National Institute for Literacy

Policy Update

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REPORT FROM WASHINGTON, D.C.

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House Committee Passes Child and Family Literacy Bill

- October 31, 1997 -

The House of Representatives' Education and Workforce Committee, chaired by Rep. Bill Goodling, passed the Reading Excellence Act (H.R. 2614) on October 22. It shares the same goal as the President's America Reads Challenge -- ensuring that all children read independently by the end of third grade at the latest -- but proposes additional ways to achieve the goal.

Recognizing that one of the best ways to help children's reading is to help their parents increase their own literacy skills, the bill opens up important opportunities for family literacy approaches. It also broadens the literacy component of the College Work Study program to allow students to work in family literacy projects, which could include tutoring parents. In addition, it amends the Even Start program in several ways.

Overview

H.R. 2614 would provide $260 million, targeted to low-income areas, for new statewide literacy partnerships. While the focus is on professional development for classroom reading teachers, including providing them with (1) the latest research findings on how to most effectively teach children to read, and (2) innovative in-service professional development opportunities, the grants would also have to be used for:

• Literacy training for parents who need to improve their skills in order to read to their children, assist them with homework, and be their children's first and most important teachers through family literacy programs;
• Tutoring assistance before and after school, on weekends, and during the summer for first through third graders experiencing difficulty reading.

Funding Process

In order to receive funding, states would create state "Reading and Literacy Partnerships" that would apply for literacy grants from the U.S. Department of Education. Partnership members would include:

• The Governor;
• The Chief State School Officer;
• The chair and ranking member of the state legislative committees responsible for education;
• A representative of a local education agency that includes a Title I schools identified for improvement; and
• A representative of a community-based organization working with children to improve their reading skills, with preference to those that use volunteers.

Others that could be included in the partnership are family literacy providers, adult education providers, state directors of Adult Education, representatives of local library literacy programs, and reading teachers.

After receiving a statewide grant from the Department of Education, the state partnership would make 3-year competitive subgrants to local education agencies, with priority going to those that form partnerships with family literacy programs, community-based organizations, or local preschool programs, including Head Start.

The bill also includes a provision that would provide parents with vouchers that could be used for reading tutors for their children.

Even Start Changes

H.R. 2614 sets aside $10 million for the Even Start Family Literacy program. These funds would be used to award grants to states to plan and implement statewide family literacy initiatives by coordinating existing federal, state, and local literacy resources.

Other Even Start provisions would:

• Require states receiving funding through Even Start to develop indicators of program quality to monitor, evaluate, and improve programs within the state.
• Require the Secretary of Education to support research on the components of successful family literacy activities that could be used as models for new programs and improve the quality of existing programs.

College Work Study Changes

In order to encourage college students to volunteer as literacy tutors, the President last year revised the College Work Study (CWS) program to provide a financial incentive for colleges and universities that facilitate their work study students serving as tutors. Over 800 colleges and universities have agreed to participate, and some of their students have already started tutoring.

H.R. 2614 broadens this initiative by requiring all institutions nationwide that participate in the CWS program to use at least two percent of their total CWS funds to compensate college work study students employed as either a reading tutor for preschool through elementary school children, or in a family literacy project.

Dissemination of Reading Research

The bill calls on the National Institute for Literacy to disseminate information on reliable, replicable reading research to all recipients of federal financial assistance though the Adult Education Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Head Start, and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

Timing

It is important that this bill is moving forward, because the balanced budget agreement reached by the President and Congress earlier this year includes $260 million for a children's literacy initiative if it is enacted by April 1, 1998. If the bill is not enacted by then, the money will not be spent on literacy.

The full House may take up the bill in late October or early November. It is not yet clear when the Senate will take up its version of the bill, or when a final bill will reach the President.