Session IV: Q&A For Even Start Grantees Patricia McKee, Doris Sligh and Laura Chow, United States Department of Education

Pat opened this session by reiterating her enthusiasm for being in a setting with 
individuals who are theoretically on the cutting edge of the current research. She introduced state coordinators who were present from Florida, New Mexico, California, and a representative from Puerto Rico and encouraged the participants to get to know their state coordinators.

She responded to a question about resources mentioned during the various sessions. She indicated that information about these resources would be made available to the state coordinators. In particular there was interest in the videotapes produced by WestEd entitled "Early Messages". Another resource to be made available soon is entitled Building Your Baby's Brain: A Parent's Guide t the First Five Years. This book was developed for parents and 
caregivers, particularly Even Start parents. Building Your Baby's Brain: A Parent's Guide to the First Five Years was designed to provide information on brain development and how parents as well as caregivers can help their children to grow and develop to their full potential. The publication is to be made available in late summer 1999. 

A summary of the reauthorization proposal was provided and a copy of the Department's performance indicators under the government Performance and Results Act for Even Start were also shared with the audience. 

Question l: How was the first national evaluation received by the Legislature?

Congress was disappointed in the results of the first national evaluation because it expected larger outcomes than were actually reported. The evaluation designed was not able to capture some of the hard to measure and intangible successes of Even Start. The in-depth study, while it included a control group, only covered five programs. Of course, the first National Evaluation studied Even Start programs very early in the development of the program; we have learned a lot since then.

Question 2: With regard to welfare reform, what are the program options that can included to support the literacy experiences? 

The answer is to promote more hours, flexibility and intensity in the program. The assumption is that if more hours are available, families will participate more. Flexibility allows parents to work and still participate while intensity is directed toward personal attention, small group and direct instruction techniques.

Pat encouraged program coordinators to work closely with their state coordinators for a better understanding of the problems of welfare reform and to work with the state welfare offices. She also encouraged programs to work with their local welfare offices and to work with the local agencies. It is important to keep the focus on literacy and use the job shadowing and interview experiences as opportunities for literacy improvement.

Question 3: Why can't the observational studies sites be identified?

The names could not be shared because the independent evaluator, Policy Studies Associates, promised each site anonymity. Pat went on to say that many of these sites have many good and well implemented programs and she would encourage the naming of the sites in order to share the successful experiences. Even Start Family Tree in Mesa, Arizona identified itself as one of the sites, as did the Ohio Valley program.

Question 4: Where is Even Start in the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act? 

The definition of family literacy services in the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act is the same definition that appears in the Even Start Legislation, the Reading Excellence Act and in Head Start. This definition of family literacy will be used by all programs funded under the Reading Excellence and all local programs have to include some family literacy activities under this definition. Before we had this common definition of family literacy services, programs had very different understandings of the meaning of family literacy. The common definition will be very useful for the purposes of coordination and integration of services.

Pat previewed the evaluation segment for day two. She said a great deal of information from the evaluation is being used to feed the technical assistance, to form policy and to make decisions for the future of Even Start. She felt that this information is being used in a very careful manner to assist state coordinators for funding state projects. She supports the notion that each local site should be using this information in the same manner.

Pat and her staff provided the following resources:

• Quick Referral Guide to Services (U.S. Dept. of Education)
• Even Start Family Literacy Program Indicators
• Title I, Part B-Even Start Family Literacy, "What's New?"
• Title I of the Educational Excellence for all Children Act of 1999, "What We've Learned," pg. 36-38
• Even Start Statute, as of 12/1/98
• Preliminary Guidance for Even Start Family Literacy Program