ERIC ED427889: National Evaluation of the Even Start Family Literacy Program: 1994-1997 Final Report.

272 Pages·1998·4.9 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
PS 027 396
ED 427 889
AUTHOR Tao, Fumiyo; Gamse, Beth; Tarr, Hope
National Evaluation of the Even Start Family Literacy
TITLE
Program: 1994-1997 Final Report.
Fu Associates, Ltd.; Abt Associates, Inc., Bethesda, MD.
INSTITUTION
Department of Education, Washington, DC. Planning and
SPONS AGENCY
Evaluation Service.
PUB DATE 1998-00-00
275p.; For 1996 Interim Report, see ED 418 815. For the
NOTE
"Evidence from the Past and a Look to the Future" report,
see PS 027 397.
EA94068001
CONTRACT
AVAILABLE FROM U.S. Department of Education, Planning and Evaluation
Service, Room 6W314, FOB6, Washington, DC 20202-8240; Tel:
877-433-7827 (Toll Free); e-mail: [email protected]; Web site:
www.ed.gov
PUB TYPE Reports Evaluative (142)
EDRS PRICE MF01/PC11 Plus Postage.
Adult Education; Early Childhood Education; *Family
DESCRIPTORS
Literacy; *Literacy Education; Outcomes of Education; Parent
Education; Participant Characteristics; Program
Effectiveness; Program Evaluation; State Programs
*Even Start; Program Characteristics
IDENTIFIERS
ABSTRACT
The Even Start Literacy Program addresses the basic
educational needs of parents and children of low-income families by providing
(1) adult basic or secondary education and literacy
a unified program of:
(2) assistance for parents to effectively promote their
programs for parents;
children's educational development; and (3) early childhood education for the
children. This final report of the second national evaluation incorporates
findings from interim analyses of data collected annually during the last 4
years as well as key findings from the first national evaluation to assess
what aspects have changed and what have remained stable during the program's
8 years. Following an executive summary, the report's introduction examines
program growth during the past 8 years and principles of the Even Start
approach. The remaining chapters cover: (2) design and scope of the second
(4) what resources
national evaluation; (3) the needs of Even Start families;
support the Even Start services; (5) what services Even Start projects
(6) the extent to which Even Start families
provide to participants;
participate in the services provided;
(7) educational and developmental
(8) findings from the two evaluations; and (9) conclusions.
outcomes;
(1) children achieved significant gains in
Findings include the following:
(2) approximately 10 percent of adults attained a GED
cognitive development;
certificate while participating in Even Start in a given year;
(3) service
intensity, measured in hours of instructional services offered to
participants, has increased steadily during the 4 years of the second
evaluation; and (4) excluding families who left the program after having
completed their goals, 60 percent of families in 1996-97 were continuing
participation at the end of the program year (64 percent of new families; 54
The report's appendices
percent of families continuing from previous years) .
include Even Start legislation, additional data tables, multivariate analyses
+++++ ED427889 Has Multi-page SFR---Level=1 +++++
in chapters 5 and 6, and additional information about the sample study.
Contains 133 references.)
(HTH)
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U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Educational Research and Improvement
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION
CENTER (ERIC)
This document has been reproduced as
received from the person or organization
originating it
0 Minor changes have been made to
improve reproduction quality
Points of view or opinions stated in this
document do not necessarily represent
official OERI position or policy
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This report was prepared under the U.S. Department of Education, Contract Number
EA94068001. The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the position or policy
of the Department, and no official endorsement by the Department should be inferred.
This report was prepared under the U.S. Department of Education, Contract Number
EA94068001. The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the position or policy
of the Department, and no official endorsement by the Department should be inferred.
National Evaluation of
The Even Start Family Literacy Program
1994-1997 Final Report
1998
Prepared by:
Fumiyo Tao
Fu Associates, Ltd.
Beth Gamse
Abt Associates Inc.
Hope Tan
Consultant
Prepared for:
U.S. Department of Education
Planning and Evaluation Service
Permission to reprint this publication is not necessary, but the citation should be: National
Evaluation of The Even Start Family Literacy Program, 1994-1997 Final Report. 1998,
Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Planning and Evaluation Service. The
Report highlights are also available at the Department's home page at http://www.ed.gov.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an alternate format (e.g., Braille,
large print, audiotape, or computer diskette) on request. For more information, please contact
us at:
U.S. Department of Education
Planning and Evaluation Service
Room 6W314, FOB6
Washington, D.C. 20202-8240
http://www.ed.gov
E-Mail: [email protected]
Telephone: [phone]
Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern
time, Monday through Friday.
WLEDGMENTS
This report is the final product of the second national Even Start evaluation,
representing a tremendous amount of work performed by countless individuals
throughout the four years of the evaluation. By far, the most important
contributors were Even Start project directors, staff, and, in many cases, local
evaluators. Each year, they collected intake information on new families,
maintained participation records on all participants, and entered these data into
the data entry system. In addition, many state coordinators provided
encouragement and assistance to their projects and the evaluation contractors in
support of this effort. All of their efforts are deeply appreciated.
A special recognition is extended to the projects that participated in the Sample
Study. In addition to the data that all projects collected, these projects
administered assessment scales to families participating in the Sample Study and
maintained detailed participation records. These data were needed to address the
questions concerning program effectiveness.
Throughout this complex four-year evaluation, the U.S. Department of
Education staff provided valuable guidance and support to the evaluation
contractors. Special thanks are due to: the Contracting Officer's Technical
Representatives, including Robert Glenn, Tracy Rimdzius, and Barbara Vespucci
of the Planning and Evaluation Service (PES); Valena Plisko, also of PES; and
Donna Campbell, Laura Chow, Regina Kinnard, Patricia McKee, DonnaMarie
Marlow, and Wei-min Wang of the Office of Elementary and Secondary
Education.
The Expert Work Group, which represents the academic, research, and
practitioner communities related to Even Start, contributed chtical insights and
feedback on the conceptual and methodological approaches of the second
evaluation, as well as data analysis, interpretation, presentation, and future
evaluation plans. The group members were: Sharon Darling, National Center
for Family Literacy; Barbara Shay, New York State Education Department;
Catherine Snow, Harvard University; Maris Vinovskis, University of Michigan;
Mary Wagner, SRI International; Heather Weiss, Harvard Family Research
Project; and Miriam Westheimer, HIPPY USA.
Two firms conducted this evaluation: Fu Associates, Ltd., the prime contractor,
and Abt Associates Inc., the subcontractor. The major contributors to the Fu
Associates team, headed by Fumiyo Tao, were: Christine Arriola, Rhonda
Byrnes, Sherry Khan, Takeko Kumagawa, Tommy Lo, Kathy McDonough, Amy
Nelson, Brian Shea, Bonnie Silsby, Denise Stakem, Amy Stock, Hope Tarr, and
Marlene Walker. Key staff of the Abt Associates team, headed by Beth Gamse,
were: Anne Chase, Dylan Conger, Cindy Creps, Lynne Geitz, Don Laliberty,
Marjorie Levin, Marc Moss, Marla Nierenberg, Robert St.Pierre, and Janet
Swartz. We also thank Judith D. Singer, whose writing and advice about multi-
level modeling in general and PROC MIXED, specifically, were invaluable.
Even Start Second National Evaluation
- iii -
Acknowledgments
6
The Even Start Family Literacy Program addresses the basic educational needs
of parents and children of low-income families by providing a unified program
of (1) adult basic or secondary education and literacy programs for parents; (2)
assistance for parents to effectively promote their children's educational
development; and (3) early childhood education for the children. All Even Start
projects are required to provide services in each of three "core" areas
corresponding to the broad programmatic goals of Even Start: adult education
and literacy; parenting education; and early childhood education. Projects
provide direct support for services and also build on existing community
resources by collaborating with other service providers.
The Even Start program was initially authorized by 1988 amendments to the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), then amended by the
National Literacy Act of 1991 (P.L. 102-73). In 1994, the Even Start program
was reauthorized by the Improving America's Schools Act (P.L. 103-382) as
Part B of Title I of the ESEA.
Even Start was first implemented as a federally-administered program in fiscal
year 1989. Since 1992, the program has been primarily state administered. The
states award subgrants to partnerships, each consisting of at least one local
education agency (LEA) and at least one community-based organization,
institution of higher education, or other public or private non-profit agency. A
few types of projects remain under federal administration, including: special
set-aside programs for migrant agricultural families, Indian tribes and tribal
organizations, and insular areas; discretionary grants for statewide family
literacy initiatives; and a family literacy project in a prison that houses women
and their preschool-aged children. Since 1989, the program has grown from
seventy-six projects serving approximately 2,500 families to 637 projects
serving approximately 34,400 families eight years later in 1996-97.
THE NATIIONIAL EVALUATIOlkl
Two types of evaluation are required of all Even Start projects by law: an
independent local evaluation arranged for by each project and a national
evaluation conducted by the U.S. Department of Education. The first national
evaluation documented the program's early development from 1989-90 through
1992-93. Continuing the same objectives from the first national evaluation, the
second national evaluation, covering the program years from 1993-94 through
1996-97, addressed these questions:
1) Who is served by the program and what services do they receive? Is the
program reaching the appropriate target population?
Even Start Second National Evaluation
-
Executive Summary
2) How is the federal funding spent on the program? How are Even Start
services implemented?
3) How well does the Even Start basic model work? What educational and
developmental gains are achieved by program participants?
4) What are the characteristics of effective practices and programs?
Since the inception of the Even Start program, data on program participants,
implementation, and progress indicators have been collected annually. In the
second national evaluation, approximately 95 percent of all local projects
provided data on their participants and program implementation each year. In
addition, a sample of fifty-seven projects also provided data on program
outcomes.
Building upon key findings from the 1994-97 evaluation as a basis, this report
reviews what has changed and what has remained stable over the first eight years
of the Even Start program. Rather than serve as a final, summative account of
program accomplishment, the report is intended to serve as a springboard for
continuing program improvement and evaluation efforts that are currently
underway.
EDUCATIONAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL OUTCOMES OF EVEN
START
The second national evaluation assessed programmatic and participant progress
through two chief strategies: one was to collect information on all projects about
all participants, and this was called the Universe Study. The second strategy,
called the Sample Study, was to collect more detailed educational and
developmental outcome data on a subset of participants from approximately 10
percent of the Universe Study. The Sample Study collected outcome data using
measures designed to relate participation in Even Start services to specific,
measurable educational and developmental outcomes for both adults and
children. As in the first national evaluation, the Sample Study measured three
types of educational/developniental outcomes: child cognitive development,
adult education, and parenting. The second evalu- ation did not include a control
group, and program outcomes were assessed in terms of the differences between
participants' pretest (i.e., pre-Even Start) and posttest scores on a battery of
standardized tests.
The outcomes presented in thiS report are based primarily upon data from those
participants who remained in Even Start long enough to participate in at least
two rounds, or waves, of data collection. For most participants, this translated
Exhibit 2.1 in Chapter 2 summarizes the components of the second evaluation and
data collected in each component.
Executive Summary
- vi -
Even Start Second National Evaluation