Challenges in Researching Family Literacy Programs

Family literacy programmes have the potential to positively influence a family's future. Unfortunately, investment in these programmes is sparse because research evidence is lacking. There is indication of the potential to improve families' literacy habits through family literacy programmes, but more research is necessary to enhance and sustain them. However, various challenges exist when researching family literacy programmes. This article highlights the challenges that researchers and literacy practitioners face when researching the design, implementation, and evaluation of family literacy programmes. Keywords: family literacy, programs, research methods, literacy, Aboriginal family literacy Literacy is an essential skill that children need to do well in school and adults need for successful employment. When parents find reading and literacy activities challenging, it is often difficult for children in that family to achieve a high level of literacy (Timmons, 2001), and children who experience early literacy difficulties continue to struggle throughout their educational careers (McCoach, O'Connell, Reis, & Levitt, 2006). Families with literacy challenges also face social issues that often lead to cycles of poverty and unemployment (Timmons, 2001). There are fami lies who have struggled with literacy for decades. For example, a needs assessment undertaken using 10 families in a rural Prince Edward Island community found that literacy challenges permeated all aspects of these families' lives (Timmons, 2001). Some of these families had experienced literacy challenges for generations. It is important for the success of future generations that families break this cycle, and literacy practises become part of the family culture. One approach to this problem is to provide intervention via family literacy programmes. Family literacy programmes teach parents to nurture the literacy skills their children need to succeed in today's society. There have been different approaches to improving literacy, with family literacy programmes becoming a focus in the past few years. Over the past decade, many family literacy programmes have emerged that involve parent-child interactions and community-based approaches. Many family literacy programmes are offered by community organisations and, because of these organisations' lack of capacity, are not researched to assess their impact. There are various challenges in researching family literacy programmes. In this article, I highlight the characteristics of family literacy programmes and explore the challenges in researching these programmes in terms of design, implementation, and evaluation. Defining a Family Literacy Programme There are numerous definitions and approaches to improving family literacy. Hannon and Bird (2004) distinguished between literacy practises within families and literacy programmes involving families. Elish-Piper (2000) found that many family literacy programmes espouse family-centered philosophies but in reality have little involvement of families in the design and development of the curriculum. Some programmes, however, have proved to be successful: They involve active participation by families in the programme design and in the delivery (Timmons, Wagner, Roach O'Keefe, & MacGillivray, 2007). Family literacy programmes attempt to involve all parental figures and can be categorized into two approaches: an individual approach that focuses on the separate literacy education of parents and children and a collaborative approach that works by collectively educating families about literacy practises through group activities and seminars (Nutbrown, Hannon, & Morgan, 2005). The majority of family literacy programmes take the individual approach, working under the assumption that the individual literacy development of both parents and children will be beneficial to the family unit as a whole (Nutbrown et al., 2005). For example, the U. …