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Nearly all mothers experienced benefits for themselves and perceived benefits for their children and/or families that exceeded their expectations

• Mothers reported they benefited from English lessons, other educational and professional opportunities, parenting lessons, access to mental health and other social services, increased social capital, increased engagement in their children's education, and learning about nutrition. Mothers also perceived a number of benefits for their children, including improved academic outcomes and social and emotional development.

Interviews with mothers highlighted several potential barriers to mothers' full participation in the program and realization of its benefits

• These barriers included personal circumstances, work obligations, and time constraints.
• Additionally, half of mothers reported challenges in continuing their education after program completion.

Analyses of Pasadena Unified School District data suggest several positive short- and longer-term effects on educational outcomes for FFLC participants compared with demographically similar peers

• FFLC students had statistically significant higher attendance and reduced chronic absenteeism in kindergarten, though the effects appear to diminish by third grade.
• FFLC students also demonstrated meaningfully higher scores on English Language Arts and mathematics assessments in third grade.
• No statistically significant differences between groups were found for English language proficiency, grade retention, or suspension.

The Families Forward Learning Center (FFLC) offers a two-generation learning program for low-income families with children from birth to 5 years old in Pasadena, California. The program aims to prepare participants—mothers and their children—to succeed in school and life. This report summarizes a mixed-methods evaluation of the program that used retrospective interviews with former program participants to elicit their perceptions of program benefits, as well as analyses of student kindergarten and third-grade educational outcomes.

Nearly all mothers experienced benefits for themselves and perceived benefits for their children and/or families that exceeded their expectations. Mothers reported they benefited from English lessons, other educational and professional opportunities, parenting lessons, access to mental health and other social services, increased social capital, increased engagement in their children's education, and learning about nutrition.

Analyses of Pasadena Unified School District data suggest several positive short- and longer-term effects on educational outcomes for FFLC students compared with demographically similar peers. FFLC students had statistically significant higher attendance and reduced chronic absenteeism in kindergarten, though the effects appear to diminish by third grade. FFLC students also demonstrated meaningfully higher scores on English Language Arts and mathematics assessments in third grade. These findings should be viewed cautiously as preliminary evidence of program impacts because of potential unobserved differences in the families that participate in FFLC. The report concludes with implications for program leadership concerning ongoing programming and FFLC's impact on participating families.

• Chapter One

  Introduction

• Chapter Two

  Study Data and Methods

• Chapter Three

  Participant Perspectives

• Chapter Four

  Student Outcomes

• Chapter Five

  Conclusions and Implications

• Appendix A

  Participant Interview Data Collection and Methods

• Appendix B

  Student Outcome Analysis Methods