(Recursos en Español)

Learning and literacy are both a birthright and a legacy in America. Building on the firm belief that education is at the heart of the American dream, NCFL has long pioneered literacy initiatives that specifically serve culturally diverse populations.

As the Hispanic population continues to grow in the U.S.—it is now the largest minority population and with the highest school dropout rate—providing for the needs of these families has become a priority not only in large cities but in small communities as well. Children from immigrant families often have parents who do not speak English well, who may not be literate in their native language, and who do not have the necessary skills to sustain their families economically.

Below are just a few of NCFL’s initiatives that are working to increase the language and literacy development of English language learners.

In 2003, NCFL announced the establishment of the Hispanic Family Learning Institute (HFLI), a concerted effort to develop resources and disseminate information about working with the growing Hispanic/Latino populations throughout the country. Among its many activities, HFLI provides free resources for educators and families through this Web site. To view HFLI’s online resources, click here.

Toyota and NCFL established the Toyota Family Literacy Program (TFLP) in 2003 to improve the language and literacy skills of Hispanic and other immigrant families who have children in elementary school. In the fall of 2007, the TFLP expanded to five additional communities, bringing the total number of school sites currently offering educational programming to 60. Since 1991, Toyota has helped NCFL develop family literacy services that have touched the lives of more than one million families. To read more about NCFL's long-term partnership with Toyota, click here.

The Family and Child Education (FACE) program, sponsored by the Bureau of Indian Education, delivers high-quality training and technical assistance to programs serving American Indian families with children from birth through third grade. This groundbreaking program—started in 1990—links culture, language, tradition and literacy to make learning relevant for participating families who represent one of the most underserved populations in the country. To date, the FACE program has reached more than 20,000 parents and children.

La Lectura en Familia/Families Reading Together is a pilot program funded by the Pitney Bowes Literacy and Education Fund and introduced in Head Start centers in three cities in the U.S. The program works to increase parents’ knowledge of their preschool children’s literacy development, support the intergenerational literacy practices of families at home, increase the number of print materials in the homes of Hispanic families, and create a nationally replicable model for Head Start and early childhood programs.

The Practitioner Toolkit: Working with Adult English Language Learners is a free resource created by NCFL in collaboration with the Center for Applied Linguistics, with a grant from the Office of Vocational and Adult Education. This toolkit, available for download from NCFL’s Teacher Resources section, provides sample assessments, lesson plans, research-to-practice articles, and activities for ELL parents and children that educators can use in their programs. Many of the resources are available in English and Spanish.

NCFL is a key partner of the Appalachia Regional Comprehensive Center (ARCC) at Edvantia, one of 21 technical assistance centers funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The ARCC serves education departments in Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, all states that have been significantly impacted recently by rising immigrant populations in their public schools. NCFL provides expertise to help the ARRC partnership address parent involvement issues for English language learners using scientifically based research practices.