Lincoln Public Schools
The Lincoln Public Schools (LPS) district is responsible for the education of 37,000 students—43% of whom qualify for the Free and Reduced Lunch program. LPS students speak 53 different home languages and literally come from all over the world. The most recent strategic plan for LPS resulted in an over-arching goal to increase and improve family engagement in education. In particular, the district is interested in utilizing family-centered approaches to support low-income students who are limited in their English proficiency to reach their full potential. This approach includes raising parent literacy and education levels while working through the family unit to improve pre-K-12 student achievement. The LPS Family Literacy Program has two primary goals: 1) Increase targeted students’ academic achievement especially in reading/literacy, and 2) Increase parents’ English language proficiency and employment readiness. The first LPS Family Literacy site started in 1992 with a federally funded Even Start Program, which served families that lacked English language skills and formal education. LPS expanded the program to include the current eight elementary school sites serving 160 multi-ethnic and multi-lingual families.
The Lincoln Public Schools’ (LPS) vision for the Toyota Family Learning project is to improve student outcomes at three elementary schools. Student outcomes will be improved by adding family mentoring, service learning, and piloting the on-line learning.. LPS will also expand participating families’ Internet access by providing mobile hotspots and laptops for check out. The mobile hotspots will provide low-income families with always-on Internet access to extend learning beyond the classroom. Extended learning opportunities will include access to the Imagine Learning English online curriculum and other educational resources. Imagine Learning English allows students and parents a differentiated and personalized learning tool for acquiring English literacy. Toyota Family Learning will serve as a pilot that will eventually be expanded across the school district.