Greetings, FIA community,

In November and December 2023, something extraordinary happened in our FIA Lit for Literacy campaign. After 18 month of partnership, dreams of building "family reading champions" came true at several Education For Change (EFC).

With our EFC partner schools, we share the belief that given the opportunity to build capacity and knowledge, all families can we powerful partners in elevating reading practices at outcomes at home and at school.

Why is this so important in 2024? During COVID, students stayed at home and even when they returned, parents weren't allowed in which hampered home-school partnership. Moreover, as a response to the alarming reading and math data which shows persistent low achievement, especially for Black, Brown and English Learner students, it's critical to embrace new approaches that leverage the inherent leadership of parents to be partners in students' academic progress.

We are so proud of these parent leaders, school leaders and educators at Achieve, Learning without Limits and Cox Academy who are partnering with parents in new ways to share power and responsibility for students' literacy outcomes.

These three schools are incredible examples we can all learn from. We can't wait to see what is ahead.

Kimi

At Achieve, Principal Shawna Myer and Family & Community Coordinator Isabel Gomez celebrated translating that powerful vision into reality. They co-led a training to prepare Lit 4 Literacy family leaders to share reading data with other families during family conference week. They used interpreters to ensure that parents who speak Mam, Spanish, Arabic and English could access the training.

The following week, they were thrilled to see Achieve family leaders leading 1:1 data conversations with other families. "We were nervous, but the parents really pushed themselves and it was amazing." shared Isabel. "We are seeing Achieve parents lead literacy in ways they have never done at school before. It's exciting to see it happen."

At Achieve Academy, Lit for Literacy parents are making big strides in taking leadership to increase parent agency in reading at home and at school. These efforts are by a close partnership with school staff and leaders.

At Learning without Limits, new Assistant Principal Roberto Hernandez has been an enthusiastic part of Lit for Literacy. Roberto grew up a few blocks away, and his mom still resides near the school. "I believe so strongly that parents must be a part of understanding what the academic demands are for their students. I love being a part of empowering parents to be able to work with their own students at home and to use their power to collaborate with other parents."

Learning without Limits staff partnered with parent leaders to facilitate literacy activities with other paarents.

At Cox Academy, family leadership in academics is peaking. Principal Omar Currie and Dean of Community Engagement Emely Nuñez showed families how to practice Timed Reading Fluency at home. Parents assisted each other in learning the practice, modeling with one another and giving feedback.

Parents at Cox Academy are partners in reading instruction. They observed practices in classrooms, then debriefed evidence and identified implications fort heir leadership at home and at school as parents.

The same day, Principal Currie led a Family Accountability Walk so parents could see science-based reading instructional practices in classrooms. They learned about the pillars of effective reading instruction and had a chance to see those pillars in action.

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Families in Action for Quality Education (FIA) was founded in 2019 and now has grown to serve over 16,000 district and charter school families. FIA has graduated over 500 parents, youth, educators, and school board members from our leadership institutes to advocate for access to quality education across the city of Oakland. For more information and to sign up, visit FIA’s website, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.