Not a One-Way Street. The Power of Reciprocity in Family Literacy Programs.

Overview & Synopsis

The FLITE (Family Literacy Involvement Through Education) program is a partnership between a public school in the Bronx, New York, and the City University of New York that brings together two federal funding streams (FAMILY FIRST: Family-School Partnership Program and Even Start) to provide adult literacy, parenting education, and early childhood education in a family literacy context. The program features home visits, parenting workshops, staff development to continue educational growth of program workers; and for parents, basic education and English for speakers of other languages. Four case studies describing FLITE through the eyes of the families illustrate the following: the program's benefits for children, the value of its multiple points of entry, the uses to which participants put literacy, and reciprocal learning relationships. The success of the program is attributed to the following factors: employing women from the community as family workers; extended opportunities for examining real-life issues and questions; comprehensiveness and flexibility, reflecting the diversity of participant aspirations; and the responsiveness and fluidity of staff development. (Contains 22 references) (KC)