Parenting education is a process of providing information to parents on the challenges of parenting, services available for families, and ideas on how to interact with children. The federal Even Start family literacy program, designed to increase the educational opportunities of parents and children, has a strong parenting education component. Parenting information is offered through formal classes, support groups, home visits and by involving parents in their child's classroom. Using the life course and family system's perspective, this study examined the impact of participation in the Even Start program on parents' knowledge of parenting and their parenting practices. The study employed a pretest-posttest design and utilized quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection. In all, 74 Even Start and 26 comparison group parents participated. Four hypotheses were tested: (a) Even Start parents would make greater gains in parenting knowledge and practices than would comparison group parents; (b) parents who made gains in parenting knowledge and practices would have different demographic characteristics than those who did not make gains; (c) parents with lower depression, higher self-esteem, and greater social support would make greater gains in parenting knowledge and practices; and (d) programs offering more hours of parenting education would have parents making greater gains in parenting knowledge and practices. Quantitative results indicate that there are demographic differences at pretest and posttest in parents' scores on parenting knowledge and practices although there is no significant difference in score gains as the result of program participation. More positive parenting practices were associated at pretest and posttest with lower levels of depression. Qualitative results found increases in parenting knowledge, parenting practices, and self-esteem. No differences were found in programs who offered greater number of hours of parenting education than those that did not. / Graduation date: 1997

This study used a mixed method approach (quantitative and qualitative) to examine the commonalities and differences between Hispanic and non-Hispanic participants of the Even Start Family Literacy Program. Using a life course perspective, this study examined the educational background and life history of Hispanic and non-Hispanic participants, their reasons and goals for program participation, and changes experienced due to Even Start participation. The sample for the qualitative analysis consisted of 32 Hispanic and 25 non-Hispanic female participants. Quantitative latent growth curve analysis was conducted on 96 (75 Hispanic and 21 Non-Hispanic) participants to measure change over time and to estimate the differences in rate of change between Hispanic and non-Hispanic participants. Results of this study indicate that wide commonalities yet vital differences exist between Hispanic and non-Hispanic participants. Poverty was the significant determinant factor in Hispanic as well as non-Hispanic participants' school failure. The experiences and implications of poverty, however, varied for Hispanic and non- Hispanic parents. The reasons and goals for Even Start participation were to achieve self-sufficiency for Hispanic and non-Hispanic parents. Achieving self-sufficiency involved acculturation to the American society for Hispanic participants. For non- Hispanic parents achieving self-sufficiency involved attaining GED and getting off of welfare. No effect of ethnicity was identified on the five outcome measures quantitatively examined in this study, which include knowledge of child development, parenting confidence and support, depression, self-esteem, and life skills. Initial differences existed between Hispanic and non-Hispanic participants in knowledge of child development and life skills, with non-Hispanic participants reporting higher knowledge of child development and greater life skills. Non-Hispanic participants, however, did not make greater gains than their Hispanic participants after being in the program. Qualitative results indicate that skills gained by Hispanic participants helped them acculturate in the American society, whereas for non-Hispanic participants the program helped achieve a sense of purpose and direction in life and create a better life for themselves and their family. / Graduation date: 2003

In recent years interorganizational collaboration has increasingly been emphasized as an important step for addressing inefficiencies in the delivery of human services. Among the many benefits of collaboration described by human service authors are the creation of a more consumer-friendly service system, more efficient use of available resources, and avoiding service duplication. During the Spring and Summer of 1996, six focus groups were conducted in Oregon to assess the quality of collaboration between local social service providers and Even Start, a federally funded family literacy program. The federal Even Start legislation required that all Even Start programs collaborate with social service providers in their local communities to improve services for families and avoid duplication of services. This study examined data from the Even Start focus groups using a three-level hierarchical model to determine the approximate level of collaboration that existed in each of six Even Start communities. Results of the analysis indicated that collaboration in three of the six Even Start communities was at or near coordination, the middle level of the three-level model. Collaboration in the other three communities appeared to be somewhere below the lowest level of the model, cooperation. Although agencies at such a minimal level of collaboration may consider each other partners, they are likely to have limited knowledge about each other's operations and clients. Because three of six Even Start communities fit below the lowest level of the model, the model had limited utility for this analysis. However, for interagency relationships at higher levels, the model was effective in helping to find the approximate intensity of collaboration. Although the primary focus of the model used in this analysis was on collaboration intensity, a comprehensive evaluation of collaboration would include numerous additional variables, especially outcomes related to the purposes of the interagency relationship. Several lessons learned during the course of this study have implications for future research. First, by creating data sets that are amenable to examination from multiple perspectives, qualitative methods offer unique flexibility for data collection in secondary circumstances such as the present study. Second, it is likely that collaboration in occurs in varied patterns, few of which resemble the highest levels of collaboration advocated by authors in the field. Finally, rather than broadly encouraging human service organizations to move toward the highest levels of collaboration, researchers need to provide answers to basic questions about what forms of collaboration are most helpful, in which circumstances, and why. / Graduation date: 1999