A family literacy program for increasing 3- to 5-year-old children's literacy skills by educating their Mexican American parents is evaluated. Project Family Literacy--Aprendiendo, Mejorando, Educando ("Learning, Improving, Educating") (Project FLAME) is a federally funded program addressing Hispanic Americans' academic failure, characterized by high dropout rates and low scores on National Assessment of Educational Progress measures of reading proficiency, compared to White students. Project FLAME aims to increase parents' ability to assist their children's literacy learning and improve achievement in school reading and writing tasks. It addresses four elements of home literacy influence (literacy modeling, literacy opportunity, literacy interaction, and home-school relationships). Project FLAME was held at three elementary schools in an inner-city Spanish speaking neighborhood (98 percent Hispanic Americans). Data from case studies, interviews, and anecdotes were analyzed. The findings highlight examples of functional and critical behaviors revealed through home and school observations and discussed by parents in interviews. The results show that by addressing literacy on a functional level in a family literacy program, the participating parents gradually adopted more critical stances toward some institutions in their lives (including school). Included are 26 references. (RLC)