This practical guidebook presents trends, research-grounded strategies, and field-based solutions to challenges of working in community-based literacy initiatives. A comprehensive guide for practitioners, this book addresses best practices for implementing, maintaining, expanding, and evaluating community-based literacy initiatives. The contributors in this volume help readers shift thinking from merely considering, "How can communities support literacy?" to "How can literacy help us create, support, and strengthen communities?" Organized into four parts – on building community through literacy, program design, case studies from the field, and program evaluation – chapters cover research-based and innovative practices in a diverse range of populations and settings, including family services, adult literacy initiatives, community centers, and tutoring programs. With an abundance of praxis-oriented examples and real-world strategies from top scholars and practitioners, the book serves as a roadmap for essential topics, including funding, writing grant proposals, handling audits, and conducting research within program settings. With templates, models, planning tools, and checklists ready for immediate use, this book is an invaluable field manual for individuals involved in community literacy work, researchers, and students in literacy-oriented courses either at the undergraduate or graduate levels.

This book provides a systematic exploration of family literacy, including its historic origins, theoretical expansion, practical applications within the field, and focused topics within family literacy. Grounded in sociocultural approaches to learning and literacy, the book covers research on how families use literacy in their daily lives as well as different models of family literacy programs and interventions that provide opportunities for parent-child literacy interactions and that support the needs of children and parents as adult learners. Chapters discuss key topics, including the roles of race, ethnicity, culture, and social class in family literacy; digital family literacies; family-school relationships and parental engagement in schools; fathers’ involvement in family literacy; accountability and employment; and more. Throughout the book, Lynch and Prins share evidence-based literacy practices and highlight examples of successful family literacy programs. Acknowledging lingering concerns, challenges, and critiques of family literacy, the book also offers recommendations for research, policy, and practice. Accessible and thorough, this book comprehensively addresses family literacies and is relevant for researchers, scholars, graduate students, and instructors and practitioners in language and literacy programs.

`The ′Raising Early Achievement in Literacy′ or REAL project was the result of a collaboration between the University of Sheffield, Sheffield LEA and schools and centres across the city of Sheffield, starting in 1995. For those interested in developing their own projects in this field it will provide essential information. It contains many examples of work carried out this in this project. Many examples are given that could prompt practitioners to identify ways in which they too could focus their own input with children or help their parent group to interact with their children′s developing literacy′ - Early Years Update `A "must read" for practitioners, policy makers and researchers interested in the detail and the theory underpinning this important family literacy initiative′ - Neil McClelland OBE, Director, National Literacy Trust `The REAL Project is one of the best conceptualized, most intensively documented and successful British family literacy initiatives and the book provides a comprehensive overview of all aspects of this powerful project. It is essential reading for anyone working alongside families to promote children′s early development′ - Professor Nigel Hall, Institute of Education, Manchester Metropolitan University ′The project described in detail in this book is arguably the most important and well-researched UK initiative for developing early literacy work with parents of young children. ... Readers will find inspirational case studies ... There are illuminating insights into children′s perspectives on family literacy, including good news about fathers and boys. ... Don′t miss it!′ - Marian Whitehead, Nursery World Anyone involved in the field of early-childhood literacy should be familiar with the work of the REAL (Raising Early Achievement in Literacy) Project. Here, leading members of the project team Cathy Nutbrown, Peter Hannon and Anne Morgan, discuss the research. An essential guide to the subject, this book will be of great practical use to all in the field of early childhood literacy: students, practitioners and course leaders on literacy and early childhood courses. The authors discuss the policy contexts of early-childhood and literacy today and use their experience of the REAL project to discuss and illustrate practical research and evaluation strategies for family literacy workers. They examine the issues from all perspectives: teachers, parents and young children. The book concludes with examples of how the theoretical framework of the REAL Project (ORIM) has been used by other practitioners and an examination of the implications of such work for the future of early-childhood and literacy policy development. The book also includes: - An informative update on research in the field - A description of the family literacy programme - Useful activities for family literacy work - Guidelines for interviewing parents and children - Suggestions for how to evaluate family literacy work - Ideas for practical sessions for professional development for family literacy workers - A Guide to further reading This is an important book and should be read by anyone wishing to keep pace with the field of family literacy in early childhood education.

Co-published with Colleges and universities are increasingly becoming significant sites for adult education scholarship—in large part due to demographic shifts. With fewer U.S. high school graduates on the horizon, higher education institutions will need to attract “non-traditional” (i.e., older) adult learners to remain viable, both financially and politically. There is a need to develop a better corpus of scholarship on topics as diverse as, what learning theories are useful for understanding adult learning? How are higher education institutions changing in response to the surge of adult students? What academic programs are providing better learning and employment outcomes for adults in college? Adult education scholars can offer much to the policy debates taking place in higher education. A main premise of this handbook is that adult and continuing education should not simply respond to rapidly changing social, economic, technological, and political environments across the globe, but should lead the way in preparing adults to become informed, globally-connected, critical citizens who are knowledgeable, skilled, and open and adaptive to change and uncertainty.The Handbook of Adult and Continuing Education provides rich information on the contemporary issues and trends that are of concern to adult and continuing education, of the programs and resources available to adult learners, and of opportunities to challenge and critique the structures embedded in the field that perpetuate inequity and social injustice. Adult education is a discipline that foresees a better tomorrow, and The Handbook is designed to engage and inspire readers to assist the field to seek new paths in uncertain and complex times, ask questions, and to help the field flourish.The Handbook is divided into five sections. The first, Foundations situates the field by describing the developments, core debates, perspectives, and key principles that form the basis of the field.The second, Understanding Adult Learning, includes chapters on adult learning, adult development, motivation, access, participation, and support of adult learners, and mentoring.Teaching Practices and Administrative Leadership, the third section, offers chapters on organization and administration, program planning, assessment and evaluation, teaching perspectives, andragogy and pedagogy, public pedagogy, and digital technologies for teaching and learning.The fourth section is Formal and Informal Learning Contexts. Chapters cover adult basic, GED, and literacy education, English-as-a-Second Language Programs, family literacy, prison education, workforce development, military education, international development education, health professions education, continuing professional education, higher education, human resource development and workplace learning, union and labor education, religious and spiritual education, cultural institutions, environmental education, social and political movements, and peace and conflict education.The concluding Contemporary Issues section discusses decolonizing adult and continuing education, adult education and welfare, teaching social activism, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer and straight allies, gender and its multiple forms, disability, older adults and intergenerational identities, race and ethnicity, working class, whiteness and privilege, and migrants and migrant education.The editors culminate with consideration of next steps for adult and continuing education and priorities for the future.

Strengthen programs of family and community engagement to promote equity and increase student success! When schools, families, and communities collaborate and share responsibility for students′ education, more students succeed in school. Based on 30 years of research and fieldwork, the fourth edition of the bestseller School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action, presents tools and guidelines to help develop more effective and more equitable programs of family and community engagement. Written by a team of well-known experts, it provides a theory and framework of six types of involvement for action; up-to-date research on school, family, and community collaboration; and new materials for professional development and on-going technical assistance. Readers also will find: Examples of best practices on the six types of involvement from preschools, and elementary, middle, and high schools Checklists, templates, and evaluations to plan goal-linked partnership programs and assess progress CD-ROM with slides and notes for two presentations: A new awareness session to orient colleagues on the major components of a research-based partnership program, and a full One-Day Team Training Workshop to prepare school teams to develop their partnership programs. As a foundational text, this handbook demonstrates a proven approach to implement and sustain inclusive, goal-linked programs of partnership. It shows how a good partnership program is an essential component of good school organization and school improvement for student success. This book will help every district and all schools strengthen and continually improve their programs of family and community engagement.