Handbook of Family Literacy

The Handbook of Family Literacy, 2e, provides the most comprehensive, up-to-date coverage of family literacy of any available book. It documents the need for literacy education for children and parents, describes early literacy and math development within the home, analyses interventions in home and center settings, and examines the issues faced by fathers and women with low literacy skills. Cultural issues are examined especially those for Hispanic, African American, American Indian, Alaskan Native, and migrant populations. Noted experts throughout the United States, Canada, England, the Netherlands, Germany, New Zealand, and South Africa analyze the commonalities and differences of family literacy across cultures and families. Key features include the following.

Comprehensive – Provides updated information on the relation between early childhood literacy development, parenting education, and intervention services.

Research Focus – Provides an extensive review of experimental studies, including national reviews and meta-analyses on family literacy.

Practice Focus – Provides a comprehensive treatment of family literacy interventions necessary for program developers, policy makers, and researchers.

Diversity Focus – Provides detailed information on cultural and diversity issues for guiding interventions, policy, and research.

International Focus – Provides an international perspective on family literacy services that informs program developers, researchers, and policy makers across countries.

Evaluation Focus – Provides detailed guidelines for ensuring program quality and fidelity and a valuable new evaluation perspective based on implementation science.

This book is essential reading for anyone – researchers, program developers, students, practitioners, and policy makers – who needs to be knowledgeable about intervention issues, family needs, program developments, and research outcomes in family literacy.

Barbara Hanna Wasik, PhD, holds a W. R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professorship in the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she is also a Fellow of the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute. A clinical and school psychologist, she has devoted most of her professional career to developing and evaluating intervention programs for children at risk for social, emotional, or academic difficulties. She was an invited participant to the While House Conference on Child Care and served as a member of the Committee on Early Childhood Pedagogy of the National Academy of Sciences. She co-authored, Home Visiting; Procedures for Helping Families and the Handbook of Child Development and Early Intervention.