ABSTRACT
Family literacy has been described as a “black box” because research-based exemplary practices for each component of family literacy do not, for the most part, exist (Askov, 2002). Family literacy programs are as varied as the communities in which they reside; thus no true model exists. However, most family literacy programs, funded by the William F. Goodling Even Start Act, have adopted a four-component model comprised of adult literacy (adult basic and secondary-level education, called ABE, or instruction for English language learners, called ESL), early childhood education (birth to age 8), parenting education, and structured interactive literacy education between parents and children (Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Title I, as reauthorized by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 [2002]). Although adult educators in family literacy are informed by the research in adult education, and early childhood education has been the most researched of the four components of family literacy, the remaining two components of family literacy–parenting education and parent-child interactive literacy (also known as Parent and Child Together or PACT time)–are the least investigated aspects of family literacy. Yet they provide the “value-added” of family literacy in an integrated four-component system of intergenerational programming because these two components provide learning opportunities to parents and children that go beyond the traditional adult education or early childhood education programs. The Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy at The Pennsylvania State University–in an effort to move beyond a “default” approach to instruction to a research-based best practices model for family literacy–is conducting research that can improve the quality of family literacy programs in all four components of family literacy. This chapter, written by a team of faculty, staff, and students funded by the Goodling Institute, addresses the challenges of determining research-based best practices to improve the quality of programming for the family literacy components that involve adults. It also identifies research in progress which seems to hold promise for improving our understanding of practices in these areas. When possible, implications for practice are discussed.
