Getting Started: (Advice for New Adult and Family Literacy Programs)

Success in ESL Family Literacy

For the past eighteen months, I have been involved in coordinating an ESL Family Literacy program that has been both successful and challenging. I believe it succeeded for three reasons. One, we established a true learning community. Two, we partnered with local schools, businesses, industries and their leaders. Three, we structured our program to reflect our belief that a child's parent is the first and most important teacher.

In establishing a learning community, we found it was important to our low income families to offer year round classes, homework assistance and computers with Internet access. We built home libraries by giving books as reward incentives. We utilized the expertise and enthusiasm of community members. We kept records of both quantitative test results and examples from students' work. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we worked to support the parents in their role as the child's first teacher. Home visits helped build rapport and trust and also gave us an opportunity to meet basic needs of the families. We found as the parent's communication skills improved so did their level of confidence. Our goal was to empower the parents in their homes and in the community.

Recently, at a national literacy conference, I was asked what was the single most important factor in our success. Wondering if I would regret appearing so "unprofessional," I replied, "We love our parents and children and they feel our love and respond to it." By this I mean if our parents are struggling, unable to buy food or clothing for their family, we not only want to know about this, but we will help them find the resources they need to solve those problems. If our parents are unable to get themselves and their children to our program, we will find a way to get them there even if that means that we pick them up and take them home until other means of transportation can be found. Our parents and children know that they are allowed mistakes, that they don't have to be perfect and that we love them even if they are having a bad day and they didn't bring their homework. They respond to this love by working unbelievably hard in and out of the classroom. By the way, my response of loving our students, adults and children alike, was very well received at the conference. Based on the smiling faces and nodding heads in the audience, this attitude apparently reflected their own experience as teachers and administrators of literacy programs across the nation.

A program might have all of the above and still not succeed because it doesn't have the administrative, staff and volunteer support that it needs to be successful. First, and foremost, programs need to be given the opportunity to evolve and grow and that means that there must be more than one chance to get it right. Programs need key support from administrative staff and the unwavering dedication of teaching staff. Equally important are the collaborative partners. It is imperative for them to have the vision and commitment to ensure a program's success. Collaboration is not always comfortable or easy but it is necessary if we are to keep the best interests of the children and their families first and foremost. Volunteers are important too. They allow programs to do more with less and volunteers can be involved in all aspects from planning to implementation.

By taking a very personal interest in our families, supporting them, yet encouraging them to learn and grow (which means encouraging them to make mis- takes), we found success and we had a lot of fun too. If you would like to learn more about our program or about family literacy, please do not hesitate to contact us. We want to pass on what we learned through the successes and challenges that we experienced, so that together we all may continue to learn and grow.

Establishing a Learning Community
Year Round Classes
Reward Incentives for Reading
Active (hands on) Learning Environment
Collaborative Learning
Instructional Leaders Committed to Students
Library Checkout for Parents & Children
Homework Assistance
Computers with Internet Access

Partnering with Local Schools, Businesses, Industry & Community Leaders
School Principal Committed to Reaching Out
to Parents & the Community
School's Inclusion of Social Agencies on the
School's Premise
Volunteers
Donations of Materials & Funds
Media Support
Information & Data Collection
Evaluative Studies
Emphasizing Relationships over Data
Collection

Supporting Parents as the Child's First and Most Important Teacher
Home Visits
Audio Tapes & Books
Parental Involvement in Leadership Roles
Acting as Liaison to Social Agencies
Bilingual Teachers & Aides
Involving Parents at All Levels
Requiring All Parents to Participate in Adult
Literacy Classes
Speaking to Parents and Children in both
Spanish & English
Honoring Multi-cultural Differences

Linda Kersh is the Coordinator of the Even Start Family Literacy program in Tyler, TX, a project of The Literacy Council of Tyler.  She received her B.A. in psychology and also a teaching certificate with a specialization in reading from the University of Texas at Tyler.  She completed her Masters in Library Science at Texas Woman's College in Denton.