Lit
for Literacy
Welcome to FIA’s Lit for Literacy Campaign. We develop and equip parent leaders to partner with schools, use student reading data, and take action so more children read on grade level.
We envision an Oakland where all schools transparently share school wide data, all families know their child’s English Language Arts proficiency data and how to help them at home, and that families, schools, and educators work collaboratively to ensure all Oakland students are reading on grade level.
Starting in 2022, FIA partnered with Education for Change to launch Lit for Literacy and Level Up, engaging 150 parents to build their skills to support reading at home and strengthen collaboration with schools so every child can read on grade level. Through Level Up, parents work alongside school leaders to observe science-based reading instruction and provide feedback.
Today, Lit for Literacy has two core components: helping families understand literacy data and use effective at-home reading strategies, and developing parent leadership. Families participate in five sessions, with the last one being an accountability walk where parents observe literacy instruction, review evidence, and identify actions for families and schools to improve reading outcomes.
This approach works. Students whose parents participated in Lit for Literacy saw gains of 30 to 100 points in early literacy proficiency. Our goal is to transform family partnership in Oakland schools and elevate parents as essential partners in student academic success.
In 2024-25 Lit for Literacy, we partnered with:
180 parents
15 lead admin
10 teachers
12 Family Engagement Coordinations/Community School Managers
12 schools
*3 new schools
We are scaling a new approach that leverages parent power to change literacy outcomes across the city and beyond!
Our Partner Schools
Family Literacy Leadership Values
Charter and District schools in Oakland are partnering with Families in Action for Quality Education (FIA) in this initiative. We share some important values and beliefs that form the foundation of this campaign.
Parent Agency
We believe in the power of parents to advocate for their children’s educational achievement.
Science of Reading
We champion a vision for high-quality schools including a scientific approach to reading for ALL students.
Parent Knowledge
We believe parents must know the academic standards, the data, and their child’s academic progress to be full partners in their child’s education.
Home - School Partnership
We believe equitable access to quality education takes place when there is strong home-school communication, collaboration, and accountability.
Parent Testimonial
Viveca (left), Stephisha, and Karter at the Literacy Institute Graduation Ceremony.
Like many parents during the pandemic, Viveca Ycoy-Walton went from being a mom one day to a mom-slash-fulltime teacher the next. As she would sit with her young son, Karter, and go over his work, she found herself wanting to be able to help him more.
“I developed a sense of, ‘I need to know more’ because as I was teaching my son, I was relearning,” Viveca said.
“The way he’s learning is so different than what I experienced. So when I heard about the institute, I jumped on it.”
Viveca and her wife, Stephisha Ycoy-Walton, recently completed a Family Literacy Institute hosted by FIA and Education for Change Public Schools (EFC). Over four weeks, families built knowledge around EFC’s science-based approach to reading for students, as well as reading standards and achievement milestones, while also learning strategies families can use at home to get their child on grade level.
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The goal is to get every EFC student – 100 percent – reading at grade level. During that time, Karter’s reading scores also improved, moving from a yellow to a green. In a short amount of time, Karter, a third-grader at Cox Academy, is now reading at grade level.
“I sat him down and did an extra 30 minutes of reading with him,” Viveca said. “I did the book walks. I did everything that they taught us, learned how to time him to see his words per-minute. I worked with him. He literally changed his literacy for the better this trimester while I’ve been ‘trialing and erroring’ the information I’ve been learning in this institute. It’s been amazing.”
At the end of April, Viveca, Stephisha and Karter were all celebrating at the literacy institute graduation ceremony with dozens of other EFC families. Viveca even took the stage to give an inspiring call to action.
“I know you are just like me and care so much about our children, if they are even going to have an opportunity to go to college,” Viveca said from the stage at the graduation ceremony, speaking to the other parents. “And we know that reading is fundamental to that.”
Viveca noticed that when she first started doing the book walks with Karter, he would respond to questions with one or two-word answers. After some time and prodding from his mom, he started getting excited about reading.
“Now instead of us asking him questions, he comes to us to tell us what he has read, (telling me) ‘Mom, you want to know what happened in this chapter?’”
Viveca has also noticed a spark Karter has now about reading that wasn’t there before. The family has a new way of reading together, they call it “a book act” where they act out a chapter after Karter has read it. “He has so much fun,” Viveca said. “He gives us titles and roles. He’s engaging more, and that’s exactly what we wanted.”
During the institute, Viveca led some breakout sessions for other parents. She’s also learning how to be a leader and encouraging other parents to follow her example and step into their power.
“I tell the parents, ‘pay attention and ask for all of the resources,’” Viveca said. “I used them, and my son is now reading at grade level. He’s even excelling now, the teacher said he’s moving forward. It has been a thousand percent helpful.”
Viveca and EFC parent Cesar Treviño give the call to action at the FIA/EFC Family Literacy Institute graduation. Watch Here