Lynda M Valerie Ph D

Impacting Literacy Through Home and Community Connections Lynda M Valerie Ph D

I had a lively and spirited discussion with a friend about education. She was eloquently unimpressed about the overall quality of what she perceives is presently passing for education. At some point during the conversation, I brought up the point that from the time a child is born till he or she is eighteen, only about 11% of that time is spent in a formal educational setting. As an educator that tells me two things. One, we have to make the very best and not waste one minute of the 11%, and we need to tap into the resources of the 89%. That 89% includes family (including parents, grandparent, aunts, uncles, and friends who contribute in significant ways to student's educational development) and community resources. My friend remained skeptical that schools could have much influence on literacy achievement through the involvement of families and communities. Further, she didn't think that schools should expand their already overloaded scope of services any more than they already do. This book is, in many ways, a response to her skepticism. We can continue to lament that we no longer live in a Dick and Jane world (not that we ever did) or we can imagine other possibilities. The following chapters tell the stories of other possibilities. Chapter one offers definitions and a brief literature review on family literacy. The chapter reiterates the key finding that families of all backgrounds want to support their children's learning. Schools partnering with families on literacy initiatives is one characteristic of higher performing schools. As a collective, chapters two through fourteen relate stories of teachers who have implemented a multitude of ideas, projects and events that involve families and communities as active partners in developing student learning. Within that overall theme, chapters two and three describe initiatives that focused on specific areas for literacy achievement. Chapter two describes a school wide literacy program to boost students' sight word vocabulary through increased parental involvement and chapter three relates how a family message journal initiative developed first graders' writing abilities and strengthened home school communications. This book is for educators, as well as school and community organizations who are interested in impacting student literacy achievement.