Background   
 
By the 1980s there was a broad acceptance that parents had an important role in helping their children learn to read, but the practice in supporting parents in relation to their own literacy developments was undeveloped. The Basic Skills Agency (then ALBSU) was asked to look into the links between parents' difficulties and their children's literacy development. The 1993 report on an analysis of a sample of families drawn from the National Child Development Study found that children of parents who reported having literacy difficulties were around twice as likely as others to be in the lowest quartile on reading test scores.  

Peter Hannon has conducted further analyses since (Hannon 2000) to show that in fact the vast majority of children with the lowest reading scores did not have parents with reading difficulties, but the 1993 study convinced the Government that programmes directed at parents with low literacy skills would raise school literacy standards. The results of research carried out by the National Foundation for Educational Research on four family literacy demonstration programmes are well documented (Family literacy works, 1996); there were significant gains in literacy of both children and parents. To qualify for this 12-week programme (six hours a week for parents and children separately and two hours in joint sessions) on school premises, parents must have few or no qualifications. This is the only model that can be used to access the Government's Standards Fund on family literacy.

Trust surveys
The National Literacy Trust has always believed strongly that the involvement of the wider community, including parents, will help to create a culture that supports literacy improvement for all. Regular surveys to identify literacy activity in the UK, including family literacy, has resulted in a UK-wide database of initiatives. Four main sectors were surveyed: adult basic education coordinators; local education authorities, public libraries and education business partnerships. The National Literacy Trust defined family literacy as any programme that aimed to work through parents to improve the reading and writing of their children, as well as the parents' literacy.  

The location for family literacy work was often a school but others included baby clinics, family centres, day nurseries, libraries, after-school study, playgroups, churches and housing schemes.  

Some involved parents in literacy-related activities such as making books or puppets. Some focused on the parents of very young children through sharing books and storytelling. Some were short, fixed-term programmes, others were open-ended. A great many different agencies were involved. The picture revealed by the surveys is one of tremendous variety in terms of programmes, location, content and length. 

A more recent Trust survey in July 1999 among further education colleges and community education services showed that family literacy work continued to be varied in terms of programmes and there were more examples of multi-agency working. Funding of family literacy work was very often through the Standards Fund using the Basic Skills Agency model, but many adult providers had also secured funding from the Further Education Founding Council, the Single Regeneration Budget, the Adult and Community Learning Fund or the European Social Fund. It is clear that other funding routes offer more flexibility in terms of how the programme is delivered. There is now a range of alternative models of working with parents and children to improve their literacy, but none have been successfully evaluated.  

The current policy context  
How many of the new policy initiatives of this Government, with its emphasis on  'education, education, education', impact on family literacy activity?  In 1997 the Labour Party (then in opposition) published its Literacy Task Force report, A Reading Revolution, which laid out plans for an incoming Labour government to raise standards in literacy, especially in primary schools. There was strong support for existing family literacy programmes on the grounds that efforts to improve illiteracy among adults should be linked to the proposal to raise standards in primary schools. Many of the recommendations of A Reading Revolution were implemented when the Labour Party came to power in May 1997.  The National Literacy Strategy was launched with a daily literacy hour from the autumn term 1998.  A key part of the NLS and the Government's policy on lifelong learning was the National Year of Reading (September 1998 to August 1999). The National Year of Reading, through its project fund, supported some pioneering work on how to involve fathers in supporting their children's developing literacy.  

In the adult sector, the Moser report in 1999 recommended a major shake-up and investment to tackle the large numbers of adults with poor basic skills and the new Department for Education and Employment Basic Skills Unit is currently consulting on the way forward through the proposed Skills for Life: the national strategy for improving adult literacy and numeracy skills. There is a clear recognition in this document that family literacy provision is an effective means of improving children's early learning. In stating the Government's intention to extend the family literacy programmes there is also an acknowledgement that we need more parents to participate in them, both fathers and mothers. There is a danger that extending a programme that is already restrictive, in terms of who can participate and how the programme is structured, will miss a valuable opportunity. There should be a wider range of opportunities for parents to engage with literacy-related activity that will benefit both them and their children, increase their self-esteem and encourage them to pursue education and training opportunities or seek work. 

Funding  
Last year the Government announced an additional £5 million to be made available through the Standards Fund for family literacy and numeracy courses in disadvantaged areas for parents with basic skills needs. These courses do not necessarily have to take place on school premises, but they are still restricted in terms of parents who qualify, the length and structure of the course. Funding is also now available, again through the Standards Fund, for a new 'Keeping up with the Children' taster course for parents, whether or not they have basic skills needs. This is a very positive development and provides some flexibility and the opportunity to engage with a wider parental audience. 

Other national initiatives that have a specific impact on family literacy work include Action Zones and the Adult and Community Learning Fund. Action Zones - education, employment and health - have additional resources which they must deploy working with local partners. Education Action Zones, each receiving up to £1 million a year, are clusters of about 20 primary, secondary and special schools run by a forum of business, parents, schools, the local authority and community organisations. They aim to achieve improvement targets for pupils and schools working in imaginative ways, including literacy support for parents. The Weston EAZ runs Children and Parent Literacy Clubs as one of the ways of addressing the barriers to learning.  

The Adult and Community Learning Fund has £15 million over three years (1998-2001) for projects which aim to improve access to learning at local level. The range of activity around parents and family learning generated by ACLF funding is impressive. Partnership is a key dimension which has meant access to different groups who may not have volunteered for traditional provision, particularly those at risk of social exclusion, for example, study support for refugee parents that take place in the local community centre. Another project run by North Essex Health Promotion runs basic skills course around healthy eating and accident prevention at local heath centres. As parents are heavy users of health centres, they will naturally feature strongly in courses such as these. (see March 2001 issue of Literacy Today) Lottery funding also provides opportunities for family literacy work. 

The Single Regeneration Budget provides Government money for regeneration initiatives in England carried out by local regeneration partnerships. The bidding guidance for the SRB6, the latest round, lays emphasis on building the capacity of local communities, including raising educational achievement. SRB provides greater flexibility for family literacy, evidenced by the range of provision and the settings where delivery takes place. New Deal for Communities is another regeneration initiative that provides intensive help for the most deprived communities to tackle, amongst other issues again, educational underachievement. More recently, £800 million has been allocated to the country's most deprived communities through a Neighbourhood Renewal Fund.  

In addition, there are Government programmes targeted at families in deprived areas that provide support for language and literacy development. Sure Start is a substantial early years Government-funded initiative which aims to work in targeted areas with parents and children to promote the physical, intellectual and social development of pre-school children so that they are fully ready, at age five, to take advantage of what school has to offer. The programme includes improving children's language skills and enhancing families' opportunities for involvement in the community. In the March 2001 of Literacy Today by Peter Hannon writes about how Sure Start provides welcomed opportunities for family literacy work. 

To tackle the barriers to learning and the culture of underachievement and low expectations in large cities, Excellence in Cities was launched through the DfEE Standards and Effectiveness Unit in autumn 1999. The focus was almost entirely on schools and improving teaching (and leadership) by providing learning mentors for pupils prevented from achieving their potential by barriers outside the school. Learning mentors are encouraged to visit pupils' homes and therefore will be in contact with their parents, but no links have been made between mentors' work in the home and family literacy activities. 

Outside the Department for Education and Employment, the Home Office set up, in 1999, a Family Support Grant for 30 organisations giving support to parents and families. Some of these offer parenting programmes with an educational and literacy dimension. 

Ongoing debate  
The debate about the role of family learning continues. The Campaign for Learning, in partnership with NIACE, the Scottish Council Foundation and CEDC (Community Education Development Centre) recently launched the Manifesto for Family Learning with the aim of getting a family learning coordinator in every school. But last year's Ofsted report on family learning concluded that there were problems with coherence and quality assurance. Family literacy does need to be seen in the wider context of family learning but there are potential dangers in diluting the literacy input, which may result in less rigour and fewer tangible outcomes. 

That, in essence, is a summary of all the policy initiatives in the last few years that have had an impact on the funding and delivery of family literacy programmes. There is a wealth of approaches to family literacy work that is actually going on in different settings, with different partners and with different approaches, despite the one model approach supported by the Standards Fund. The Basic Skills Agency, in its response to the Skills for life consultation, has said the intensive combined family literacy courses should be part of a wide range of support for parents.  

The future   
In April 2001, the Learning and Skills Council and the 47 local LSCs will come into existence, responsible for the funding of all post 16 education and training. Where will family literacy be located under the new regime? Will it continue to be officially part of the Standards Fund, accessible via local education authorities or will it be available through the new body with perhaps greater opportunities for partnership working? And how can those involved in family literacy influence new bodies such as local Learning Partnerships, which already exist, and the proposed Local Strategic Partnerships? 

We now have a much greater understanding of the very many ways of engaging with parents in a range of literacy activities, with benefits to them and their children, which is a key aspect of widening participation as well as to the raising standards agenda. One model is the Derbyshire literacy initiative Read On - Write Away! which runs not just family literacy programmes but also books for babies, storysacks and reading volunteering schemes. This holistic approach provides a more flexible programme of community-based courses, reduces barriers to participation by improving confidence and self-esteem while still providing opportunities for accreditation.  
All those involved in family literacy delivery will have a perspective based on their own experience. While the research evidence is still limited, I believe the time is right to examine how family literacy fits into a funding framework that supports a wider range of models to promote access and widen participation. 

Questions we need to consider   
1. What are the issues in delivering/running family literacy programmes?  
2. How does family literacy fit within the wider context of family learning?  
3. Can family literacy programmes support community regeneration? 
4. How can current funding arrangements be improved? 
  References   

• Brooks, G., Gorman, T., Harman, D., & Wilkin, A. Family literacy works,  London: The Basic Skills Agency, 1996 
• Brooks, G., Gorman, T., Harman, J., Hutchison, D., Kinder, K., Moor, H., and Wilkin, A. Family literacy lasts, London: The Basic Skills Agency, 1997. 
• Campaign for Learning, A Manifesto for Family Learning, September 2000.  
• Hannon, P. A study of the effects of parental involvement in the teaching of reading on children's reading test performance, British Journal of Educational Psychology, vol 57, pp. 56-72, 1987. 
• Hannon, P. Rhetoric and research in family literacy, British Educational Research Journal, vol 26 no. 1 pp.121-138, 2000. 
• Literacy Task Force, A reading revolution: how we can teach every child to read well, The preliminary report of the Literacy Task Force, London: 1997. 
• Literacy Task Force, The implementation of the National Literacy Strategy,  London: Department for Education and Employment, 1997. 
• National Literacy Trust, Building a Nation of Readers, a review of the National Year of Reading, (September 1998 - August 1999), 1999. 
• Ofsted, Family Learning: a survey of current practice, June 2000.  
• Skills for life, The national strategy for improving adult literacy and numeracy skills, Department for Education and Employment, 2001. 
• Working Group on Post-School Basic Skills, A fresh start: improving literacy and numeracy, (Moser Report), London: Department for Education and Employment, 1999.