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

National Evaluation of The Even Start Family Literacy Program, 1998

Chapter 5

How Are the Core Educational Programs Integrated?

The integration of instructional activities across the three core service areas to encourage "value-added" services is one of the philosophical cornerstones of Even Start. Successful integration is expected to result in curricula that are more meaningful and useful to the whole family as a unit.

Project sites were asked the extent to which pairs of the core components are provided in the same setting, provided by the same instructors, accomplished through parallel activities, or planned for a whole family together in their program.69 Repeating the findings from previous years, a majority (71 percent) of projects in 1996-97 integrated parenting and adult education services through joint family activities (Exhibit 5.13). Seventy-eight percent "usually" or "always" used this approach to integrate parenting education and early childhood education services.

Exhibit 5.13: Percent of Project Sites, by Nature of Integration of
Even Start Core Services "Always/Usually" (1996-97)

Exhibit reads: In 1996-97, 71 percent of Even Start project sites integrated parenting and adult education curricula by conducting activities involving the whole family.

The second most common approach to integration was to provide services in the same setting. Using this method, 67 percent of project sites integrated parenting and adult education; 58 percent integrated parenting and early childhood education; and 43 percent integrated adult and early childhood education. Overall, adult education and early childhood education were the least likely to be integrated, reflecting the disparity in curricular content between, for example, GED preparation classes and educational activities for preschool children.

Projects also reported the hours per month that they integrate adult education with parenting education. In 1996-97, as in the previous three years, these two instructional components were integrated an average of twelve to thirteen hours per month, approximately one-third of the total adult education hours offered.

Footnotes:

69 Services provided at the same setting refer to instructional activities conducted in the same physical setting (e.g., school building, classroom, or participant's home); these services may or may not be designed as parent-child joint activities.

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