures

Holt, D.D. (1994). Assessing success in family literacy projects: Alternative approaches to assessment and evaluation. McHenry, IL: Delta Systems.
This handbook serves as a resource for staff members interested in evaluating family literacy projects as it presents alternative approaches to assessing and evaluating family literacy projects. Alternative approaches are defined as those that are flexible, represent the curriculum, are relevant to learners, and indicative of the abilities and knowledge acquired. Chapter two offers a model for integrating program planning, implementation and evaluation activities. Chapter three presents the use of initial assessments at intake of a family literacy project. Chapter four demonstrates the use of alternative assessment and evaluation for documenting learners' progress. Chapter five presents four alternative approaches to assessment and evaluation, and discusses the processes involved with collecting data, analyzing data, using data, and reporting data and findings. Chapter six provides a description of the process used to design this handbook.

Johnson, R. L., Willeke, M. J., & Steiner, D. J. (1998). Stakeholder collaboration in the design and implementation of a family literacy portfolio assessment. American Journal of Evaluation, 19(3), 339?353.
Despite the strong advocacy for stakeholder input in collaborative, participatory, and empowerment forms of evaluation, little is documented in the literature describing the involvement of stakeholders in the decisionmaking processes that occur in evaluation. This case study examines the implementation of portfolio assessment in an Even Start Family Literacy Program in Nebraska. Unique to this evaluation is the strong degree of collaboration between staff and evaluator. Staff and evaluators collaborated by (1) identifying what was to be assessed, (2) the decision of the use of the portfolio as a means of assessment, (3) designing the portfolio assessment, and (4) reviewing the portfolios. Participants in the family literacy program also assisted staff by selecting and collecting items to go into the portfolio. This article ends by offering several lessons learned from this collaborative evaluation experience.

Le Tendre, M. J. (1997). Strengthening the ties between Title I and family literacy. Journal of Education for Students Placed At Risk, 2, 3?5.
The author of this article provides suggestions on how Title I can support initiatives such as family literacy to enhance parent involvement. Because Even Start limits family involvement to families with children between the ages of 0 to 8, Title I funds can target family literacy initiatives for families with children older than 8 years. Schools can also use Title I monies to implement family literacy models or supplement existing programs. For example, Title I funds can be used for preschool services.

National Center for Family Literacy. (1996). Outcomes and measures in family literacy programs. Louisville, KY: Author.
This publication serves as a resource guide for the evaluation of family literacy programs. Developed by the National Center for Family Literacy, this manual focuses on evaluating those goals that are the embodiment of family literacy programs. To assist with planning program evaluation, the manual is divided into six sections. The first section is entitled "Important Terms and Concepts" and defines literacy, as well as family literacy, in order to identify the outcomes of family literacy programs. The second section, "Assessment Issues," describes the purpose and types of assessments. To aid in the selection of measures, the manual provides lists of advantages and disadvantages associated with different types of assessment. Section 3, "Participant Outcomes and Measures," provides a list of short- and long-term participant outcomes for each of the four components in a comprehensive family literacy program. Sections 4 through 6 provide lists of published instruments accompanied by summaries for measures pertaining to adult learner outcomes, parent and parent-child outcomes, and preschool child outcomes, respectively.

National Center for Family Literacy (1997). The family literacy answer book. Louisville, KY: Author.
The objective of this book is to address many of the questions that are often asked about implementing family literacy programs, developing curriculum, and meeting the needs of families. Another intention of this guide is to provide resources for effective family literacy programs such as lesson plans and a bibliography. This guide is divided into 10 chapters covering the following topics: collaboration, curriculum development, adult education, early childhood education, infants/toddlers, parent and child together time, parent groups, home visits, and component integration. The guide includes over 70 lesson plans involving adult education, early childhood education, parent and child together time, and parent groups.

National Center for Family Literacy. (1997). Funding a family literacy program. Louisville, KY: Author.
Funding a family literacy program is a 12-page guide offering a step-by-step process to secure funding. These steps include (1) developing a mission statement, (2) identifying the funding sources available to you, (3) presenting your case, (4) asking for support, (5) managing your funding, and (6) asking your funding agency for more support. This guide offers a beginning framework valuable to a family literacy program starting to think about funding.

Popp, R. J. (1992). Family portfolios: Documenting the change in parent-child relationships. Louisville, KY: National Center for Family Literacy. (ERIC Document Reproduction Services No. ED 342 819).
This guide proposes a method for family literacy programs to document the evaluation of parent-child relationships. The National Center for Family Literacy advocates the use of portfolios because this method enables parent-child relationships to be examined within a context that encompasses not only the change but how and why the change occurred. The purpose of this guide is to introduce and describe portfolio assessment, explain how to begin this type of assessment, and suggest how it can be implemented in family literacy programs. The author also includes a description of the three problems the National Center of Family Literacy has encountered in implementing portfolio assessment and suggestions for solving these problems. In addition, methods for analyzing and summarizing portfolios are discussed. Included in this guide is a reference list of articles discussing portfolio assessment as well as programs using portfolio assessment.

Quezada, S., & Nickse, R. (1992). Community collaborations for family literacy handbook. Boston, MA: Massachusetts State Board of Library Commissioners.
This handbook is the result of a 16-month project in which six Massachusetts communities worked on the development and implementation of a collaborative plan for family literacy. The goal of the project was to enable the public libraries in the participating communities to serve at-risk families through the development of a family literacy program. The handbook is divided into three major sections. The first provides general background on the history of family literacy and the family literacy initiative, as well as a discussion on the importance of collaboration and steps to consider when designing a collaborative project. Part two takes a more in-depth look at the collaboration process and makes specific suggestions on ways to best facilitate progress. Part three helps the reader through the step-by-step process of writing a successful literacy proposal. Appendixes include an analysis of the Massachusetts Community Collaborations for Family Literacy Project Model (the motivation behind this handbook). Also included is an extensive annotated family literacy resource guide for parents, teachers, and family literacy and community collaboration program development.

Ryan, K. E. (1991). An evaluation framework for family literacy programs. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 331 029).
This article presents a definition of family literacy programs, a conceptual framework by which components and goals of family literacy programs can be identified, and an evaluation model for family literacy programs. The evaluation outlined by the author includes a five-step approach: (1) needs assessment; (2) accountability; (3) process evaluation; (4) progress toward objective; and (5) program impact. The article applies this evaluation process to a family literacy program. Ryan argues for constructing a portfolio for assessments, which can include work samples selected by an instructor, samples selected by the participant, and universally required samples that can be compared against a normative sample. The author recommends using this portfolio instead of relying solely on standardized test results.

Thompson, L. W. (1988). Even Start: Factors to consider in planning an intergenerational literacy program. (ERIC Document Reproduction Services No. ED 321 227).
This document reviews literature pertaining to adult, preschool, and family literacy programs. In her discussion of adult literacy programs, Thompson identifies specific programs, as well as what makes these programs effective. With respect to preschool literacy programs, she highlights the importance of the family in a child's literacy development. She identifies two types of intergenerational family literacy programs in addition to several important factors to take into consideration when planning an Even Start program. Appendix A presents this information in an outline form.

Wolter, D. L. (1995). Becoming family literacy advocates in early childhood education. Early Education Journal, 23(2), 89?91.
This article discusses the important role that early childhood educators can play in promoting family literacy. Ways are addressed for early childhood educators to be sensitive and supportive of family literacy. Wolter emphasizes the need to (1) "Recognize that family literacy is highly individualized;" (2) "Provide nonjudgmental and confidential support;" and (3) "Use strengths as resources for literacy enrichment in the classroom."

Section 4: Program Descriptions

Section 6: Curriculum and Instruction