Family learning systems are dependent upon coalitions of institutions, organizations, community members, and families who engage in deep, comprehensive work bringing together a continuum of programs and resources-- spanning birth through adulthood--in family literacy, family engagement, and family leadership. These intentional efforts will create…

Family literacy programs are potential spaces of empowerment for transnational families, yet often draw from deficit logics that fail to acknowledge the rich language and literacy practices of Latinx communities. We brought together theories of critical literacy and theories of mothering as critical work to document how transnational Latina…

Family Literacy is an intergenerational program that brings parents and preschool- or elementary-age children to school together. It can provide a depth in education that allows learning opportunities for children and the adults in their lives. As relationships are built, learning becomes circular between parents, children, and teachers. This…

This article analyses intergenerational research encounters when collaborating with children. It contemplates the possibilities of applying participatory research methods in situations where the research agenda and main research methods have been decided before contacting the research subjects, as these must be explained in the ethical statement…

We present results of a randomized control trial of a two-generation English as a Second Language (ESL) program in which all families participated in Head Start while treatment parents also enrolled in a high dosage, family-focused ESL curriculum with supportive services. Examining 197 parent-child dyads among Spanish- (89%) and Zomi-speaking…

The Annie E. Casey Foundation's Family Economic Success-Early Childhood Education (FES-ECE) initiative, launched in October 2013, is rooted in the belief that families do better when programs can offer simultaneous support to children and parents. The report, designed to aid funders, is part of the Casey Foundation's ongoing commitment to sharing…

Background: Evidence suggests that children and adolescents growing up in low-income families and those with underrepresented ethnocultural backgrounds tend to have high prevalence rates of obesity and more difficulty adhering to childhood obesity interventions. However, less is known about how intergenerational, family-based approaches to…

In 2012, the Annie E. Casey Foundation began searching for partners for its seven-year Family-Centered Community Change™(FCCC) initiative. This report reviews the Foundation's experiences and contributions as an investor and summarizes what the participating communities -- Buffalo, New York; Columbus, Ohio; and San Antonio, Texas -- learned about…

Promoting family learning around science represents an important opportunity to reinforce science learning during out-of-school time. Evidence suggests that parent-child discourse around science can promote inferential thinking by children and help solidify their understanding of science concepts. While teacher professional development that…

Early Learning Neighborhood Collaborative (ELNC) began as a year-long initiative to support early learning for very young children and families. The program has grown into a self-sustaining, nonprofit, place-based organization committed to improving the lives of children and families in the underresourced neighborhoods of Grand Rapids, MI.…

This practitioner's guide discusses what digital storytelling (DST) is and reasons for using it in family literacy (FL) programs. Examples of FL programs using DST effectively are provided, along with concrete steps for implementation. The guide concludes with important considerations for educators and a list of resources.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation launched Family-Centered Community Change (FCCC) in 2012 to support three local partnerships seeking to help parents and children in high-poverty neighborhoods succeed together. These partnerships, located in Buffalo, New York; Columbus, Ohio; and San Antonio, Texas, are each developing a more integrated set of…

For more than a decade, the number of adults who cannot read has plateaued at around 32 million (HuffPost Books, 2014). According to the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, 67% of children are not proficient readers by the end of third grade (Smith, 2015). Given the high stakes attached to acquiring multiple literacies in order to access basic…

The assisted living population is forecast to increase at a rapid rate. Quality of life for residents should be improved by giving greater attention to their cognitive, emotional, and social needs. A university lifespan development team provided a grandparent education course at a large assisted living facility with the assistance of 20 resident…

People are living longer so expectations of grandparents should be redefined. Learning for them should focus on fulfilling family and community roles to retain a sense of purpose. Grandparent education requires a willingness to learn from the observations of younger family members. The intergenerational perceptions of American grandparents were…