At the Heart of Family Learning: Family literacy offers a win-win approach to learning
Last week, Barbara Bush Foundation President Andrew Roberts and I published an opinion piece in The Hill that called for adult education and family literacy to move from the margins to the mainstream. As we kick off Adult Education and Family Literacy Week and celebrate National Literacy Month, I’d like to take a moment to celebrate the work of the dedicated organizations and literacy providers who are at the forefront of family literacy’s resurgence across the country.
Recently awarded Dollar General Literacy Foundation family literacy grants are a testament to the many community colleges, adult education providers, and schools across the country–including West Kentucky Community and Technical College, Literacy Alliance of Northeast Florida, Enlace Academy in Indiana, and dozens more–that are supporting parents and children learning together.
Recent data from Crete, Nebraska, highlights the power of family literacy to build on adult education, providing additional benefits that can multiply impact. In Crete, adults participating in family literacy demonstrated 60% measurable skills gains, compared to 50% for participants only enrolled in adult ed, and Crete’s family literacy class was the highest performing of all its adult basic education, ESL, and GED classes. Ryan Hinz, Director of Adult Education in Crete, has noted that family literacy programming led to these gains because adult learners feel connected and valued, leading to better learner retention. “What separates our program from other adult education programs,” says Mr. Hinz, “is family.”
This focus on whole family outcomes is at the heart of NCFL programming, and family literacy celebrates the vital roles adult learners play as students, parents, providers, and valued members of the community. In the process, family literacy provides adults with more than just educational opportunities, helping them increase knowledge of school systems, strengthen multiple literacy skills, and expand their social capital in ways that benefit the whole family.
Building knowledge of school systems
Parent Time, a key part of NCFL’s four-component model of family literacy, provides a space for adults to learn more about topics that relate to their roles as parents. In many cases, especially when family literacy programs are part of local schools, Parent Time offers the chance for parents to expand their knowledge of school processes and procedures–helping them avail themselves of the educational choices available for their children.
In one school-based family literacy program in Nebraska, it was typical for school attendance staff to provide a workshop on district attendance policies and student absence tracking during Parent Time. The school nurse would also visit to share guidelines around when it was appropriate to keep students home from school. This knowledge helped adults better understand school policies and manage their children’s attendance, ensuring they realize the link between attendance and improved learning outcomes.
Improving workforce skills and enhancing literacy outcomes
NCFL embraces a definition of literacy that includes foundational reading and writing skills and expands to the types of literacy needed in today’s workforce. This definition goes beyond reading and writing and includes “the means of identification, understanding, interpretation, creation, and communication” in a 21st-century context. Adults involved in family literacy classes have the chance to improve their literacy skills across a number of domains, from digital literacy to financial literacy to health literacy.
In Grand Rapids, the Family Learning Community™ led by Literacy Center of West Michigan is exploring how to use family literacy programming as a tool for increasing health literacy and building a pipeline to supply workers for local healthcare jobs. Participants in the program will not only gain knowledge that will help them keep their family healthy; they’ll also be prepared to compete for in-demand careers that can provide the family with positive economic mobility.
Expanding social capital and resourcefulness
I’ve frequently noted, in this blog and elsewhere, the key role that relationships play in all of NCFL’s family learning work. Building relational bonds within families, among families, and between families and the organizations that serve them is a key outcome of the family literacy model.
Time and again, we’ve seen that family literacy programming helps to build the confidence and encouragement that enables adult learners to reach their own goals and assist in their children’s academic success. One adult learner in South Dakota noted that “the connections we’ve built through [family literacy] have provided us with a strong support network, one where we could learn from one another, share experiences, and navigate the ups and downs of parenting together.” I’ve heard this echoed by other participants over the years. In fact, in Yuma, Arizona, family literacy participants described how their bonds grew and made them more resilient. They felt a deep sense of community and belonging, and their children ultimately benefited as they saw their parents become more resourceful while prioritizing their own education to change their families’ trajectory.
It is undeniable that family literacy is experiencing a resurgence across the country. But with that success comes responsibility. As NCFL Founder Sharon Darling put it, “Now that we’ve reached this level of success, let’s ask ourselves: What’s the next step? Now that we have the tools and the research and the support of our communities, let’s ask: How can these resources help us help families better?”
One way we continue to answer this call to remain connected is through the national Families Learning Conference. The Families Learning Conference brings together researchers, practitioners, funders, and community-based organizations from across the country to share their family literacy, family engagement, and family leadership success stories, providing fertile ground for innovations to spread and scale. I hope to have the chance to catch up with many of you at this year’s conference, happening November 2-5 in Charlotte, North Carolina. In the meantime, I wish you a productive and inspiring year in your adult education and family literacy classrooms.