FAMILY LITERACY
Hudson River Center supported the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of family literacy in New York State through:
Instructional Design
Bringing Family Literacy to Incarcerated Settings: An Instructional Guide was created by Hudson River Center to assist all who are interested in implementing a family literacy project within an incarcerated setting.
The guide includes a description of various program designs as well as a blueprint for implementation.
Publishing
Hudson River Center facilitated the development of various documents to support the implementation of family literacy programs.
- The Even Start Family Literacy Program Coordinators' Manual provides a comprehensive summary on what family literacy is and how to implement an Even Start Family Literacy program.
- The Even Start Family Literacy Performance Indicators Guide summarizes definitions and instruction on the proposed New York State performance indicators.
Workshops
Hudson River Center has planned, implemented, and evaluated training sessions to help local educational agencies, community-based organizations, and colleges in New York State and Vermont improve services to families, adults, and children. Training sessions ranged from three-day, statewide, multi-purpose events to two-day, single-purpose meetings.
Topics have included:
- social marketing
- building effective partnerships
- integrating Even Start components
- developing the home as a primary learning environment
- integrating family literacy into correctional settings
- implementing performance indicators
|
- delivering effective professional development
- creating transition strategies for participants
- creating interactive literacy activities for parents and children
- implementing early childhood education based on the High Scope model
|
Hudson River Center determined the needs for each event by working closely with the client and with the targeted audience. All phases of the events--brochure development, registration, management, evaluation, etc.--were handled by Hudson River Center staff.
To meet the needs of new partnerships, Hudson River Center also coordinated the Peer Mentor Initiative training. This training enables experienced Even Start Family Literacy coordinators to become mentors for new family literacy program coordinators and to support the effective implementation of new Even Start Family Literacy partnerships.
Strategic Planning
Working with practitioners in the field, Hudson River Center guided the development and implementation of performance indicators for Even Start Family Literacy partnerships. This performance measurement process involved facilitating meetings, conducting training workshops, and coordinating a pilot implementation study.
Project Management/Coordination
Hudson River Center has provided technical assistance to professionals working in the field of family literacy on both the local and state levels. At the local level, for example, Hudson River Center staff conducted on-site visits to help new and existing programs meet the goals set forth in the grants and to bring local programs into compliance. We also provided on-site technical assistance on assessment of children and strategies for recruitment, retention, and transition. Our activities at the state level include providing input on the development of software programs for Even Start Family Literacy.
