Because family literacy is understood as an interactive, culturally responsive process, evaluation should reflect this complex dynamic and functional process. Five evaluation principles have been identified (Holt, 1994 and Lytle & Wolfe, 1989) which guided our consultation with family literacy programs in developing the present resource guide:

  1. Evaluation formats should be aligned with specific family learning goals. The nature of a program's literacy experiences should direct assessment. Pick, choose, adapt, adopt ways which provide information that fits the kinds of family literacy experiences offered.
  2. Consider the diverse purposes of evaluation in terms of the audiences for such information: Parents, children, literacy practitioners, funding agencies.
  3. No single measure can adequately evaluate the complex literacy interactions in family literacy.
  4. Evaluation decisions should be shared and undertaken collaboratively with learners to enhance their own involvement in literacy learning. Strategies which have been successful include: interviews, goal setting and monitoring, family portfolios and observation of family participation.
  5. Evaluation procedures should incorporate practitioner informal observations and intuitions about learner literacy accomplishments as these observations are accurate and effective in improving program service.

These principles have been incorporated in an understanding of evaluation as a problem solving or decision making process. This problem solving model has been elaborated in a Guide to the Evaluation of Literacy Programs in Ontario (Ontario Adjustment and Training Board, 1995). The OTAB guide offers specific direction in conducting evaluation procedures for a wide range of literacy programs. In conducting family literacy evaluation, we found it useful to incorporate the general six-step problem solving model used by Ontario literacy practitioners within the family literacy evaluation process presented in this resource.

The similarity between the general six step problem solving model and the family literacy evaluation process to be presented is illustrated by comparing the evaluation phases identified for both. In Figure I the steps involved in family literacy evaluation are identified in parentheses under the steps outlined for general problem solving in literacy program evaluation.


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