Update on State Initiatives

The First Lady’s Family Literacy Initiative for Texas:
A Continuing Story of Support to Intergenerational Reading

by Emily Moore and Harriet Vardiman Smith, TCALL

The First Lady’s Family Literacy Initiative for Texas (FLFLIT), a program of The Barbara Bush Texas Fund for Family Literacy, was launched by Laura Bush in 1996 while she was serving as First Lady of the State of Texas. Since that time, the Initiative has awarded grants of up to $50,000 to 137 programs across the state. Grantees have included school districts, community colleges, universities, charter schools, pediatric medical clinics, Head Start and Even Start programs, community-based organizations, libraries, and prison programs. The money for this Initiative is raised at the Barbara Bush Foundation’s annual fundraisers, A Celebration of Reading, held in Houston and Dallas.

Laura Bush continues to serve as Honorary Chair of FLFLIT, and recently expressed her thanks to supporters of the Initiative with these words. “Through [the Initiative], literacy providers have heightened the awareness of the value of intergenerational reading. Thanks to your participation and generosity, a new chapter will be added to this story in The State of Texas. Children and parents will be able to discover reading together. And the story will go on until literacy is valued in every home.”

For the First Lady’s grant programs funded each year in Texas, technical assistance is provided by Emily Moore of the Texas Center for the Advancement of Literacy & Learning at Texas A&M University. Pat Peebler serves as grant administrator for The First Lady’s Family Literacy Initiative for Texas.

The grants are awarded to family literacy programs that focus on reading instruction for both parents and their children, and provide structured time for parents and children to read and learn together. In the 2008-2009 program year that recently concluded, grants of $50,000 each were awarded to ten programs. Following is a brief summary of the accomplishments of those ten programs in the past year.

Austin Community College, Austin – In a collaboration with Communities in Schools of Central Texas, Austin Community College expanded a family literacy program at Austin Independent School District (ISD) Lucy Read Pre-K Demonstration School. Over 512 hours of adult education instruction were provided and parents participated in PACT activities in their child’s classroom each day. This encouraged parents to become advocates for their children’s education as they became comfortable in the school setting.

Austin Learning Academy, Austin – This program implemented a full-service family literacy program at Houston Elementary School in the Austin ISD. Two adult students advanced from English as a Second Language to the literacy program, five students found employment, and one student was inducted into the Adult Education National Honor Society. All adults with progress test data made significant gains on the BEST Plus oral interview test. Job readiness and career exploration were embedded into the program’s curriculum, which helped adults to transition into the workforce. A lending library was started with grant funds, which continues to provide families with literacy materials.

AVANCE-Waco, Waco – This large family literacy program achieved a student retention rate of almost 100%, with a long waiting list of interested families. The AVANCE model involves home visits as well as making a small toy or token that relates to a story being read by the family. Parents responded positively and asked for more hours of instruction. Older children attending Bell’s Hill Elementary in the Waco ISD also became involved in family literacy. Teachers were on hand each morning to meet parents bringing their children to school. Activities were provided for them, giving parents experience in helping their child become a better reader. For example, the library used a color coded system to help parents find a book on their child’s reading level.

Bryan Independent School District, Bryan – The Bryan ISD Even Start program focused on activities that would develop the oral language skills of parents and children. Learning experience trips were taken to several local places of interest and the appropriate vocabulary was displayed and demonstrated many times before and during each trip. The staff noted increased interaction between parents and children as the year progressed. Transportation was provided to and from classes.

Carrizo Springs Independent School District, Carrizo Springs – The Carrizo Springs family literacy program consisted of adult education classes, an early childhood class and home visits. The home visits became a very important part of keeping families engaged in literacy activities outside of school hours.

Community Action, Inc., San Marcos – This program provided family literacy services to Head Start programs in two small towns. Along with the Head Start requirements for family involvement, the family literacy program continued to encourage parents to become involved in their children’s education. Parents were given access to adult education and family literacy activities that would help them prepare their children for entrance into the public school system.

Corpus Christi Independent School District, Corpus Christi – Corpus Christi ISD added a family literacy component to their large adult education program. Families enjoyed several large social events where the children and parents went from booth to booth experiencing literacy activities. Student nurses from a near-by college taught health classes to parents.

Mi Escuelita Preschool, Dallas – A key component of Mi Escuelita Preschool’s family literacy program was literacy activities in bags that families took home and completed. Bags typically contained a book and other materials that brought the story to life as the parent and child read it together.

Mt. Pleasant Independent School District, Mt. Pleasant – Working with a local Head Start, this family literacy program saw more than 40 families coming regularly to monthly family meetings, where they enjoyed a variety of activities involving literacy. Monthly parenting meetings were also offered at a local chicken processing plant to accommodate a group of parents who worked there.

Plano Independent School District, Plano – The Plano family literacy program was successful in both retention and accomplishments. Over 800 hours of instruction were offered to adults. Eight students took the GED test with four passing all five subject areas. The rest are continuing to retest. Several parents began to volunteer in their children’s classroom after gaining confidence in the parenting classes.

In the coming program year, nine new grantees will continue this valuable work. They include:

• Communities In Schools of Central Texas, Austin
• Deer Park Independent School District, Pasadena
• Halpin Elementary School/Houston Independent School District, Houston
• Hays Consolidated Independent School District, Kyle
• Lamar Consolidated Independent School District, Rosenberg
• Literacy Council of Tyler, Tyler
• Northside Independent School District, San Antonio
• Park Place Elementary School/Houston Independent School District, Houston
• Sutton Elementary School/Houston Independent School District, Houston

For more information on The First Lady’s Family Literacy Initiative for Texas, visit the Initiative’s Website.