Scholastic Announces First-of-Their-Kind Literacy Events to Help Schools Support Family and Community Engagement

NEW YORK, Oct. 30, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Scholastic (NASDAQ: SCHL), the global children's publishing, education and media company, today announced the release of Scholastic Literacy Events,  comprehensive family engagement kits that educators can use to engage families in their children's literacy development. 

The Literacy Events  were created by the Scholastic FACE (Family and Community Engagement) group in response to the recent release of the U.S. Department of Education's Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships, with the assistance of Dr. Karen Mapp from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The framework outlines research-based best practices for schools to effectively engage families and community organizations in support of raising student achievement.  The Literacy Events are designed to help cultivate and sustain best practice strategies aligned with the framework. Scholastic's Literacy Events provide tools for districts, schools, teachers, community groups and families to increase their capacity to work together by addressing the framework's "4 C's of Capacity:" Capabilities, Connections, Cognition and Confidence.

"Family engagement in a student's academic career can have a significant impact on the student's attendance, academic achievement and overall attitude about school," said Dr. Mapp.  "It is important that schools not only show families that they are capable of supporting their children academically but also provide them with the tools to do so."

"It is our mission to promote literacy for every student in every way possible," said Greg Worrell, President of the Scholastic Classroom and Community Group. "By providing books and educational materials to students and families of all socio-economic backgrounds, we can ensure that students are exposed to language and learning from a young age. With strong family and community support, the proper tools and hard work, a student's potential for success is limitless."

Two themes have been designed for each grade: Spotlight on Reading released July 2014, and The Reading and Writing Connection to be released October 2014.

Each Literacy Event includes a teacher planning guide, three take-home books for students, activity cards to prompt discussion, a welcome banner, a poster and a bulletin board banner.

For more information about Scholastic, visit our media room at http://mediaroom.scholastic.com/.

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SOURCE Scholastic

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