Texas Even Start Administrative Manual

June 2004, (Revised January 2008, September 2008)

Even Start Guidance

May 28, 2003

FOR INFORMATION ONLY

To Even Start Family Literacy Coordinators:

Due to the change in the Federal Law (LIFT Act Title XVI of Division of H.R. 5666) the Texas Education Agency (TEA) is now responsible for reporting program data to the United States Department of Education. TEA is also required to implement Indicators of Performance Quality to measure Even Start programs performance (Sec. 1240 [20 U.S. 6369a]).

The state coordinator uses these reports to prepare several State and Federal reports. It is very important that the LEA and CBO Even Start partners set forth an agreement and commitment that all children participating in Even Start will be enrolled in the school district in which the child or teen parent attends.

The Texas Even Start Program Information Reporting System (TESPIRS) supports the reporting requirements of the Adult and Community Education Even Start program. For information and specific instructions for entering data into TESPIRS go to Texas Even Start Program Information Reporting System (TESPIRS). Local providers of Even Start services complete online forms to provide quarterly and annual reports. For additional information, go to the Adult and Community Education Management System Page.

The Family Section of the TESPIRS features information about individual families receiving program services. For each quarterly reporting period, this Section will be updated to reflect changes in participating families’ status, numbers, level of participation and achievements, and departures from or reinstatements for each locally funded Even Start program.

The Family Roster Section of TESPIRS is use to enter or update information about individual families and family members. This system is unique in that it links parents and children from the same family together in one system-TESPIRS. The Family Roster is used to run queries against Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) and TEAMS (the Texas Educating Adults Management System) in order to match both parents and children who are receiving services from the public school system and the adult education system. The information gathered from these two systems is used to determine the performance of locally funded programs as well as for program accountability.

Data Verification:

1. All PEIMS Children and PEIMS Teen Parent program participants demographic data is to be verified with the student’s demographic data on file with the district PEIMS coordinator.

2. All TEAMS (Texas Educating Adults Management System) Parent program participant demographic data is to be verified with the local adult education program that is providing adult education services to parents participating in Even Start.

It is very crucial that all children participating in Even Start are enrolled in your participating school district, especially the 0-3 early childhood population which represents approximately 50% of the Even Start population. The Even Start State Office is asking each of you for your assistance and cooperation in enrolling all children participating in Even Start in your school district or service delivery area.

This information is to be entered through TESPIRS and submitted electronically to Texas Education Agency, at the end of each program quarter which became effective September 1, 2001.

If you have any questions concerning TESPIRS please contact the Texas LEARNS at Harris County Department of Education at (713) 696-0700 or by e-mail at: sjefferson@hcde-texas.org

Thank you,

Robert Muller

Chief of Staff, Initiatives and Administration

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GUIDANCE FOR THE
WILLIAM F. GOODLING EVEN START
FAMILY LITERACY PROGRAMS

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

WASHINGTON, DC

SEPTEMBER 2003

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Background

Purpose of the Guidance

State Administration

State Plans

Committee of Practitioners

Membership

State-Level Activities

Administration
Technical Assistance
Developing and Using Even Start Indicators of Program Quality

Competition for Subgrants

Review Panel
Selection Criteria
Eligible Entity

Project Funding

Minimum Subgrant Amounts
Federal and Local Share
Indirect Costs

Duration of a Project

Start-Up Period
Continuing Eligibility
Insufficient Progress

Local Administration

Program Elements

Identification and Recruitment of Families Most In Need of Even Start Services
Screening and Preparation of Participants
Flexible Scheduling and Support Services
High-Quality, Intensive Instructional Services
Staff Qualifications
Staff Training
Home-Based Instructional Services
Year-Round Services
Coordination with Other Programs
Instructional Programs Based on Scientifically Based Reading Research
Attendance and Retention
Reading Readiness Activities Based on Scientifically Based Reading Research
Continuity of Services
Providing Services to Families Most In Need
Local Independent Evaluation

Participant Eligibility

Parents
Children
Parents or Children in Private Schools
Other Family Members
Eligible Participants Enrolled in Other Programs
Migrant and Indian Families
Continuing Family Eligibility
Temporary Absence from the Project

Local Application

Fiscal Issues

Title I, Part A Collaboration
Allowable Costs
Unallowable Costs
Maintenance of Effort

National Evaluation, Local Evaluation, and Indicators of Program Quality

National Evaluation

Classroom Literacy Interventions and Outcomes Study (CLIO)

Local Evaluation

Indicators of Program Quality

Additional Resources for Family Literacy

Common Definition of Family Literacy

Title I, Part A

Early Reading First, Title I, Part B, Subpart 2

Migrant Education, Title I, Part C

Head Start

Adult Education

Bureau of Indian Affairs

Education for Homeless Children and Youth, (McKinney-Vento Act)

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GUIDANCE FOR THE WILLIAM F. GOODLING
EVEN START FAMILY LITERACY PROGRAMS

SEPTEMBER 29, 2003

INTRODUCTION

Even Start is an education program for the Nation’s low-income families that is designed to improve the academic achievement of parents and their young children, especially in the area of reading. Researchers, teachers, and administrators alike now acknowledge the vital importance of high-quality early childhood education for all children. Young children who have good vocabularies and who are taught early reading skills before they start school are more likely to become good readers and to achieve academic success throughout their school careers. Education experts also acknowledge that parents play a critical role in the language and intellectual development of their children. Children who have parents who talk and play with them and who read to them have an important advantage. And parents who themselves are competent readers are more likely to have good jobs and be able to help their own children in school. Even Start provides educational services for the family, parents and children alike, so that adults and their children will be able to take advantage of and benefit from the tremendous opportunities available to them in this Nation. For adults and children with limited English proficiency, Even Start helps them make progress toward acquisition of the English language and attainment of a high level of literacy.

The Even Start Family Literacy program was first enacted in 1988 as Part B of Chapter 1 of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). Most recently, the program was reauthorized and amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). With the enactment of NCLB, two programs that complement Even Start are the Reading First and Early Reading First programs. The Reading First program gives funds to States to invest in scientifically based reading instructional programs for the early grades; and the Early Reading First Program gives funds to districts and other entities to support the early language, literacy, and pre-reading development of preschool-age children.

Even Start started in FY 1989 with an initial $14.8 million appropriation that supported 76 projects and 2,460 families. By FY 2000, the appropriation was $150 million, and 860 projects served 36,000 families. In FY 2003, the $248.4 million appropriation will fund some 1,200 projects that will serve more than 50,000 families.

From the total Even Start appropriation, the majority of the funds go to States for State-administered subgrants. With the remaining funds set aside at the Federal level, the following activities are conducted: (1) migrant, Outlying Areas, and Indian tribal programs; (2) a women's prison demonstration project; (3) evaluation, technical assistance, program improvement, and replication activities; (4) research on family literacy; and (5) Statewide family literacy initiative grants (depending on the appropriation level).

BACKGROUND

Even Start offers promise for helping to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty and low literacy in the Nation. The program integrates early childhood education, adult literacy (adult basic and secondary-level education and/or instruction for English language learners), parenting education, and interactive parent and child literacy activities into a single, unified family literacy program. The design is based on the premise that these components build on each other and that families need to receive high-quality instructional services in all four areas -- not just one or two -- in order to bring lasting change and effectively improve parents’ and children's literacy achievement. Even Start supports integrated family literacy services for parents and children, primarily from birth through age seven, and has three interrelated goals:

• to help parents improve their literacy or basic educational skills;
• to help parents become full partners in educating their children; and
• to assist children in reaching their full potential as learners.

The term “family literacy services” is defined in section 9101(20) of the ESEA as services provided to participants on a voluntary basis that are of sufficient intensity in terms of hours, and of sufficient duration, to make sustainable changes in a family, and that integrate all of the following instructional activities:

• (A) Interactive literacy activities between parents and their children.
• (B) Training for parents regarding how to be the primary teacher for their children and full partners in the education of their children.
• (C) Parent literacy training that leads to economic self-sufficiency.
• (D) An age-appropriate education to prepare children for success in school and life experiences.

At minimum, a successful Even Start project should: build on high-quality, community resources; employ qualified staff; carry out instructional activities grounded in scientifically based reading research; be able to document significant literacy achievement results (for adults and children) for the majority of families served; and make sufficient program progress as defined by the State.

We have learned from the previous national evaluations of Even Start that:

• The instructional focus must be on literacy and cognitive development.
• Intensity of services and duration of program participation are correlated with participant achievement.
• Data must be used for program improvement.
• State and local programs must develop and implement a well-defined system of ongoing program monitoring and evaluation that focuses upon effective practices and program results.

PURPOSE OF THIS GUIDANCE

This Guidance for the William F. Goodling Even Start Family Literacy Programs is written to assist States and local projects in understanding, administering, and implementing the Even Start program. The Guidance reflects changes made to the program by the Literacy Involves Families Together (LIFT) Act of 2000 that are reinforced and further strengthened by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Guidance in this document replaces all prior nonregulatory guidance for Even Start and also addresses questions raised by State and local officials regarding the law. States may refer to this guidance when administering funds under the State-administered portion of the Even Start program, and local recipients of Even Start funds may refer to this guidance when administering or operating projects supported by subgrants awarded by States or by direct grants from the U.S. Department of Education. This document includes an explanation of the statutory requirements authorized by NCLB and provides guidance for carrying out these requirements.

Citations in the document, unless otherwise indicated, are to the ESEA.

This document does not impose any requirements beyond those in the Even Start statute and other applicable Federal statutes and regulations. While States may consider this guidance in developing their own guidelines and standards, they are free to develop alternative approaches that are consistent with applicable Federal statutes and regulations. In other words, this document contains acceptable but not exclusive guidance concerning Even Start. However, compliance with the guidance in this document will be deemed by U.S Department of Education (ED) officials, including the Inspector General, as compliance with the applicable Federal statutes and regulations.

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