FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

National Expert Michele Perry Acknowledges the Work of Mothers’ Club

PASADENA, CALIF - January 26, 2006: At a private event acknowledging Mothers’ Club Family Learning Center individual donors, Michele Perry, a Grantee Advisor for First 5 LA’s Family Literacy Support Network, as well as a national evaluator of educational programs, addressed the unique qualities that make Mothers’ Club’s program an exemplary model for others across the country.
Perry identified the organization’s critical strengths and unique attributes. “As a long-time evaluator of educational programs, I view Mothers’ Club as exceptional in their desire to move always toward heightened accountability to families and the community.” Ms. Perry shared a number of graphs showing the organization’s evaluation results from 2005. She pointed out what she called, “very impressive statistics:”

• 100% of preschool children who will enter kindergarten had fully mastered the pre-literacy and other skills known to support a successful transition into kindergarten after completing 200 hours of instruction;
• 67% of adult learners studying English as a Second Language demonstrated a significant increase in English language skills after 100 hours of instruction, far above California’s standard’s of 50%; and
• 98% of families stay in the program until they have reached the goals they identified with the staff when they entered the program.

“While First 5 LA expects programs funded by their Family Literacy Initiative to achieve a 70% family retention rate, Mothers’ Club sets their program goal well above that at 80%, and then goes on to retain 98% of their families. This is truly exemplary. Families need to stay in a program long enough for there to be real change and a real increase in their skills – Mothers’ Club achieves that longevity”.

Ms. Perry then poignantly spoke about poverty throughout our nation. “The face of poverty is very recognizable to me; it is the same here in Pasadena as it is in rural Texas. Every time I see the face of poverty, I resolve to change it,” she remarked. “As a nation, a state, and a community, we cannot afford to have an uneducated or undereducated public,” she said. “Results of disparity in educational opportunity are manifested in numerous ways, including: high attrition rates of children leaving school before completing their high school degrees; high rates of incarceration among those who have been uneducated or undereducated; teen pregnancy rates, numbers of single parent households; increased rates of poverty; and an impact on the general economy as a result of a poorly educated workforce. What you determine to do here in Pasadena in order to support a learning community where all are welcome has ramifications and reverberations throughout the state and nation.”

Board President Judy Wilson closed the evening expressing her sincere gratitude to the guests for their generous support and for “investing in a program that will produce dividends for decades in our community”.

Michele is President of Perry & Associates, an independent consulting firm in Austin Texas. She has 15 years experience working as an evaluator for state educational programs, and is a consultant in issues of accountability at state and federal levels. In addition to her firm’s work, she is also a Grantee Advisor for the Family Literacy Support Network, which was established to provide First 5 LA Family Literacy Initiative grantees with technical assistance in implementing a four component program with a comprehensive evaluation plan.

Founded in 1961, Mothers’ Club Family Learning Center prepares families living in isolation and poverty to succeed in school and in life through two-generation learning programs. Mothers’ Club services are comprised of high quality, research-based early childhood education for children ages 0-5, and a comprehensive adult program which includes parenting education, leadership training, adult literacy, vocational exploration, group counseling and social networking for the primary caretaker, most often the mother. For more information, please contact Sarah E. Orth ay (626) 683-5677, or sarah@mothersclub.org.

@ 2006 Mothers' Club Family Learning Center
526 East Orange Grove Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91104
Office: (626) 792-2687 Fax: (626) 793-1832