Partners in Literacy describes the process, research, relationships, and theories that guided a three-year partnership between the Purdue University Writing Lab and two community organizations in Lafayette, Indiana: the Lafayette Adult Resource Academy and WorkOne Express. This partnership resulted in a new section of the globally known Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) and the Community Writing and Education Station (CWEST), which featured adult literacy resources in the areas of GED preparation, English as a Second Language, and workplace and job search literacy. Using an empirical and iterative design process, the authors worked closely with their community partners to develop, test, revise, and launch these resources. In Partners in Literacy, the authors argue that writing centers can be effective spaces from which to work with the community and that writing centers’ missions of sustainability, outreach, and research-driven practice can offer valuable philosophies for civic engagement. To support this argument, the book discusses the research methods and findings, the process behind developing and sustaining the three-year engagement project, and the personal relationships that ultimately held the project together.

Describes a three-phase plan for elementary-level teachers to develop literacy partnerships with children's families. Becoming Teammates: Teachers and Families as Literacy Partners offers a bold new look at how teachers and families can work together to build family-school relationships that value and respect each other's perspectives on literacy. Featuring the voices of parents, teachers, graduate students, and preservice teachers, Charlene Klassen Endrizzi's book explores how families and educators can combine their resources to become essential teammates and partners in children's literacy development. Endrizzi recognizes that family-school partnerships are a complex undertaking and offers suggestions for three phases of implementation. In Phase 1, teachers begin by extending to family members a variety of invitations to communicate--via surveys, ceremonies, and celebrations--thus building an awareness and understanding of the literacy learning that occurs both in school and at home. Phase 2 explores how teachers can initiate a two-way literacy conversation with families through dialogue journals, curricular newsletters, and literacy backpacks. The final stage has teachers forging partnerships with parents at Family Literacy Gatherings, during which they explain and demonstrate literacy beliefs and practices, discover and appreciate the families' funds of knowledge, and acknowledge and nurture the emerging parent advocates. Endrizzi challenges teachers to take an active role in developing partnerships by considering a myriad of ways to build bridges of understanding with their students' first learning partners.

Tap students' first teachers--their families--to boost literacy success. This step-by-step guide helps you communicate essential literacy information to parents in their children's literacy development.

Developing Knowledge Communities through Partnerships for Literacy explores the development of knowledge communities - safe spaces on the educational landscape - where research and professional development with literacy teachers and writers can unfurl.