ABSTRACT
The extent to which interventions are implemented as intended-the traditional defi nition of program fi delity-is a topic of growing interest among family literacy program researchers, practitioners, and policy makers. The evidence-based practice movement has increased the use of experimental research designs (Shadish & Cook, 2009) and the concomitant need to describe the “what” in studies designed to identify “what works” in family-oriented approaches to improving children’s outcomes (Powell, 2005). Too, results of studies showing small or no eff ects of family literacy programs have led to questions about whether the programs examined in outcome studies represented the original program model. Few answers are available. Most family literacy program outcome studies provide no information about program fi delity (Sénéchal & Young, 2008; van Steensel, McElvany, Kurvers, & Herppich, 2011, this volume).
