Title I B-3 - Even Start Family Literacy Program
Even Start Statute
Even Start is authorized under Title I, Part B, Subpart 3 (William F. Goodling Even Start Family Literacy Programs) of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB--Public Law 107-110). NCLB reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) -- the main federal law on K-12 education. NCLB was signed into law on January 8th, 2002. Title I is the part of NCLB that supports programs in schools and school districts to improve the learning of children from low-income families.
Purpose of Even Start
- Help break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy by improving the educational opportunities of the state's low-income families, through the integration of adult literacy, early childhood education, and parenting support into a unified family literacy program
- Assist parents in gaining the literacy and parenting skills they need to become full partners in the educational development of their young children, from birth through age seven, through family-centered education programming
- Help children in reaching their full potential as learners
Even Start Family Literacy Services
Even Start services are provided to participants on a voluntary basis and must be of sufficient intensity in terms of hours, and of sufficient duration, to make sustainable changes in a family, and must integrate the following four components:
- Adult Education
Parent literacy training that leads to economic self-sufficiency - Early Childhood Education
An age-appropriate education to prepare children for success in school and life experiences - Parenting Support
Training and support for parents regarding how to be the primary teacher for their children and how to be full partners in the education of their home - Parent and Child Together
Interactive literacy activities between parents and their children
Eligibility to Participate in Even Start Programs
Families eligible to participate in Even Start programs are those in which:
- there are adults (including teenage parents) who do not
possess sufficient mastery of basic educational skills to
function effectively in society; who do not have a
secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent level
of education; or who are unable to speak, read or write the
English language
- and there are children from birth through seven years of age
Colorado Even Start Family Literacy Resources
State Even Start Coordinator:
Kathryn Smukler
Colorado Family Literacy Training Center Coordinator:
Debbie Butkus