Southwest Counseling Solutions English Language Learners Program Final Report

The English Language Learners Family Literacy Program (ELLP) is a school-centered educational program. The program is designed to end the cycle of poverty and low education by strengthening literacy traits in Hispanic families living in southwest Detroit.

Study Goals:

The study sought to measure the extent that the ELLP increases education-related parent behaviors, improves student school actions, and increases student reading achievement.

Research Questions:

The study explored both impact and implementation questions. The research questions were:

• Impact Questions:
  • Do children of parents who fully participate in the EELP:
    • Exhibit strong annual attendance rate equal to or greater than the mean daily attendance rate for the matched sample group?
    • Exhibit appropriate school-related behavior as evidenced by equal or greater improvement in school-related behaviors than the matched group based on a teacher-rated student behavior scale?
    • Make greater progress towards their grade level for the end of year literacy assessment than the matched group?
  • Do parents who fully participate in the ELLP demonstrate strong literacy-supporting parenting behaviors and engagement with their children’s learning as evidenced by:
    • Pre- to post-increases for reading/language scores on the Basic Education Skills Test (BEST) for English language learners in terms of performance levels set by the Adult Basic Education National Reporting System?
    • Pre- to post-increases in the number and frequency of school engagement behaviors?
    • Pre- to post-increases in the number and frequency of home and family literacy behaviors?
    • Pre- to post-increases in the number and frequency of social capital and self-efficacy affirmative responses?
• Implementation Questions:
  • What is the level of fidelity at which the program was implemented?
  • If fidelity level is not high, what strategies are used to get back on track and what was the result of those strategies?

Findings:

The study found the following:

• The implementation study found a moderate level of fidelity.
• The impact evaluation indicated that there was at least one statistically significant effect of parent’s level of participation on student attendance, academic mindset, or reading level.
• No statistically significant differences were observed between the children of partial program participants and comparison parents, or on the academic mindset or academic achievement outcomes.

For more information, download the full report and report brief.