The following Adult Education programs have been designated as Promising Practices.

Education for Homeless Adults (EHA)
Homeless adults and families.
The Program	EHA provides educational and support services to homeless adults. It offers basic skills education, life skills, parent education, or family literacy. Job training is available through occupational skills instruction offered by the same agency or by other agencies. Support services are provided by EHA or from other agencies and include: food, shelter, transportation, and childcare assistance; alcohol, drug abuse, and mental health counseling; health care and case management; and work experience programs, job skills and employment training, career counseling, and job placement. Classes operate at homeless shelters or educational agencies.
Implementation Requirements	Documented need and experience or capability to serve homeless adults. Training New York State Education Department Staff Development Workshops for teachers and administrators of EHA programs.
Materials	Education for Homeless Adults: Strategies for Implementation and Literacy Training for the Homeless: Guidelines for Effective Programs (both published by NYSED).
Contact:	Glenn Schechtman New York State Education Department Office of Workforce Preparation & Continuing Education, Room 307EB, Albany, NY 12234 (518) 474-8940

Head Start Family Literacy Collaboration
Families with preschool children enrolled in Head Start programs.
The Program	Head Start knows the value of supporting parents' efforts toward self-sufficiency and being their child's most significant teacher. But adult undereducation limits many Head Start families and intergenerational undereducation, low expectations, and frustration can hinder child development. Thus, the newest Head Start mandate is to incorporate family literacy into programs. The SED and the New York State Head Start Association are promoting family literacy programs to Head Start centers by linking them with local adult education providers. Ten teams of Head Start and adult education staff were chosen to represent various locales (rural/urban, culturally diverse, different administrative settings, etc.). These collaborating teams are designing a framework for delivering family literacy programs responsive to local needs.
Implementation Requirements	In addition to family literacy program requirements, this collaboration requires service providers with different orientations (one emphasizing adults' needs and the other children's needs) to work together. Teams must participate in local and statewide networking meetings to discuss progress and barriers to development and collaboration. Training Training and technical assistance are provided by the contact below. Both administration and staff should participate in training as described under NYS Comprehensive Model for Family Literacy.
Contact:	Jessica Fitzpatrick Director, or any member of the Family Literacy Staff Family Literacy Initiative, Center for Family Resources 22 Jericho Turnpike Mineola, New York 11501 (516) 873-0900 fax (516) 873-0949

The following Adult Education Programs have been Validated by the New York State Education Department.

Buffalo Parent Center Even Start Program
All families and their children (0-7 years) attending Title 1 schools
The Program	To reduce fragmented services, the Parent Center coordinates and provides at one neutral location an Even Start early childhood program and parent education programs addressing academic, health, and social concerns, as well as other activities to encourage parental involvement in the education of their children. The needs of parents and children are closely screened and necessary programs are developed. Based on the belief that parents are their children's first teachers and that working with their children teaches parental responsibility, children and parents share most center-based activities, such as story telling, singing, and using computers (word processing for parents and age-appropriate software for children). There are also shared home-based activities, such as the Take Home Computer Program, a lending library with videotaped books, and a home-based parenting program. Parents learn to work with their own children by learning what is expected of the children at various stages in their lives. Small group sessions, individual counseling workshops, field trips, and role modeling are used to facilitate learning and build on the positive strengths of the participants. A collaboration of various community agencies and organizations support the program. Administrators, school staff, and Title 1 personnel conduct planning sessions during the year. Parents report more positive attitudes toward their children's school, increased knowledge and understanding about age-appropriate activities, increased frequency of engaging in these activities with their children, greater understanding about what to expect from their children's school, and increased confidence in their interactions with school personnel/teachers. Moreover, preschool children showed dramatic improvement in their language skills on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test.
Contact:	Pilar Jimenez, Supervisor Buffalo Parent Center 15 East Genesee Street Buffalo, NY 14203 (716) 851-3651 fax (716) 851-3663

Cooperative Communication Between Home and School
Parents and Teachers of elementary schoolchildren
The Program	This program focuses on communication between parents and teachers. It promotes improvement in parents' and teachers' attitudes, beliefs, and self-perceptions about communicating with each other.
How does it work?	Cooperative Communication Between Home and School consists of a series of six workshops for parents, two workshops for teachers, and a community panel discussion by parents. The workshops are facilitated by a team that often includes a Cooperative Extension agent and one or more staff members, such as an experienced teacher, counselor, or nurse. Administrators are asked to attend a portion of the second teacher workshop. The inclusion of community organization members and parents on the facilitation team is encouraged.
Learning Standards:	The program provides assistance for parents and teachers to help students meet the standards.
Contact:	Christiann Dean Department of Human Development and Family Studies Martha Van Rensselaer Hall, Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853 (607) 255-2531 fax: (607) 255-8767

EPIC/Growing and Learning Together
Parents of students grades K-12
The Program	The EPIC/Growing and Learning Together program consists of parent workshops that are small, supportive discussion groups which meet weekly and address parenting concerns. EPIC works closely with the school to bring the workshops to the community.
How does it work?	Workshops are led by two EPIC-trained facilitators, who are either parent volunteers or staff. The parent volunteer facilitators are supported by a trained coordinator within the school district, who also helps recruit workshop participants. Some topics offered are: Character, conscience, and values; Fostering self-esteem; Encouraging emotional growth; Structure and limit; and Guilt and stress of the working parent. Thirteen additional topics are also offered.
Learning Standards:	Health, Physical Education & Home Economics: 2) acquire the knowledge and ability necessary to create and maintain a safe and healthy environment. English Language Arts: 4) read, write, listen and speak for social interaction.
Contact:	Vito Borrello President EPIC Program, Inc. 1300 Elmwood Avenue, Cassety Hall-Room 340 Buffalo, NY 14222 (716) 886-6396 fax: (716) 886-0221 or Carol Lipsky Senior V.P. 100 Executive Blvd. Suite 101 Ossining, NY 10562 (914) 941-1302

FLAG (Family Learning Across Generations)
Families that 1) have a child (or children) under 8 years old and 2) a parent who lacks a high school diplopma, has limited English proficiency, and/or lacks basic academic skills.
The Program	The FLAG program is a family literacy program which connects parents to adult education and community services and provides early childhood and parenting education. It provides home-based services throughout rural Ulster County, approximately 130 families per year.
How does it work?	Parents are trained to be their child's first teacher through the interaction with specially trained home visitors and through the use of children's books and learning packets. Families are linked to local GED, ESL, or job training programs and community services. An individualized curriculum is presented to parents during home visits which includes low-literacy level materials and short videos. Parent education groups are held on a monthly basis in libraries, McDonald's restaurants, or BOCES sites. A variety of curricular and resource materials are utilized as appropriate. Transportation and child care are provided to enable parents to attend adult education classes and parenting groups. For a family to be eligible, there must be a child under the age of 8 years and one parent must lack a high school diploma, have limited English proficiency, or lack basic academic skills.
Learning Standards:	English Language Arts: 1) read, write, listen, and speak for information and understanding.
Contact:	FLAG Program Coordinator Ulster County BOCES 80 North Main Street Ellenville, NY 12428 (914) 647-1343 or, (914) 331-6680 fax: (914) 647-1299

Family Orientated Structured Preschool Activity (FOSPA) ("Seton Hall" Program)*
Parents
The Program	FOSPA prepares parents to be their children's first and most significant teacher. Its focus is parent-child relationships, development of a competent children, and supporting parents. FOSPA involves parents and their pre-K children in kindergarten preparation activities. Parents and children attend neighborhood elementary schools weekly from September to May for 2-hour sessions. Parents work and play with their children at learning stations set up in basic skill areas. They observe formal model teaching and informal child-teacher interaction, participate in discussion groups facilitated by a licensed parent educator, learn about their child's development, and share ideas and concerns about parenting; children have a preschool experience with a qualified early childhood educator. Take-home activity kits promote parent-child interaction and growth in basic skills based on a validated assessment of the child's skills.
Implementation Requirements	A 2-day training is available for adopters.
Contact:	Jeanne Hoodecheck, Program Director District #742 Community School 820 8th Avenue South St. Cloud, MN 56301 (612) 253-5828

Parent Peer Trainer (PPT) Program
Parents with children at any grade level, including special education
The Program	PPT is a direct service program using parents as outreach workers. It emphasizes parents' involvement in their children's education and improved student performance through intervention, before problems are insurmountable. PPTs help parents with issues that may have detrimental effects on their children's education and are used in situations when the school has been unsuccessful. Referrals are generated via a PPT/school network. PPTs function as peers to parents, providing assistance in a nonthreatening way. The major program components are one-on-one home visits, parenting workshops, and support groups. Results include: higher math and reading grades, increased attendance, decreased school behavior problems, and fewer health/hygiene-related problems.
Implementation Requirements	A staff of PPTs is needed; the number of staff varies with needs. A coordinator is required to supervise PPTs and establish relationships with schools. The budget should include funding for staff mileage.
Training and Materials	Two days of training at the D/D site to plan and organize the program. The training of new PPTs requires approximately 5 days and follow-up and/or technical assistance can be scheduled. Free awareness materials are available. Additional supplies and materials must be purchased as needed.
Contact:	Sue Repko, Program Coordinator Ulster County BOCES 175 Route 32 North New Paltz, NY 12561 (914) 647-1343 or, (914) 331-6680 fax: (914) 647-1299

Parents And Children Together (PACT)
Families with children from birth to age 3
The Program	PACT is an enhanced home visitation program modeled from the Parents As Teachers (PAT) program in Missouri. Parent educators coach parents to be the first and most influential teacher for their children.
How does it work?	Services include: monthly home visits by certified parent educators; periodic developmental screenings for vision, hearing, language, motor, and social skills; resource and referral services; parent group meetings; and a lending library of child development and parenting books, assorted videos, and age-appropriate toys. Parent educators provide information to participants regarding their child's development and they demonstrate parenting techniques, such as disciplinary practices or activities to promote language development. PACT is aimed particularly at preventing future school problems, so it has been designed to involve more interagency cooperation. The combination of PACT and other service agencies is designed to raise the readiness skills of participating children by the time they enter school.
Learning Standards:	The program addresses early literacy.
Contact:	Mary Haust Project Coordinator Binghamton CSD Community Resource Center 1123 Vestal Avenue Binghamton, NY 13903-1599 (607) 762-8197 fax: (607) 762-8397

Parents As Teachers*
Parents/guardians of children under 3
The Program	Comprehensive services are provided to families from the third trimester of pregnancy until the child is 3 and helps parents give their children a foundation for school success and form a relationship between home and school. Parent educators deliver services using the Parents As Teachers curriculum, which includes information on child development and guidance in fostering a child's development. Services include regularly scheduled personal visits in the home, parent group meetings, periodic screening and monitoring of educational and sensory development, and access to a parent resource center. After 3 years in the program, parents demonstrate increased knowledge of child development and child-rearing practices, are more likely to view their school district as responsive to a child's needs, are more likely to have children's hearing professionally tested, and are more involved in their children's school experience than were comparison group parents.
Implementation Requirements	Services are offered through the school district for a minimum of 8 months, preferably year round. The program requires parent educator(s) with skills necessary to work with parents, training for the parent educator(s), facilities for parent group meetings, and financial resources to support the parent educator(s) in the work of the program. Start-up cost is $2,725 for training and materials. Operation costs for 12 months are estimated at $562 per family (assuming a 60-family load per full-time parent educator), and include parent educator salary and travel. (This assumes school district contribution of space, clerical assistance, and program administration.) Training and curriculum materials, consultation, and follow-up services are available through the contact below.
Contact:	Mildred Winter, Director, or Sharon Rhodes Parents As Teachers National Center, Inc. 10176 Corporate Square Drive St. Louis, MO 63132 (314) 432-4330 fax (314) 432-8963

Project MADE
Families with Children 0-7 years old
The Program	The program is a unified, holistic approach to early childhood education, parenting, and adult basic education skills, creating a family literacy program for families residing in Title 1 attendance areas with one parent who qualifies for services under the Adult Education Act. Existing Adult Education Centers, Head Start, Even Start, and Early Childhood Centers can be used for this project. Project MADE empowers low income parents to become full partners in their child's education by: providing instruction and services in a Learning Center environment supplementing instruction with in-home visits addressing individual, family, and program needs through case management and counseling Ongoing staff development is an integral part of the program. The program meets Goal 1, All children will start school ready to learn, and Goal 6, Every adult American will be literate and possess the skills necessary to compete in a global economy and exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship of the Educate America Act for the year 2000.
Implementation Requirements	for 100 families: (1) case manager/socialworker, (1) adult education teacher, (1) early childhood education teacher, (2) teacher aides, (4) home visitors. Staffing is appropriately reduced at sites serving less than 100 families. Facilities: (1) adult education classroom, (1) early childhood classroom, (1) child care area, and a combined parent/program office area.
Training	One day to visit the demonstration site and assess readiness to replicate; 2 days of in-service training at the replicating site, and 1 day of follow-up training 60 days after implementation. Ongoing phone consultation with the D/D is available at no charge. Training expenses include travel costs and trainer stipend.
Contact:	Nicolas Patrone Community School Coordinator Olean City Schools 410 West Sullivan Street Olean, NY 14760 (716) 375-4405

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