[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 57 (Tuesday, May 6, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H2247-H2248]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




[[Page H2247]]



                    A SUCCESSFUL EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 7, 1997, the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Goodling] is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, we hear a lot about programs that fail, 
and I have seen a lot of them, financed by Federal taxpayers. I would 
like to talk a little bit tonight about a program that appears to be 
successful.
  During my career in teaching and counseling, I saw a lot of National 
Defense Education Act money poured down the drain, millions of dollars, 
billions of dollars, primarily because there was no plan. The money was 
there; we were told to spend it. I watched then as a principal a lot of 
well-meaning programs that were instituted during the sixties that 
failed also, because, again, no planning.
  I can remember both as a principal and as a superintendent receiving 
title I money, chapter 1 money. Normally we were told that this money 
was available in about October. School had already started in 
September. No planning. Money wasted.
  I finally said, as a superintendent, to my early child education 
expert, ``There must be something we can do with this Federal money to 
break the cycle of dependency, the cycle of illiteracy, the cycle of 
dropouts,'' because we pretty well knew which children were going to 
have trouble when they came to school because we had seen older 
brothers and sisters, we had seen parents all having trouble in school.
  We decided that we have to look at the entire family, and I do not 
know why it took us 30 years since then to understand that nationally, 
that if you do not deal with the entire family, there is no way we can 
ever break the cycle of dependency on government, no way we can break 
the cycle of illiteracy.
  And so she suggested that we work with the three and four-year-olds 
and their parents. So we began a program starting in the homes because 
we wanted to be in a position to help the parents learn the kind of 
parenting skills that are necessary so that the parent can become the 
child's first and most important teacher; so that the parent 
understands what it is you and I would normally do with our preschool 
children to help them become reading ready.
  When I came to Congress, we introduced this as Even Start. Now, I am 
not here to tell my colleagues that all Even Start programs are 
successful in the country, just like so many other programs, but I am 
here to say that the most recent study would indicate that if the 
program is implemented the way it was supposed to be, if all four 
elements are part of that program, it appears to be quite successful.
  What are those key elements? First of all, working with the parents, 
improving their literacy skills.
  I remember an advertisement that was on television a year ago that 
drove the point home over and over again. The father was sitting on a 
chair and had his small child on his lap. What the father did not want 
the child to know was that he was, if not illiterate, functionally 
illiterate. So he was attempting to read to his child, which is what we 
hope every parent can do. The child, however, realized that the father 
was faking it and the child, even as small as he was, was correcting 
the father.
  It was obvious that the father wanted to do what the father knew was 
right, and that was to read to his child and read with his child. But 
he could not. So the parenting skills and the literacy skills of the 
parent are very important.
  The preschool program also deals with reading readiness, and it is 
part of this entire program. Many children will come to first grade. If 
there are 30 in a class, there may be 30 different reading levels. Some 
will not be ready to read until January or February. They are now a 
half year behind. If, unfortunately, they receive a social promotion at 
the end of the year, it is not long until they have dropped out, not 
physically because they are not allowed to, but have pretty well 
dropped out of any academic participation.
  So those parenting skills, the early childhood reading readiness 
skills, the adult literacy skills are all part of the program, and then 
a period for parent and child interaction so that the parent can put to 
use what they have learned in the program.
  We have recently had, as I indicated, an evaluation. They took 30 
programs from about six or seven different States, 30 programs where 
they knew all four components were very effectively put into being as 
part of the program.
  I have said many, many times that after 30 years we should know where 
every chapter 1 child is and what they are doing as adults. We should 
know where every Head Start child is, what they are doing. Has it made 
a difference in their life? This program has only been in effect since 
actually 1989 and we do have some important results, and I would like 
to point out some of those.
  As I indicated, the study covered programs of excellence in Arizona, 
California, Kentucky, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The charts 
that I will show will demonstrate how effective these programs have 
been.
  I do want my colleagues to keep in mind that in 1993 a single parent 
with two children receiving average benefits from AFDC, food stamps, 
Medicaid, housing assistance, WIC, and school meals received about 
$17,209 in direct payments or benefits. If the parent had four 
children, that amount was $25,000. More than half of the adults 
described in this Even Start research study reported public assistance 
as the primary income of their family, a total of $5.2 million each 
year for 260 families based on 1993 rates.
  Now, the important thing is the rate of reduction. The rate of 
reduction in dependence on welfare seen in these studies that I will 
show to other Even Start programs, approximately 45 percent of those 
adults would be off public assistance or would have significantly 
reduced assistance within 4 years, a reduction each year of $2.6 
million for every 500 families enrolled. The program apparently does 
work.
  The first chart, these are Even Start youngsters in the lightly 
shaded area in kindergarten, and in the dark shaded area are youngsters 
in kindergarten who did not have the Even Start experience. And we can 
see the whole way across the obvious benefits of those children who 
were in an Even Start program.
  The first is academic performance. Considerably higher. The second 
was motivation to learn. Again, considerably higher. The third was 
family support. Very, very important, because when we started our 
program, when I was superintendent, these families did not participate. 
They were embarrassed to come to PTA meetings, they were embarrassed to 
come to parent-children conferences. Here they are, family support, way 
above those who did not have that experience.
  Relationship with other students. Again, way above. Attendance. Above 
all other students. Behavior. Considerably above all other students. 
Self-concept. Way above. And the last, probable success.

                              {time}  2200

  These were the ratings given by their current kindergarten teachers, 
those in good Even Start programs, and I keep emphasizing that, and 
those without that benefit.
  On the second chart, my colleagues will see something that is 
extremely important. In so many programs, we discover that there is not 
a lasting effect, that it all wears off in a short amount of time. This 
is third grade. These are students now who went through the Even Start 
Program but now are in third grade.
  These are the percent of the children who are rated by their current 
third grade teacher as average or above. The first, academic 
performance; second, motivation to learn; third, family support; 
fourth, relationship with student; fifth, attendance; sixth, self-
concept; and seventh, over here, probable success. That is third grade. 
As I indicated, so many times we discover that what we thought was a 
good concept and a good program really did not pay off in the long run.
  Mr. Speaker, the next chart deals with findings from Even Start 
family literacy research, and it deals with the percent of children 
receiving grades of satisfactory or above. Again the lightly shaded 
area are those children who had Even Start experiences, and the dark-
colored are those without.
  The first is reading, way above. Second is language, even higher. And 
the

[[Page H2248]]

third is math. Again these are the percent of children receiving grades 
of satisfactory or above. And the Even Start youngsters, in good 
programs, the 30 that were chosen for this study, are doing 
exceptionally well.
  Mr. Speaker, the next chart deals with percent of children having 
test scores at the level of average or above. Again, reading, language 
is almost off the chart, and math is way up.
  Now some statistics about the children and their successes in their 
classes and the parents that are engaged in the schooling of their 
children. The percentage of the Even Start children rated average or 
above in their class by their current grade school teacher: 65 percent 
on overall academic performance, 77 percent on motivation to learn, 82 
percent on support from parents, 87 percent on relations with other 
children, 88 percent on attendance, 82 percent on classroom behavior, 
71 percent on self-confidence, 74 percent on probable success in 
school.
  After participating in high quality Even Start family literacy 
programs, we have some good statistics about the adults, the parents 
who are participating: 62 percent of those parents that received their 
GED or some other high school equivalency certificate; 50 percent 
obtained a job or a better job; 40 percent are enrolled in some form of 
higher education or training; 45 percent reduced the amount of public 
assistance they received because of their improved employment; 3 
percent no longer receive any public assistance.
  What else have we found out about the adults that have participated 
in the program? Keep in mind, I mentioned these were parents and adults 
who were very reluctant to participate in anything in the community or 
participate at all in any school programs. What they have found among 
their accomplishments frequently identified through the interviews are, 
membership on school advisory committees, leadership roles in PTA or 
other school parent organization. They obtained their citizenship, they 
volunteer in schools. They volunteer in community libraries. They are 
teaching church classes. They register to vote and are voting. They are 
using community resources more effectively. They have established 
neighborhood development organizations and work actively in 
neighborhood improvement projects. They are tutoring other adults in 
programs or others who are seeking citizenship. They are helping the 
Even Start programs with recruitment. And they are practicing family 
planning. Those are the positive events or the positive results that we 
are finding in the Even Start programs that work.
  So many times, we are quick to judge particularly public education 
and quick to badmouth public education.
  Mr. Speaker, I want everyone to understand that the teachers did not 
ask for a prohibition to deal with unruly students. As a principal, I 
would last 30 seconds today, because everyone knew in the school that I 
was the authority figure. It was not the teachers who broke down the 
discipline that we once had in all schools. It was the parents. It was 
not the teachers who reduced or dumbed down academic achievement. 
Again, it was the parents.
  Now my colleagues say: You have a lot of courage to make those kinds 
of statements. I also have a lot of experience. I saw my most talented 
teachers become very disillusioned. Why? Because parent after parent of 
a capable child would come to me, come to the teacher and say: Do you 
not realize my child is in football, basketball, a drum majorette, 
chorus, band and everything under the sun; and, therefore, they do not 
have time to do what you expect as a teacher.
  A very demanding teacher, a teacher who believes that we must secure 
excellence from our students becomes very disillusioned when that 
happens.
  It was not the teacher that brought that about. It was not the 
teacher or the administrator who brought about the decline in 
discipline in the schools. We should all recognize that, and we should 
all see whether there is not some way that we can join together and 
bring about a return to demanding quality, to demanding excellence and 
demanding behavior that is fitting for a public setting such as a 
school.
  Even Start is a program, as I indicated, that apparently is working. 
The research is showing that to be true, if the program is run 
properly, if they demand excellence, and if they expect participation 
of parents and students.
  I take my hat off during this week, which I am not allowed to wear on 
the floor of the House, incidentally, to those who are out there in the 
field doing their very best under very trying conditions to make sure 
that our children are ready for the 21st century so we can be a very 
competitive Nation; because what was will not be good enough in the 
21st century. Those teachers and those administrators cannot do it 
alone. They need all parents, they need the community support, they 
need everybody pulling together.

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