Chapter 1
This is the final report of the second Even Start national evaluation. The report incorporates findings from interim analyses of data collected annually during the last four years as well as key findings from the first national evaluation. The findings are organized according to a simplified schematic (shown in Exhibit 1.4) of the Even Start conceptual model introduced in Exhibit 1.3. Exhibit 1.4 represents the general assumptions and expectations implicit in the Even Start program goals: Taking into account both the highly disadvantaged circumstances of participants and the level of resources available, higher intensity and quality of services provided to participants lead to greater and fuller participation and greater educational and developmental outcomes for participating families.
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Exhibit 1.4: Framework for Reporting the Even Start National Evaluation |
This general assumption or expectation guides the reporting of the national evaluation findings. Each chapter represents a building block to examine each component of the schema depicted above, all leading toward the examination of factors that contribute to higher participation rates (Chapter 6) and greater educational outcomes (Chapters 7 and 8).15
Following Chapter 2: Even Start National Evaluation, detailed descriptions of Even Start families, parents, and children are presented in Chapter 3: What Are the Needs of Even Start Families? The key issue addressed in Chapter 3 is: How well is Even Start reaching the most needy families in their communities? Participant characteristics discussed in Chapter 3 were included in the analyses of factors that are associated with families' participation rates and program outcomes.
Because Even Start projects have a wide latitude in how they implement their services, Chapter 4: What Resources Support the Even Start Services? examines the administrative contexts of Even Start projects, levels of funding, staffing patterns, and challenges to implementing Even Start services. Key issues discussed in this chapter were, in turn, used as measures of project characteristics when we examined factors that are related to families' participation rates.
Chapter 5: What Services Do Even Start Projects Provide to Participants? focuses on educational and support services Even Start projects offer to families. The guiding question for this chapter is: Does Even Start offer services of sufficient quality, intensity, and flexibility, accompanied by a wide range of support services? Various features of service delivery practices also were included in the analyses of participation rates.
Distinguishing between the services projects offer and the services in which families participate, Chapter 6: To What Extent Did Even Start Families Participate in the Services Offered? reports participation rates for parents and children in all components of the educational services. The guiding question for this chapter is: Taking into account various participant characteristics and levels of program resources, what aspects of services contribute to greater participation, retention, and completion rates?
Information presented in Chapters 3 through 6 converges on the issue of program outcomes to focus on the question: How much progress was achieved by parents and children participating in Even Start? What participant characteristics and programmatic features have contributed to the observed program outcomes?
Findings on participant progress over a two-year time period are presented in Chapter 7: What Are the Educational and Developmental Outcomes of Even Start Participants? and Chapter 8: Do Program Outcomes Vary Depending on Project and Participant Characteristics? expands on the preliminary findings reported in the 1995 and 1996 interim reports concerning the potential influence of various project characteristics and service delivery practices on participants' educational progress.
Finally, Chapter 9: Conclusions returns to the key research questions that have guided the second national evaluation. What have we learned from the past eight years of evaluation? What do the findings tell us about the development of the Even Start program? About its participants? What are the areas for future evaluation activities to continue to build the knowledge base about Even Start and family literacy programs in general?
Footnotes:
15 The schema in Exhibit 1.4 is intended as a visual guide in leading readers though this report; it is not a comprehensive representation of assumptions underlying the Even Start program.
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 [Part 5: Variations Upon the Basic Model] |
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 [Chapter 2: Even Start National Evaluation] |