More than $4 million for family literacy programs for Native Americans

The William F. Goodling Even Start Family Literacy Programs, known as Even Start, intend to help break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy by improving the educational opportunities of low-income families by integrating early childhood education, adult literacy or adult basic education, and parenting education into a unified family literacy program for federally recognized Indian tribes and tribal organizations. Activities funded under this program build on high-quality existing community resources to create a new range of educational services for most-in-need families; promote the academic achievement of children and adults; assist children from low-income families to meet challenging state content and student achievement standards; and use instructional programs based on scientifically based reading research and on the prevention of reading difficulties for children and adults, to the extent that such research is available.