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» Even Start Lives. Louisiana State budget contains vital consortium funding
» 14th Annual NESA Conference Announced
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» Update: March 26, 2008: House Letter to Appropriators
    ¤ Yarmuth-Platts FY09 letter to Appropriators

Reauthorization – Call for Action:

» The William F. Goodling Even Start Family Literacy Program Elementary and Secondary Education Act Reauthorization Recommendations (PDF)
» Backgrounder - The Third National Even Start Evaluation: Data that Distort Reality (PDF)

» New NCLR Report Calls For Greater Investment in Early Childhood Education

The mission of the National Even Start Association is to provide a national voice and vision for Even Start Family Literacy Programs.

The National Even Start Association (N.E.S.A.) is a membership organization, comprised of a group of professionals dedicated to supporting high quality services in Even Start Family Literacy programs. N.E.S.A. supports Even Start programs in all 50 states and the territories, Tribal Even Start programs, Migrant Even Start programs and Even Start programs in prisons housing women and children.

The National Even Start Association is committed to supporting sites across the nation in their efforts to provide high quality literacy services for parents and children through:

• Annual National Conference that brings current researchers and practitioners together
• Annual academies that focus on the application of current research to Even Start practice
• Professional development that is focused on the needs of Even Start practitioners
• Publication of Family Literacy Forum to provide information and resources for Even Start and other family literacy practitioners
• Support for the development of State Chapters of the National Even Start Association
• Legislative Updates
• Networking/Support/Advocacy

1. Ensure the continuity and quality of NESA leadership.
2. Generate awareness and support for Even Start Family Literacy Programs.
3. Provide professional services that support quality in Even Start Family Literacy Programs.
4. Collaborate with other family literacy providers to ensure the quality of Even Start programs.

The National Even Start Association is a dedicated group that includes interested parties who support the purposes of Even Start.

• Program Directors/State Directors with an interest in Family Literacy
• Early childhood teachers
• Adult educators
• Family Educators
• Policy-makers
• Community-based organizations
• Title I administrators and teachers
• Parents and families
• Corporate sponsors interested in supporting families and children

Annual Dues: $55.00
Make checks payable to:
NESA
PO Box 710855
San Diego, CA 92171

What is the Even Start Family Literacy Program?

Even Start Family Literacy Programs are school-community partnerships that help break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy by integrating early childhood education, adult literacy or adult basic education, and parenting education into a unified family literacy program. Even Start is implemented nationally through cooperative projects that build on high-quality existing community resources, creating a new range of services for children, families and adults. Programs help children and families achieve the academic standards set forth by the States and use instructional programs that are based on scientifically- based reading research to

• enrich language development, extend learning, and support high levels of educational success for children birth to age seven and their parents;
• provide literacy services of sufficient hours and duration to make sustainable changes in a family;
• provide integrated instructional services for families, where children and their parents learn together to develop habits of life-long learning; and
• support families committed to education and to economic independence.