Proposal to Save the Family Literacy Program Using Distance Education Free

From a neurological perspective, learning is determined for biological and environmental factors. Although brain variables exert influences on learning, under some circumstances, the environment, in this case, the instruction may also exert influences on the brain (Berninger & Richards, 2000). In other words, the brain allows the student to act on the environment but also can be changed in constrained ways, as the student interacts with the environment. Under this principle, the instructor, the parents, older children the libraries or the day-care practitioners have an important influence on the literacy learning, not only the teachers. In early years this nurture process is sometimes more important (Olson, Forsberg, & Wise 1994). For this reason, a major educational constraint in early literacy development is that are the parents, libraries, or day care practitioners who have to get sufficient preparation for the enormously mission of help the infant reach their expected level of literacy (Berninger & Richards, 2002).

Another educational constraint is that this nurture process has a development window in which these beginning literacy skills are most easily acquired. Berninger & Richards (2002) noted that half of a child’s critical brain development is completed by the time he or she begins kindergarten. Furthermore, reports Sharon Begley (1996), “Children whose neural circuits are not stimulated before kindergarten are never going to be what they could have been” (p. 56). For many years school policy was built under the assumption that language developed during the preschool years, reading during elementary school, and writing later. However, as Berninger and Richards (2002) noted, “those systems have overlapping developmental trajectories that interact in predictable ways” (p. 98). Diamond and Hopson (1998) named these language systems “language by ear,” with begin in uterus if the fetus is stimulated using sound, “language by mouth,” which begins with the first vocalization of the newborn, “language by eye,” which begins with the first book an adult reads to an infant or preschooler, and “language by hand, which begins with the first mark an infant makes with a writing implement.

A study by Dubowitz (1995) examined the incidence, timing, and evolution of the brain lesions in the neonatal period. The findings from this work show that children are capable of learning more that was thought, and at a very early age. This new understanding of early brain development has generated a lot of activity for professionals in the education field. With the introduction of the No Child Left Behind Act, there has been increasing pressure put on education systems to demonstrate successful educational outcomes for all learners.

Gunnar and Barr (1998) and Diamond and Hopson (1998) state that “there are significant implications for not nurturing early neurological development and that the brain of a child is developing more rapidly than any other time in their lives” (p. 89).

While this brain development includes the ability to read and write, it also includes social and emotional development. We know from the same research that young brains require opportunities to play, explore, and socialize (Implications of Brain Development, n.d.).

The overwhelming information about the neurological aspects of brain development in infants indicates that there are implications for not nurturing early neurological development because the brain of a child is developing more rapidly than at any other time in their lives, and require opportunities to play, explore, and socialize. The Even Start Family Literacy Program (Even Start), first authorized in 1989 as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), in July 1991 was amended when Congress passed the National Literacy Act, lowering the age of children served from age one to birth and allowing community-based organizations to receive grants. The National Literacy Act, renamed the Even Start program and then the William F. Goodling Even Start Family Literacy Program, was reauthorized as Title I, Part B, Subpart 3, of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

The Family Literacy program was founded on the belief that when parents interact with their young children, they can turn simple experiences into learning experiences, improving their literacy environments. The program affirmed the literacy needs of both children and parents by offering parenting education, early childhood education, parent and child together time (PACT), and adult education, including English language instruction. Also, the program took into consideration not only the neurological aspects of brain development, but also the real social challenges that a family face during the early development of their children. For instance, discipline and guidance for toddlers and prekindergarten children are popular topics in parenting education programs. But infants do not require the same kind of guidance strategies, so this topic is often not addressed for parents of the youngest children. The family literacy program promotes parenting education addressing discipline, guidance, and education about maternal depression, exposure of pregnant mothers to drugs, chemicals, radiation and stress that can affect the fetus growth and, consequently, affect the child’s later thinking functions. Additionally, the program offers parents findings of research on the vulnerability of the developing brain to environmental factors such as nicotine, alcohol, and cocaine.

Parents can strengthen their parenting and literacy skills through group experiences as well as through individual instruction. Reading and story-telling time also enables parents to create a controlled and predictable activity for children, involve siblings and other family members, promotes the sharing of their own childhood experiences, and teach “life lessons” to their children.

In summary, the increasing public awareness of how early brain development affects children’s learning is creating new levels of enthusiasm and support for high-quality infant and toddler care Through their intergenerational programs, Family Literacy practitioners have had a unique opportunity to have a positive effect on improving the literacy, lives, and futures of many families.

The President’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2010-2011, once again, recommended ending funding for the William F. Goodling Even Start Family Literacy Program. On August 10, 2010, the senate approved the bill, and in that bill the President also requested eliminating the funding for the Family Literacy program. As a result, funding for the Even Start program ended, and 44,000 families, including 47,000 parents and 67,000 children living in poverty will have fewer opportunities to participate in education services to increase basic skills leading to additional education, English proficiency, and selfsufficiency. More than half are Hispanic immigrant and refugee families. The Administration cites a 2002 OMB Performance Assessment Rating Tool (PART) report on the Even Start Family Literacy Program as justification for eliminating funding. The PART report, however, provides no substantive justification for denying education to the nation’s most vulnerable families. The OMB does not claim to be proficient in the best practices of scientifically based, research-driven education policy or fulfillment. Its primary function in undertaking the PART process is to evaluate the administration’s own management performance. PART does not provide an independent rationale for denying the continuing education to the thousands of vulnerable families currently served through the Even Start program.

This proposal examines the possibility of using the online distance education (ODE) infrastructure to educate participants of the family literacy program. The first section of this proposal reviews the use of ODE in other sectors. The second section examines the experience of the Literacy Link and the IDEAL projects, and other projects that developed Workplace Essential Skills (WES), one of the first ODE courses for adult learners. It also describes current efforts by states to experiment with distance education for adult learners.

Online education has been growing rapidly in higher and middle education, business, the military, and recently in adult education. Those institutions offerings online courses needed to build an infrastructure, train participants, identify the target students, implement experiments and evaluation, and deal with funding and organizational tensions. But many of the projects nationwide had passed the costly implementation and experimentation phase, or are in the way to finishing that phase.

Many adult education programs can use technology to reach out to learners functioning below a high school diploma level. Many of the potential adult learners have access to a computer connected to the Internet at home, in a library, or in a community center. Even though this population usually has poor skills in operating a computer and accessing the Internet, the library system and other community centers have the tools to assist them. Those who are better educated, like high school or university students in voluntary work at libraries, adult centers, community facilities and universities, have given valuable help to the adults interested in learning at a distance. At present, a growing number of adult education projects and products are available for ODE.

In 1995, the Public Broadcasting System (PBS), along with the University of Pennsylvania’s National Center on Adult Literacy (NCAL) and Kentucky Educational Television (KET), formed the Literacy Link partnership to design two innovative adult education products. With a $15 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education Star Schools program, they developed the adult literacy multimedia series WES and GED Connection, as well as professional development materials for adult educators (Lit Teacher and Peer Lit).

The first product completed was WES, an adult education curriculum that introduces learners to the job search process and elements of workplace environments. WES is a 24-unit multimedia curriculum (workbook, video, and online) aimed at improving learners’ workplace-related math, reading, communication, and employment skills. The series is designed for adults reading at the 5th to 8th grade levels who want to enhance their skills to either secure a job or to advance within their current positions.

WES was the first adult education curriculum to utilize three media. Content and instruction are linked across media and tap into the strengths of each system.

In 1999, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) began encouraging states to experiment with new ways to increase the number of adults being served. Distance education was identified as a possible means of expanding services to adult learners and reaching a potentially untapped learner population, like in this case, the family literacy participants.

In 2001, representatives from state departments of education in 15 states met to explore how adult education could reach adult learners. In March 2002, 13 states (Arkansas, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and South Carolina) committed to work together formally in an effort titled Project IDEAL (Improving Distance Education for Adult Learners).

The Support Center of the project has played a key role in the growth of distance learning in adult education, working with more than 20 states to help them establish tailored distance education programs.

The Missouri Mentoring Program for distance education had a very successful pilot implementation. Mentors felt they were able to fulfill their roles effectively and were interested in continuing to mentor other teachers. Missouri also offers adult learners statewide the opportunity to study online for the GED (at www.gedonlineclass.com). Begun in the fall of 2000, the program is built on the WebCT learning management system (The Missouri Distance Learning Mentoring Program, 2005)

The Florida TechNet, The Literacy CyberSpace, and The Learning Center Online (TLC), have been used to teach adult learners online. The sites are oriented to learners without a high school diploma, using Skills Tutor, WebCT, and Blackboard.

The Outreach and Technical Assistance Network (OTAN) in Sacramento has the leadership in the many web-based projects in California. Others projects in adult education are: the California Adult Literacy Professional Development Project (CALPRO), the Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment System (CASAS), The California Distance Learning Project (CDLP). They have four major tasks: build and promote a distance learning knowledge base, provide technical assistance in implementing distance learning, test mew instructional delivery methods and materials, and help create a statewide distance learning infrastructure.

The LiteracyCenter.Net website provides safe learning activities for parents and teachers to share with young children. All online lessons are free of advertising and free of charge.

The Kentucky Virtual Adult Education Web site (KYVAE), launched Oct. 1, 2001, is the result of a partnership between the Kentucky Virtual University (KYVU) and the Kentucky Department for Adult Education and Literacy (DAEL). The site uses PLATO software, and includes a complete GED preparation program along with simulated GED tests. The mission of the KYVAE site is to provide adult learners access to literacy information, curriculum, resources and services in an easy-to-use and motivational format. The site is dedicated to helping adult learners achieve their personal learning goals.

This computer-based distance learning project is offered to learners in basic reading, writing, and math. After a brief period of orientation in any computer/study room, participants are able to access and complete assignments using the PLATO Web Learning Network from any computer that meets the minimum system requirements.

Sponsored by the Office of Adult Education and Workforce Development of the West Virginia Department of Education, A+DVANTAGE GED provides a flexible opportunity for students who want to study for the GED test at home. The website includes online registration and general information.

Wisconsin Online Resource Center Short online lessons in subjects such as English, reading, science, social studies, math, family literacy, ESL, and financial literacy, funded by the Wisconsin State Adult Education Office.

Delaware offers a full high school completion program online, titled Diploma at a Distance (www.diplomaatadistance.org) that is based on state standards and requirements for traditional high school degree programs. Delaware’s program is a carefully structured curriculum with rigorous requirements that is designed to help adult learners earn their diplomas. Delaware plans to develop other online courses targeted to ABE and GED learners as well as an online family literacy resource center.

In summer 2002, Illinois released an interactive online GED preparation program (gedillinois.org). Designed by the Center for the Application of Information Technologies at Western Illinois University, GED Illinois is designed to supplement classroom-based programs and also to serve as a self-contained distance program that adults can use on their own or with the help of a distance instructor. Developed in a partnership between the Illinois Department of Education and Illinois Employment Security, GED Illinois is available to state residents and includes a preenrollment self-assessment. The assessment site, called OASIS, is intended to help potential students determine whether they are well suited to be distance learners. It also provides a short tutorial on the computer and Web browser requirements to utilize the program.

On August 10, 2010, the U.S. Senate passed the bill with budget cuts for fiscal year 2010-2011; as a result the Even Start Family Literacy program did not have funds to operate the next year. That means that families will lose the support to face the challenge of helping their children during the early years of their development—the period in which the child’s potential is determined, and when researchers recommend the development of the early literacy skills. So, all the recommendations from researchers about the importance of the improvement of emergent literacy skills of very young children, significantly correlated with first-grade reading achievement, will be lost. For these reasons we are proposing to utilize the infrastructure already in use for the distance education of adults, in order to contribute to save the Family Literacy Project. This network has been used with great success in more that 20 states. Many of them already have a noticeable and influential Web presence, and others are prepared to build a presence in the adult community with the active collaboration of local and national universities, professionals in the field, and with funds from private and federal organizations. Several of those states already offer family literacy instruction and the rest have the knowledge, skills, and tools to access the vast array of Internet sites with valuable information already developed for federal initiatives through the national family literacy organization.

Finally, it is necessary for us to reflect upon our current practices in pre-K and kindergarten programs. It is common to see how learning outcomes are defined not by paying attention to the recent research about the importance of the first 3 years of life in the literacy, social and emotional development of the children, but for high standardized test scores. The role of parents in this matter, with the support of a federal program like the family literacy project, has been to help thousands of children in the developing of important emergent literacy and social skills, in order to prepare them for the first year of school and their social development, not to pass a test.