Boosting Parent Literacy: An Imperative for Early School Success

September 15, 2026
Boosting Parent Literacy: An Imperative for Early School Success

Parents and the role of parents as their child’s first and most important teacher have been a major priority for the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading (CGLR) since its inception. Yet one thing we often forget is that aside from their critical role in raising and supporting the education of their children, parents are also adults and human beings with their own needs and their own desires to learn, to connect with others, and to advance themselves.

CGLR’s partners at the National Center for Families Learning have been leaders in this work for 35 years. They are the go-to organization for the models and strategies that demonstrate how important multigenerational learning is and guide communities on how to make integrated family literacy part of their initiatives. This week’s session began with an interview with NCFL’s President and CEO Felicia C. Smith, Ed.D., led by her close colleague and longtime CGLR champion Lisa Roy, Ed.D., of the Colorado Department of Early Childhood. Smith shared information on NCFL’s 35 years of work to advance family literacy and the organization’s definition, which we learned also matches the congressional definition:

We believe that family literacy, and what you’ll see in federal language, is that family literacy is a continuum of services that addresses the multigenerational nature of literacy development. We know that it is critically important that we have literacy activities for parents and for children. We know that it’s important that we have an emphasis on increasing parent outcomes so that they can also enhance their workforce skills and meet their goals as adults, as well as in the role that they play for their family. We also know that it’s important for parenting adults and their children to come together for learning, so that when parents are learning skills, they can also enhance those skills in real time with their child’s learning.

After this framing discussion, Smith took on the moderator role and facilitated a panel discussion about the important roles of public libraries, regional nonprofits, universities, and school systems in advancing this work. Panelists — Marcela Movit, Ph.D., of the Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy (ISAL) and Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy at Penn State University; Norma Huerta of Mesa Public Schools in Arizona; Wendy Falb, Ph.D., of the Literacy Center of West Michigan; and Skye Patrick, Ph.D., of the Los Angeles County Library in California — discussed the research providing evidence of the impact and the partnerships and approaches that resonate with parents and keep them engaged to support their own learning and their children’s learning. Patrick spoke clearly about the significant contributions of public libraries in the education space overall and especially for multigenerational learning and family literacy:

The public library is ground zero for ensuring that each member of the family has an opportunity to develop their literacy skills. And once they begin to develop those skills, so many different things can happen. In California, we have 28% of adults ages 16 to 74 who have low English literacy proficiencies. Also, we have over 48% of our students who do not meet the standards of English language arts. Those are big numbers, and I think that we, as public libraries, have the opportunity to close the gap. We can achieve a few things that I think are critical to comprehensive learning. In other words, we support the motivation to pursue an education. We can provide the tools needed so you can pursue an education. You can participate in civic life. You can participate in your own personal health and growth.