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SUMMARY
The Office of the
Auditor General has conducted its annual evaluation of the Arizona Family
Literacy Program. The Legislature has required evaluations since the
program was established in 1994. Pursuant to the provisions of Arizona
Revised Statutes (A.R.S.) §41-1279.08, this evaluation provides
information about the program, recommends ways to improve the program’s
administration, and examines various aspects of the program’s
effectiveness.
The
Family Literacy Program is directed at economically and educationally
disadvantaged parents with preschool-age children. Family Literacy’s
approach integrates adult, child, and parent education in an effort to be
more effective than programs that focus exclusively on adults or
exclusively on children.
The State Board of Education and
the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) are responsible for
administering the Family Literacy Program. Currently, ADE contracts with
13 providers to operate 23 sites in 5 counties—Maricopa,
Pima, Cochise, Coconino, and Yuma. In order to serve populations “most
in need,” the ADE only awards contracts to providers operating sites
that serve economically at-risk populations. These providers include
school districts, an adult education program, a community college, and
community-based organizations. The Legislature has continued to
appropriate $1 million for the Family Literacy Program for each fiscal
year between 1996 and 2001.
ADE Improves Program
Administration and Sites Follow
Statutory and Model Program Guidelines
(See pages 13 through 19)
ADE’s Adult Education Division
has improved its administration of the Family Literacy Program but needs
to keep building on these improvements. Last year’s evaluation
highlighted the need for better administration when it reported that 7 of
23
sites were not complying with
basic requirements for the number of families enrolled or the
implementation of program components. In response, ADE hired a coordinator
to make structured site visits to all program sites, monitor sites that
were previously out of compliance, and maintain contact with site
directors and program staff. ADE also improved its coordination with two
model program sites that provide training and technical assistance to all
program sites.
Previous OAG evaluations have
found that site compliance with statutory and programmatic requirements
have fluctuated with ADE’s intensity of administrative oversight. In
years when ADE improved administrative oversight of the program,
compliance improved. During the 1999-2000 school year, all Family Literacy
program sites operated in compliance with statutory requirements and
program goals.
While all sites
were in compliance with statutory and program guidelines, some sites did
not follow contractual guidelines for administering tests and reporting
results. To improve the accuracy and timeliness of data reporting ADE
should continue to develop the reporting systems, change the reporting
requirements, and enforce data submission deadlines.
Adult
Participants Make Gains
in Language Proficiency
and
Employment Outcomes
(See pages 21 through 27)
During the 1999-2000 school year,
Family Literacy program adult participants made gains in developing their
education skills and joining the workforce. When adult participants enter
the Family Literacy Program, they enroll in one or both of two educational
tracks: the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) track for
English language development and the Adult Basic Education (ABE) track for
instruction in basic education topics, including General Education
Development (GED) preparation. Family Literacy program adult participants
who took ESOL classes in the 1999-2000 school year made significant gains
in their reading, writing, and listening comprehension skills. Their gains
in writing and listening comprehension skills were comparable to and their
reading gains were greater than those of participants in the federally
funded Even Start family literacy program.
Family Literacy program adults who
took the adult basic education track of the Family Literacy Program also
made progress in educational attainment, such as passing all portions of
the GED. However, on average, participants did not improve in their scores
on adult basic education tests. These results were similar to those of the
participants in the Even Start program.
In
addition, Family Literacy and Even Start program adult participants
reported similar gains in employment. During the 1999-2000 school year,
gains were made in participants’ entry into the workforce, entry into
job training programs, and attainment of certification necessary for
certain employment.
Adult
Participants Show Improvements
in Parenting Attitudes and Behaviors
(See pages 29 through 32)
Adults
enrolled in the parenting skills component of the Family Literacy Program
improved both their attitudes about parenting and their parenting
behaviors. Most Family Literacy program adults entered the program with
positive parenting attitudes and did not make large improvements to their
attitudes. However, Family Literacy program adults reported significant
increases in the number of times they demonstrated positive parenting
behaviors at home and in activities associated with their children’s
school. A comparison of gains made by participants in the Even Start
program showed that while both programs had essentially the same impacts
on parenting behavior, the Even Start program had a greater impact on
parenting attitudes. These results were similar to those found in the
evaluation for the 1998-1999 school year (see Auditor General Report No.
00-03, issued in March 2000).
Children
in Family Literacy Improve
Kindergarten Readiness Skills
(See pages 33 through 38)
During the 1999-2000 school year,
children in the Family Literacy Program improved their readiness to
succeed in kindergarten. Analyses of program children’s scores on
kindergarten readiness assessments showed, that on average, program
children increased their development by 7 to 10 months. These results were
comparable to those made by children in the Even Start program and to
those made by children in the state-funded Early Childhood Block Grant (ECBG)
preschool program. The latter is a stand-alone preschool program rather
than a family literacy program. While only a portion of the Family
Literacy program’s 4-year-olds advanced to kindergarten readiness levels
in all test measures, these results were not only consistent with the Even
Start and ECBG groups, but also with other research on similar at-risk
populations. Several factors associated with the program, such as
additional parenting classes and home visits by program staff, were
related to children’s levels of improvement. ADE should continue to
monitor implementation of model program recommendations including those
factors associated with improved kindergarten readiness.
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