News Release

January 17, 2019

NEBRASKA RECEIVES FUNDING TO IMPROVE FAMILY ENGAGEMENT FOR STUDENT SUCCESS

The Nebraska Department of Education (NDE), in partnership with the National Center for Families Learning (NCFL), the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation (NCFF), and Unite for Literacy, will receive a five-year, $4.6 million grant to develop model Statewide Family Engagement Centers across Nebraska.

The project lead, NCFL, has a proven record of success. “Family engagement is key to a student’s success,” said Sharon Darling, NCFL president and founder. “These high-impact programs will lead to powerful changes for all families, as well as their schools, communities, and the state. When families are engaged and empowered in their children’s education, we see both parents and children better able to meet their potential.”

The three goals of this project include:

• improve academic achievement for disadvantaged students;
• empower parents of those students with the information and tools to make good choices for their child’s education; and,
• train local and state education providers to administer high-quality family literacy and family engagement services.

“The grant award and five-year commitment gives us the opportunity to impact multiple generations while building sustainability for families and our community partners,” said Nebraska Commissioner of Education Matthew L. Blomstedt.

Three school districts will participate in year one of the project and additional rural and urban communities will be added each year throughout the five-year grant period.

Districts selected to participate in year one of the project include:

• Grand Island Public Schools
• Lexington Public Schools
• Lincoln Public Schools

Nebraska is one of only 11 states to receive funds from the United States Department of Education to create Statewide Family Engagement Centers.

More information about the grant can be found online: https://www.familieslearning.org/uploads/news_and_media/1539094844.sW90.SFEC-national-release-FINAL.pdf

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