Executive Summary--THIRD NATIONAL EVEN START EVALUATION (PDF)

The Even Start Family Literacy Program, established in 1989, aims to simultaneously improve the literacy of children and their parents through (1) early childhood education, (2) parenting education, (3) adult education, and (4) parent-child joint literacy activities. The program’s underlying premise is that eligible families need each of these four core instructional components, and that these services will be more effective when integrated in a unified program. During the period of this study, Even Start’s guiding legislation stressed process factors such as collaboration with local service agencies and the recruitment and screening of eligible families, although it did require high-quality, intensive instructional components. The legislation was reauthorized in 2000 and 2001, and while all previous requirements have been retained, the legislation now stresses more strongly the importance of the quality of instructional content.