An estimated 25% of Bexar County adults are functionally illiterate, reading at or below a fifth-grade level.
Literacy challenges also persist among children. In San Antonio, only about 48% of students read at or above grade level, according to a report from Futuro San Antonio and City Education Partners.
San Antonio has no shortage of people working to improve those numbers.
School districts, nonprofits, libraries and community organizations have invested significant efforts in improving literacy and expanding access to educational resources. Yet literacy remains a persistent challenge. Many children struggle to reach key reading milestones that can shape their academic futures.
Research has long shown that reading proficiency is linked to educational attainment, workforce readiness and economic mobility. Third grade is widely viewed as a critical benchmark, when students begin shifting from learning to read to reading to learn. Students who fall behind can face increasing academic challenges as they move through school.
Efforts to improve literacy have traditionally focused on students themselves through classroom instruction, tutoring and other interventions. Those approaches remain important. But growing numbers of educators, researchers and community leaders believe another piece of the puzzle deserves attention: the role families play in literacy development, especially when children are very young.
It’s easy to think of literacy as belonging only in a classroom and to think that is the only place where children learn to read. However, literacy often begins long before a child enters school, shaped by the language, reading habits and learning opportunities shared with family members at home.
How does language development influence reading?
Family literacy programs are built on the idea that parents and caregivers play a critical role in shaping vocabulary, communication skills and attitudes toward reading before children enter a classroom.
Becky Huang, a professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning at The Ohio State University and a faculty associate at the Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy, has spent much of her career studying language and literacy development. During her time at UT San Antonio's Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies, she researched how language development among bilingual and dual-language learners influences reading skills and classroom success.
“Literacy development is connected to language development. Before children learn to read words on a page, they are learning language,” Huang told TPR. “Family literacy is a sort of collection of the experiences children have, and parents play a critical role in this if they can provide language-rich environments.”
But parents and caregivers often need support.
When families have the tools, resources and confidence to support learning at home, advocates argue, children are more likely to succeed.
“Parents want the best for their children,” Huang said. “They’re motivated, but they may not have the confidence or the strategies or the resources to support their children.”
That is where family literacy programs come in.
Across San Antonio, family literacy initiatives take many forms. Some help parents improve their own literacy skills, earn high school equivalency credentials or learn English. Others focus on parent education, teaching caregivers strategies for reading with children and supporting learning at home. Many combine those approaches with early childhood education and opportunities for parents and children to learn together.
The goal is not simply to improve literacy for one child or one adult but to strengthen literacy across generations.
And family literacy involves much more than books and reading.
“Family literacy is not just about reading skills,” said Brenda Faz-Villarreal, coordinator of the Even Start Family Literacy Program at Northside Independent School District. “It’s about interacting with each other, spending time. Just explaining and talking and conversing and having a give and take … builds literacy skills. They’re doing one-to-one correspondence on different activities. They’re following directions. They’re taking turns. All that leads into reading. All that is important for reading.”
Other school districts across San Antonio are also investing in family-centered approaches. Nonprofits work with parents and caregivers to build literacy-rich home environments. Libraries and community organizations offer programs that encourage reading and language development beyond the classroom.
Together, these efforts represent a significant commitment to the idea that literacy is not solely a school responsibility but a family and community endeavor as well.
Yet important questions remain.
How can family literacy programs help?
Which family literacy approaches produce measurable results? What evidence exists that helping parents learn can improve outcomes for children? How do successful programs engage families facing barriers such as poverty, transportation challenges, language differences or demanding work schedules? And can effective models be expanded to serve even more families across San Antonio?
Those questions are at the center of a yearlong Solutions Journalism reporting project from Texas Public Radio.
In this series, TPR explores family literacy as a potential solution to San Antonio’s literacy challenges. Through the experiences of families, educators and local organizations, the reporting examines effective interventions, barriers to access and a closer look at programs showing promise for improving literacy outcomes across generations.
We know we cannot cover every initiative, but we will examine a range of approaches and the evidence behind them.
We'll explore programs that help parents strengthen their own literacy skills while supporting their children's education. We'll hear from parents, educators, researchers and community organizations working to strengthen literacy.
We'll also look closely at outcomes. Are children reading at higher levels? Are parents becoming more engaged in their children's education and achieving educational goals of their own?
Follow along as we examine the potential of family literacy in San Antonio.
If you have information about a group or other initiative promoting family literacy, email us at letters@tpr.org.
