Excerpts from Reflective Journals | Excerpts from Literature | References

Have you ever tried to do a large project on your own? Often, doing things alone means much more time is required, and many more mistakes go unnoticed until well into later project stages. When embarking on a project such as designing or beginning a program for limited English proficiency (LEP) adults, it is better to do so with the help of a team of contributors. Have at least a few experts available with whom to collaborate, as well as access to other services (i.e. child care, food services, classroom teachers, a materials center).

• March 12th, 2002 (Wave I) –“As I talked with Amy (the Wood's End Elementary after school/evening program coordinator) beforehand, she mentioned again how, with many of their classes, it has taken a few run-throughs (word of mouth, etc) to get the attendance up there to a better level. She also said she could give me a list of all the Spanish-speaking parents in the school, and invite them one by one to participate in the class.”
• March 19th, 2002 (Wave I) – “Oh—tonight I also showed up early and met the librarian, Lisa. She was very helpful, and I went through their school library with a list of the book titles that the teachers had given me. Unfortunately, lots of the titles of books teachers have been sharing aloud with the class, they didn’t have in this library. Or…they just had one or two available copies. So, we’ll see how it goes finding more and more books.”
• April 4th, 2002 (Wave I) – “Then, tonight at class…no one showed up—how sad!!!!! This gave me time to brainstorm with Amy (the after school/night coordinator), and we decided to try something drastic. It’s all about problem solving at this point…So, Amy and I decided that we’d offer a new round of PACT at the school, but only to the students who are already enrolled in the evening English classes. We will offer it once a week for an hour, so it doesn’t conflict with their English classes, and I would just do it for seven weeks—and see how it goes! Okay—I am pumped!”

Excerpts from Literature

• Somerfield, 1995, “The most successful programs included staff with expertise in early childhood and adult education as well as support staff, such as counselors, social workers, community liaisons, and other volunteers. In strong family literacy programs, adult and early childhood staff work together, integrating curriculum objectives to serve the individual and mutual literacy and parenting needs of adults and children” (p. 193).
• Weinstein-Shr and Quintero, 1995, “Tapping cultural riches while addressing the needs of multilingual families cannot be done by any one group or organization single-handedly. The work of forging relationships between schools and communities, of bridging cultures and healing generations, requires partnership from each side of these divides” (p. 7).
• Rivera, 1997, “In order to provide comprehensive services to students, the organization has established a network of collaborative relationships with a number of other organizations both in the community and citywide” (p. 132). (Referring to El Barrio Popular Education Program)
• Handel, 1999, “There is now widespread recognition of the role of families in school learning. Despite the difficulties of turning recognition into practice, benefits accrue when schools are venues for family literacy programs” (p. 40).
• Handel, 1999, “The labor intensive nature of the [Family Reading] program means that staff need time and experience to become effective with the methodology. Without solid administrative support, teachers may become preoccupied with program logistics, rather than focusing on instructional activities” (p. 133).