Instructional Hours

1. When counting hours, we count in separate components. Interactive activities impact all components at once. Why do we separate components hours? For example, reading an article about brain development promotes both parent literacy and parenting education as defined by Even Start. (January 2002)
   
   The State must report hours in each component to the federal Even Start office. Parent literacy, parenting education and early childhood education are the three (3) components of Even Start while interactive family literacy is a process which is used to implement these three components. You must count each of the areas separately and then count the interactive literacy when the child and the parent do the activity together. 
   




2. Do we count the hours the teen parent is in the high school classroom toward the 100 hours of participation in Parent Literacy training? (January 2002)
   
   No. High school is part of compulsory education. However, additional parent literacy conducted after school hours (extended day or integrated home based instruction) should occur and may be counted toward the hours of instruction. 
   




3. Do all family members need to be present in order for instruction in a group setting to occur? (January 2004)
   
   No. Instruction in any core component occurs either in a group or individually. All instruction needs to be integrated and intentional. Shared planning time between providers of each component occurs to ensure that the instruction is integrated. There also needs to be an opportunity for interactive literacy between parents and each of their children participating in Even Start.
   




4. Program collaborators provide early childhood, parent literacy, and parenting education instruction that is not paid through Even Start dollars. Do these instructional hours count toward participation? (January 2004)
   
   Yes. All instructional hours, provided with Even Start dollars or provided in-kind, may be counted towards participation as long as instruction is integrated. Instruction that is compulsory may not be counted, but all supplemental instruction for school-aged children may be. 
   




5. If a program has an educator or program staff that works directly in school with Even Start children, can we count this time as supplemental services even though it takes place during the school day? (January 2004)
   
   Yes. As long as the instruction supplements what is developed by the teacher and is provided to children enrolled in Even Start, the hours may be counted. 
   




6. How do we record the summer attendance hours of school-age children? (January 2004)
   
   All instruction provided during the summer should be entered as Early Childhood Education instructional hours provided by Even Start. However, the school attendance rate is based on 180 days of instruction, and does not include instruction during the summer months. Programs should maintain records of attendance for their own information and include their findings in their reflections.
   




7. When reporting instructional hours occurring during interactive literacy activities between parent and child, should the hours be duplicated under parent literacy, parent education, and early childhood education? (January 2004)
   
   No; interactive literacy is a process whereby parents have guided practice in the skills learned during parenting education instruction. The hours of instruction should be recorded as parenting education hours.
   




8. How should the instructional hours offered be calculated? (February 2005)
   
   Programs and services may be directly funded by Even Start Family Literacy, provided as an in-kind service, or offered by a collaborating agency. For Even Start Family Literacy, these programs and services must be provided in a coordinated and meaningful manner and through a shared planning process rather than occurring in isolation.
   
   To determine the number of contact hours, center or home, offered in each of the identified areas:
   

   • identify the locations where Even Start Family Literacy participants receive programs and services
   • determine the types of programs and services Even Start Family Literacy participants typically attend
   • calculate the number of hours these programs and services are offered during each month.



9. One parent has a reading level below the second grade level and has a child who is entering second grade. The family educator is providing instruction on decoding, for the purpose of reading, to both at the same time. Can these hours of instruction be counted in both parent literacy (or adult education) and early childhood education since it is truly instruction to each person? (February 2005)
   
   Even Start Family Literacy provides intentional instruction - instruction that has a clear purpose and is connected to the individual strengths of the family. Quality instruction, developed by appropriately certified teachers, uses appropriate materials, methods, and activities based on the learner. For this example, we need to go back to the intention or lesson plan for the educational activity to determine WHO is receiving the instructional hours and then record these hours 
   




10. If an adult in an Even Start Program is now taking college classes, should the instructional hours count as adult education? What about homework hours? (February 2005)
    
    For previously enrolled adults, the actual classroom hours would count towards adult education if the instruction is integrated with instruction occurring in the other core components. Homework hours would not be counted unless it is part of a structured tutorial or study group that can be documented and is led by a certified instructor. The program should begin plans to transition the family to other more appropriate programs.