 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(July 2022) |
The National Center for Families Learning (NCFL; formerly the National Center for Family Literacy) is an organization founded to create educational and economic opportunity for the most at-risk children and parents in the United States.[ citation needed ]
The nonprofit organization was founded in 1989 [1] by Sharon Darling as the National Center for Family Literacy. [2]
The mission of the NCFL is "to eradicate poverty through educational solutions" and resources that "empower" families. [1] The organization seeks to alter generational poverty by uniting parents and their children as learners together. [3]
Since 1989, over a million families have been impacted by the NCFL's work. [4] NCFL pioneers family literacy models, and approaches to help improve the lives of the nation's at-risk children and families through greater literacy. [3]
The NCFL works to help eradicate poverty through family education. Partnering with educators, literacy advocates, and policymakers, it develops and implements programming, professional development, and resources for families. Since 2019, the NCFL has pursued "three distinct strategies to develop holistic solutions that address... family learning", and "systemic issues that cause cyclical, generational illiteracy and poverty": three online learning websites for implementing "hands-on family learning strategies"; the Parent Leadership Institute in Dallas; and The Dallas Coalition, which is tasked with writing a strategic literacy plan for the city, informing local policy, securing funding opportunities, and developing a shared vision". [3]
The National Center for Families Learning partners with Better World Books, [5] Toyota, [4] [3] and other literacy advocates to help fund its many initiatives. [3]
The NCFL sponsors free, online, brain-building resources, Wonderopolis and Wonderopolis Camp. [6]
In the United States, education is provided in public and private schools and by individuals through homeschooling. State governments set overall educational standards, often mandate standardized tests for K–12 public school systems and supervise, usually through a board of regents, state colleges, and universities. The bulk of the $1.3 trillion in funding comes from state and local governments, with federal funding accounting for about $260 billion in 2021 compared to around $200 billion in past years.
Perkins School for the Blind, in Watertown, Massachusetts, was founded in 1829 and is the oldest school for the blind in the United States. It has also been known as the Perkins Institution for the Blind.
Head Start is a program of the United States Department of Health and Human Services that provides comprehensive early childhood education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and families. The program's services and resources are designed to foster stable family relationships, enhance children's physical and emotional well-being, and establish an environment to develop strong cognitive skills. The transition from preschool to elementary school imposes diverse developmental challenges that include requiring the children to engage successfully with their peers outside the family network, adjust to the space of a classroom, and meet the expectations the school setting provides.
A family reunion is an occasion when many members of an extended family congregate. Sometimes reunions are held regularly, for example on the same date of every year.
Heifer International is a global nonprofit working to eradicate poverty and hunger through sustainable, values-based holistic community development. Heifer International distributes animals, along with agricultural and values-based training, to families in need around the world as a means of providing self-sufficiency. Recipients must agree to "pass on the gift" by donating animal offspring, as well as sharing the skills and knowledge of animal husbandry and agricultural training with other impoverished families in the community. The organization receives financial support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, BlackRock, Cargill, Mastercard Foundation, Walmart and the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.
Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. (RIF) is the oldest and largest non-profit children's literacy organization in the United States. RIF provides books and reading resources to children nationwide with supporting literacy resources for educators, families, and community volunteers.
A school library is a library within a school where students, staff, and often, parents of a public or private school have access to a variety of resources. The goal of the school library media center is to ensure that all members of the school community have equitable access "to books and reading, to information, and to information technology." A school library media center "uses all types of media... is automated, and utilizes the Internet [as well as books] for information gathering." School libraries are distinct from public libraries because they serve as "learner-oriented laboratories which support, extend, and individualize the school's curriculum... A school library serves as the center and coordinating agency for all material used in the school."
The Nicaraguan Literacy Campaign was a campaign launched in 1980 by the Sandinista government in order to reduce illiteracy in Nicaragua. It was awarded the prestigious UNESCO Literacy Award. There have been many other literacy campaigns in the country since the first one was launched in 1980.
The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established, "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America". Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc., the foundation is the administrator and sponsor of the National Book Awards, a changing set of literary awards inaugurated 1936 and continuous from 1950. It also organizes and sponsors public and educational programs.
Literacy in the United States was categorized by the National Center for Education Statistics into different literacy levels, with 92% of American adults having at least "Level 1" literacy in 2019. According to a 2020 report by the U.S. Department of Education, 54% of adults in the United States have prose literacy below the 6th-grade level.
Susan Neuman is an educator, researcher, and education policy-maker in early childhood and literacy development. In 2013, she became Professor of Early Childhood and Literacy Education, and Chair of the Department of Teaching and Learning at NYU's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.
The Virginia Literacy Foundation (VLF), is an organization whose mission is to reduce adult illiteracy in Virginia by providing funding and technical support to private, volunteer adult literacy organizations that teach low level literacy adults to read and write with one-on-one instruction and tutoring. The VLF was founded by Jeannie Baliles, Virginia's First Lady from 1986 to 1990, and founding director Mark Emblidge, and was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) organization in 1987. The VLF supports grass roots organizations via challenge grants, direct consultation, and program development training with public partners like The Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center. The VLF also works in partnership with public institutions, corporations, and private literacy organizations in Virginia to address adult illiteracy in the workplace and to provide family literacy training to teachers and parents. The VLF is governed by the founding executive director, Mark E. Emblidge, and a board of directors chaired by Jeannie Baliles.
The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 authorized the formation of local Community Action Agencies as part of the War on Poverty. These agencies are directly regulated by the federal government. "It is the purpose of The Economic Opportunity Act to strengthen, supplement, and coordinate efforts in furtherance of that policy".
A full-service community school (FSCS) in the United States focuses on partnerships between a school and its community. It integrates academics, youth development, family support, health and social services, and community development. Community schools are organized around the goals to help students learn and succeed and to strengthen families and communities. Full-service community schools extend the goals of traditional public schools further. They are centers of their communities that provide services to address the needs of student learners and build bridges between schools, families, and communities. They are schools that not only promote academic excellence, but they also provide health, mental health, and social services on the school campus. The "school emerges as a community hub, a one-stop center to meet diverse needs and to achieve the best possible outcomes for each child."
AVANCE is an American non-profit organization, headquartered in San Antonio, Texas with locations across the United States. Formed in 1973, it provides free parenting and early childhood education programs to low-income, predominantly Hispanic, families with children of up to three years of age.
Frontera Women's Foundation (FWF) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization operating in El Paso, Texas, United States, and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. Frontera Women's Foundation states its goal is "promoting positive social change for women and girls along the border" and focuses its campaign on community service and issues of women's rights at the family, community, and organizational level. The FWF supports grassroots organizations on the U.S.–Mexico border. The region extends from Southern New Mexico, through El Paso County, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, to Brownsville, Texas. The Frontera Women's Foundation supports these organizations by providing grants to groups that support women and girls struggling with issues such as low socio-economic status, gender bias, and ethnic bias.
The World Literacy Foundation(WLF) is a global not-for-profit that works to lift young people out of poverty through literacy. Founded in Melbourne, Australia in 2003, the World Literacy Foundation operates on the principle that education is a basic human right. It aims to eradicate global illiteracy through the promotion of literacy and the provision of educational resources.
Librarians Without Borders is an international nonprofit organization with headquarters located in London, Ontario, Canada. This is not to be confused with Libraries Without Borders, which has its headquarters in France, Belgium, Canada and Switzerland, or Bibliothécaires Sans Frontières, a now defunct French nonprofit. The organization is overseen by student committees at five Canadian Universities and a volunteer Executive Team and Board of Directors. Librarians Without Borders seeks to provide access to information in communities worldwide by creating partnerships with local people and local librarians. Librarians Without Borders engage in a number of outreach programs created to inspire a love of learning, community engagement and citizen scientists. Members are located in over 75 countries with the majority in Canada and the United States.
edu.GCFGlobal.org is a free online educational website focusing on technology, job training, reading, and math skills. The site is a program of the Goodwill Community Foundation Inc. (GCF). All content in English is created in Raleigh, North Carolina and all the content in Spanish Bogotá, Colombia, that allows the platform to create content accordingly to each language.
The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy is a non-profit organization, headquartered in Washington D.C., supporting literacy as fundamental to the success of both families and the U.S. economy. The foundation promotes access to resources to build a stronger, more equitable America through literacy. The organization co-sponsored the Adult Literacy XPRIZE and produces a "Gap Map" literacy data mapping tool, the National Celebration of Reading, and other events.
Chapter One