Even Start Family Literacy Programs: An Overview

CRS Report for Congress
Even Start Family Literacy Programs:
An Overview
Updated September 25, 2006
Gail McCallion
Specialist in Social Legislation
Domestic Social Policy Division

Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

Even Start Family Literacy Programs:
An Overview
Summary
The Even Start program provides education and related services jointly to
parents lacking a high school diploma (or equivalent) and their young children. Even
Start services include basic academic instruction and parenting skills training for the
adults, and early childhood education for their children, along with necessary
supplementary services such as child care or transportation. Generally, Even Start
programs do not directly provide all of these services; rather, they establish networks
of service providers, including Head Start programs and grantees under the Adult
Education Act (AEA). Even Start is the only federal program specifically dedicated
to providing services to both disadvantaged young children and their parents.
The families served by Even Start programs are highly disadvantaged, with very
low levels of education and income, and increasing proportions of them have limited
English language skills.
The Even Start program was reauthorized in the 106^th Congress, in P.L. 106-
554, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related
Agencies Appropriations Act for FY2001. ESEA Title I, Part B was renamed the
William F. Goodling Even Start Family Literacy Programs and was reauthorized for
five years beginning with an authorization of $250 million for FY2001. The
reauthorizing language is largely the same as language contained in the Literacy
Involves Families Together Act, H.R. 3222 (Goodling), which was passed by the full
House on September 12, 2000. However, language in H.R. 3222 specifying that
religious organizations should be treated the same as other nongovernmental
organizations in the awarding of subgrants was not included in the final
reauthorization language.
P.L. 107-110 (the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001), the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act reauthorization legislation, which was signed into law on
January 8, 2002, moved the William F. Goodling Even Start Family Literacy
Programs from Title I Part B of the ESEA to Subpart 3 of Title I Part B of the No
Child Left Behind Act and extended the authorization period through FY2007. The
only change to the program was an amendment allowing states to use funds for state-
level activities to improve the quality of family literacy services provided (in addition
to other previously authorized uses).
The Even Start program’s funding was reduced to $99 million for FY2006
(including the FY2006 across-the-board reduction). For FY2007, the Administration
has requested no funding for the program, the House Committee on Appropriations
has recommended $70 million in funding for the program, and the Senate Committee
on Appropriations has recommended no funding for the program.

Contents
Major Provisions of Even Start...................................1
Program Participants, Services, and Outcomes.......................3
Participants ...............................................3
Services Provided..........................................4
Outcomes ................................................5
Legislation ...................................................5
List of Tables
Table 1. Even Start Funding: 1989-2006...............................3

Even Start Family Literacy Programs:
An Overview
Major Provisions of Even Start
The Even Start Family Literacy program, authorized by ESEA Title I, Part B,
provides education and related services jointly to disadvantaged parents and their
young children. The purpose of the program is to integrate early childhood
education, adult basic education, and parenting skills education into a “unified family
literacy program” (ESEA Section 1201). An assumption underlying Even Start is
that children whose parents have low literacy or basic education levels are more
likely to be educationally successful if, in addition to receiving early childhood
instruction themselves, their parents receive educational services plus instruction in
how to help their children learn. Further, parents may be more motivated to
participate in adult basic education programs if one of the purposes of such education
is to support their children’s educational development. While some other federal
education programs — such as ESEA Title I, Part A programs — also provide
services to both disadvantaged young children and their parents, Even Start is the
only federal program specifically dedicated to this purpose.
Under the Even Start legislation, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) is
authorized to make grants to states for assistance to eligible entities — consisting of
a local educational agency (LEA) in collaboration with a community based
organization, institution of higher education, or other agency or nonprofit¹
organization — for joint programs of education for children aged 0-7 years and their
parents. In each participating family, at least one parent must be eligible to be served
under the Adult Education Act (AEA) — i.e., not enrolled in school and not a high
school graduate (or equivalent) — or, if a LEA provides the basic education
component of the program, services may be provided to parents who are within the
compulsory school age range for their state.
Even Start program services must include adult literacy instruction, early
childhood education, instruction to help parents support their child’s education,
recruitment, screening of parents, staff training, and home-based instruction. In
addition, child care and transportation services may be provided, if these services are
necessary and other funding sources are not available. Typically, Even Start
programs do not directly provide all of these services, rather they establish networks
of service providers, including Head Start programs and grantees under the AEA.

¹ Title XVI of P.L. 106-554 (the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services,
Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for FY2001) permits the program to
serve children 8 or older if services are provided in collaboration with ESEA Title I, Part
A program.

Even Start programs must be coordinated with other programs with similar purposes,
operate year-round, and be independently evaluated.
Five percent of Even Start funds is reserved for programs serving migrant
children plus the outlying areas and Indian tribes;² and up to 3% is reserved for a
national evaluation, technical assistance, and program improvement. Remaining
appropriations provide Even Start grants to the states in proportion to ESEA Title I,
Part A grants,³ with a state minimum of the greater of 0.5% of all grants, or
$250,000.
Up to 6% of state grants may be used for state administration and technical
assistance.⁴ Local grants are made by state educational agencies (SEAs) based on
recommendations by a review panel, consisting of an early childhood education
specialist, an adult education specialist, and at least one additional member.
Programs are to be in areas with high rates of poverty, illiteracy, unemployment,
limited English proficiency, or disadvantaged children. Even Start grants are to be
made for a period of up to four years, and may be renewed for up to four additional
years. States receiving Even Start grants are required to develop “indicators of
program quality,” to be used to monitor and improve Even Start programs in the
state, and to determine whether to continue funding local programs. P.L. 106-554,
Title XVI, requires states to submit to ED their quality indicators for Even Start
programs to be eligible for continued funding under the program. The federal share
is generally limited to 90% for the first year, declining to 50% for the fifth, sixth and
seventh years, and 35% for subsequent years.⁵ The federal share limitation may be
waived if an entity would not otherwise be able to participate.
Funding for the Even Start program grew from $14,820,000 in FY1989, the
program’s initial year, to $225,094,720 for FY2005 (including the FY2005 across-
the-board reduction). The program’s funding was significantly reduced to
$99,000,000 in FY2006.⁶ See Table 1. for the program’s complete funding history.
This decrease in funding is likely to continue in FY2007. For FY2007, the
Administration has requested no funding, the House Committee on Appropriations

² The reservation is six percent if appropriations are more than $200 million.
³ ESEA Title I, Part A grants are made primarily in proportion to school age (5-17 years)
children in poor families multiplied by a state expenditure factor. For more information on
the Title I, Part A allocation formulas, see CRS Report RL31487, Education for the
Disadvantaged: Overview of Title I-A Amendments Under the No Child Left Behind Act, by
Wayne Riddle.
⁴ Increased from 5% to 6% by P.L. 106-554, Title XVI (Grants for administration may not
exceed half of the total).
⁵ Even Start Amendments contained in the Omnibus Appropriations Act for FY2000 (P.L.
106-113), removed the eight-year limitation on the duration of awards, and reduced the
federal share of Even Start grants to 35% for the ninth and subsequent years. P.L. 106-113
also amended Even Start to require SEAs to start progress reviews after the first year of
receipt of subgrant funds.
⁶ CRS Report RL33071, Even Start: Funding Controversy, by Gail McCallion.

has recommended $70 million in funding, and the Senate Committee on
Appropriations has recommended no funding.
Table 1. Even Start Funding: 1989-2006
1989$14,820,000
1990$24,201,000
1991$49,770,000
1992$70,000,000
1993$89,123,000
1994$91,373,000
1995 $102,024,000
1996 $101,997,000
1997 $101,992,000
1998 $124,000,000
1999 $135,000,000
2000 $150,000,000
2001 $250,000,000
2002 $250,000,000
2003 $248,375,000
2004 $246,910,000
2005 $225,095,000
2006$99,000,000
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Program Participants, Services, and Outcomes
Participants. Even Start has grown from 76 local programs serving
approximately 2,500 families in 1989-1990 to 855 programs serving approximately⁷
32,000 families in 2000-2001. The most recent available data (2000-2001) are
based on program data for a period prior to changes required in the 2000

⁷ Data included here are from the Third National Even Start Evaluation, 2003, prepared for
the U.S. Department of Education, Planning and Evaluation Service.

reauthorization of Even Start. These data indicate that Even Start programs tend to
target families with children under age 5; 40% of participating children were 0-2
years old and 28% were 3-4 years old. The parents in the families served generally
have low levels of education; for example in 2000-2001, 44% of parents had a 9^th
grade or less level of education upon entering the program. Further, the income of
participating families is typically quite low — 84% of families had income below the
federal poverty level. Only 23% of participating parents in 2000-2001 were
employed.⁸ The share of participants who are Hispanic was 46% in 2000-2001,
while 30% were white, 19% were African American, and the remaining 7% were
Asian, Native American, Hawaiian, or Multi-Racial. The percentage of participants
from non-English-language backgrounds is high — 45% of new Even Start enrollees
speak English as a second language. The top four reasons given by parents for
enrolling in Even Start were a desire to improve their educational status (get a GED),
their parenting skills, their ability to be a better teacher of their child, and their
children’s chance of future school success.
Services Provided. In most cases, Even Start programs do not directly
provide all of the required services; rather they coordinate and integrate services
provided by other agencies, especially early childhood education provided by Head
Start or state preschool programs, or adult basic education provided by AEA
grantees. The services most often provided directly by Even Start programs are early
childhood education and parenting skills education. In addition to the core services
that all Even Start programs must provide, the support services most often provided
are child care, meals, transportation, and social services.
The average federal budget for Even Start programs surveyed in 2000-2001 was
$175,439. The average federal Even Start program expenditures per participating
family was $4,708 in 2000-2001. The rates of actual participation in various Even
Start activities by the families being served in 2000-2001 were 84% for adult
education, 89% for parenting education and parent-child joint activities, and 95% for
early childhood education; with 82% of families participating in all core services.
Maintaining the intensity of services and rates of participation continue to be an
issue — about half of the Even Start families who joined Even Start between 1997-
1998 and 2000-2001 left the program within 10 months. In 2000-2001, 17% of
families who left Even Start did so because they had completed their education goals
under the program. The majority of participants who left did so because of job
conflicts, relocation, motivational issues, and other concerns (such as poor health,
homelessness, etc.).
Evidence from the research literature has indicated that children who participate⁹
in intensive high-quality services score higher on literacy measures. And, evidence
from national Even Start evaluations has indicated that families participate more
when more intensive services are offered. As a consequence Even Start projects have

⁸ Nevertheless most of their income comes from wages, although not from the non wage-
earning parent participating in Even Start.
⁹ W. Steven Barnett, “Long-term Effects of Early Childhood Programs on Cognitive and
School Outcomes,” Long-term Outcomes of Early Childhood Programs [The Future of
Children], vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 25-50.

increased the amount of early childhood education and adult education services
offered. However, most Even Start parents do not use all the hours of services
available for themselves and their children. For example, in 2000-2001, on average,
children birth to two received 30% of the service hours made available. For children
aged 3 and 4, 5, and school-aged, the averages were 37%, 44%, and 62%,
respectively.
Outcomes. The most recent national Even Start evaluation, for 2000-2001,
was based on two data sources — an experimental design study (EDS) that tracked
18 projects that agreed to randomly assign new families to Even start or a control
group; and, the Even Start Performance Information Reporting System (ESPIRS)
which tracks annual data from the universe of Even Start projects. Although families
participating in the EDS were randomly assigned to control and Even Start groups,
the 18 projects participating were not randomly selected. The EDS families were
more likely than Even Start families as a whole to be Hispanic (75% versus 46%),
and to be participating in Even Start projects in urban areas (83% versus 55%).
The national evaluation collected data on 41 different outcome measures for the
families participating in the EDS. The results indicated that the Even Start children
and their parents did not perform better than the control group children and their
parents. Even Start children and their parents made gains in literacy and other
measures, but so did control group parents and children:
The data show that children and parents in the control group made the same
kinds of gains on literacy assessments, on parent reports of child literacy, on
parent-child reading, on literacy resources at home, on family economic self-¹⁰
sufficiency, and so on, that were seen for Even Start families.
The only area in which Even Start children did significantly better than control
group children was in teacher reports of behavior problems for elementary school
aged children.
Legislation
P.L. 107-110 (the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001), the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act reauthorization legislation, which was signed into law on
January 8, 2002, moved the William F. Goodling Even Start Family Literacy
Programs from Title I Part B of the ESEA, to Subpart 3 of Title I Part B of the No
Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The only change to the program was an amendment
allowing states to use funds for state-level activities to improve the quality of family
literacy services provided (in addition to other previously authorized uses).
The Even Start program was reauthorized in the 106^th Congress in H.R. 4577,
the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related
Agencies Appropriations Act for FY2001, signed into law as P.L. 106-554. ESEA
Title I, Part B was renamed the William F. Goodling Even Start Family Literacy
Programs, and was reauthorized for five years beginning with an authorization of

¹⁰ Third National Even Start Evaluation, p. 165.

$250 million for FY2001. The reauthorizing language is largely the same as
language contained in the Literacy Involves Families Together Act, H.R. 3222
(Goodling), which was passed by the full House on September 12, 2000. However,
language in H.R. 3222 specifying that religious organizations should be treated the
same as other nongovernmental organizations in the awarding of subgrants was not
included in the final reauthorization language. In addition, the Inexpensive Book
Distribution Program was not moved to the Even Start program in H.R. 4577; state
grants for state administration and technical assistance were increased from 5% to
6% (grants for administration may not exceed half of the total); and states are
required to submit to ED their quality indicators for Even Start programs to be
eligible for continued funding under the program.
The Literacy Involves Families Together Act, H.R. 3222 (Goodling), was
introduced in the House on November 4, 1999 and referred to the House Committee
on Education and the Workforce. H.R. 3222 was reported by the full Committee on
February 29, 2000; it was passed by the full House on September 12, 2000. H.R.
3222 proposed authorizing $250 million in funding for Even Start for FY2001, and
proposed to:
^!Rename Section 1202, Part B: “The William F. Goodling Even Start
Family Literacy Programs”;
^!Require more stringent qualifications and standards for staff paid out
of Even Start funds;
^!Permit Even Start programs to serve children aged 8 or older if
services are provided in collaboration with ESEA Title I, Part A
programs;
^!Authorize states to use a share of their grants to improve the quality
of services provided by local grantees whose services have been of
low quality, and to permit states to provide technical assistance to
help local programs of demonstrated effectiveness to “access and
leverage additional funds”;
^!Require grantees to use instructional programs “based on
scientifically based reading research” for children (including reading
readiness activities for preschool children), and if possible, for
adults;
^!Would have added to the list of indicators of an area’s need for a
program: whether an area has a high percentage of parents who have
been victims of domestic violence, or who are receiving assistance
under a state program funded under Part A of Title IV of the Social
Security Act;
^!reserve not more than 3% of funds appropriated for Even Start to
provide technical assistance to, and to carry out an independent
evaluation of, programs receiving Even Start assistance;
^!Increase the amount of funds reserved for migrant programs,
outlying areas and Indian tribes from 5% to 6%, if the amount
appropriated for the program exceeds $200 million;
^!Specify that no state shall award a subgrant for less than $52,500 in
the ninth and subsequent years;
^!Provide for a one-time coordination grant for each eligible state in
the amount of: the lesser of $1 million or the amount the

appropriation for Even Start exceeds the previous year’s
appropriation;
^!Require Even Start programs to employ “continuing use of
evaluation data for program improvement,” and to provide
information on how their plan “provides for rigorous and objective
evaluation of progress toward” meeting the program’s stated
objectives;
^!Reserve, in years in which the current year’s appropriation for Even
Start exceeds that of the previous year: “the lesser of $2 million or
50% of the increase in total Even Start appropriations each year” to
be used by the National Institute for Literacy to conduct, through “an
entity ... that has expertise in carrying out longitudinal studies of the
development of literacy skills in children”: scientifically based
reading research on adult literacy and helping parents support the
literacy development of their children;
^!Move the Inexpensive Book Distribution Program from ESEA Title
X, Part E, and add it as Title II under this act; with an authorization
of $20 million;
^!Amend the definition of an eligible entity to include “a religious
organization.” Specify that religious organizations shall be treated
the same as other nongovernmental organizations in the awarding of
subgrants, but an Even Start program may not subject a participant
to “sectarian worship or instruction or proselytization.”
^!Provide that no services may be “provided by voucher or certificate”
and, that “for purposes of any Federal, State or local law, receipt of
financial assistance under this part of Section [1029(b)] shall
constitute receipt of Federal financial assistance or aid.”
On January 19, 1999, the Educational Opportunities Act, S. 2 (Jeffords), was
introduced in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor
and Pensions. S. 2 was reported by the full Committee on April 12, 2000. This bill
would have, among other things, authorized $500 million for Even Start for FY2001
and would have amended Even Start to:
^!Permit Even Start programs to serve children aged 8 or older in
collaboration with ESEA Title I, Part A programs;
^!Authorize states to use a share of their grants to improve the quality
of services provided by local grantees;
^!Require the use of instructional methods “based on scientifically
based reading research” for children and, if possible, for adults;
^!Reserve up to 3% of funds for technical assistance and an
independent evaluation;
^!Increase the funds reserved for migrants outlying areas and Indians
from 5% to 6%, if appropriations exceed $250 million; and
^!Require Even Start programs to “use methods to ensure that
participating families successfully complete the program”; and
^!Require each state that wishes to receive an Even Start grant to
submit a plan specifying indicators of program quality and the state’s
plan for ensuring each funded program fully implements Even Start
requirements, describe how the state will conduct subgrant

competitions, and describe how it will coordinate resources to
improve statewide family literacy services.