Toyota, one of the nation’s most successful corporations, began a partnership with NCFL in 1991. In addition to a commitment of more than $36 million to establish model literacy programs throughout the country, Toyota has also contributed a wealth of in-kind support – including advertising, planning and management expertise – to form one of the most progressive corporate/nonprofit partnerships in the nation.

Three major programs have been developed through the Toyota partnership based on the family literacy model of parents and children learning together. The models, as described below, have influenced federal and state legislation, leveraged local dollars to support family literacy and led to successful programs being replicated across the country.

Today, Toyota has funded 241 family literacy sites in 47 cities and 29 states that have impacted the lives of more than one million families. Following the tremendous success of the first Toyota initiative, subsequent programs have built upon the best practices identified by their predecessors.

Communities that have received Toyota grants have been able to leverage millions of dollars in additional funding to replicate and sustain the different models of family literacy. For example, Los Angeles, New York and Providence alone have leveraged almost $27 million to replicate family literacy. The combined investment leveraged in other cities, some of which span an 18-year program implementation, includes federal dollars and private funding from local foundations. Through collaborative partnerships with local universities and colleges, adult education services have been funded. These efforts, combined with in-kind dollars and services, have multiplied the efforts of the Toyota/NCFL partnership.

And the partnership continues to grow.

Toyota Family Literacy Program (TFLP)

Improving the lives of immigrant families: Established in 2003, the TFLP is addressing the growing educational needs of Hispanic and other immigrant families by increasing English language and literacy skills for adults while also supporting their involvement in their children’s education. As of spring 2009, this program is active in 25 communities and 75 elementary schools across the country. Click here for more information on the need, results and success stories for TFLP.

TFLP is unique because it not only addresses the educational needs of adults as well as children, but it also brings parents and children together in a classroom and utilizes programming that is culturally relevant to the populations served.

The program increases basic language and literacy skills among Hispanic and other immigrant families, and provides parents with the skills they need to help their children succeed in school. It serves children in kindergarten through third grade and their parents.

The Urgency: Stabilizing Families, Strengthening Communities

The Toyota Family Literacy Program (TFLP) focuses on Hispanics and immigrant families for several reasons:

• Hispanics are the largest and fastest-growing minority in the country, yet they are the only one whose literacy rates have actually declined in the last 15 years.
• Hispanics make up roughly one-fourth of the nation's kindergartners and one-fifth of all K-12 students.

• There are 5.8 million legal U.S. residents who lack the English language skills to participate fully in society. It is estimated that the cost of instruction for just half those residents would be $1.2 billion.

• The high school dropout rate for Hispanics is four times higher than for whites.
• Although the dropout rate is 59 percent for Hispanics who do not speak English well, it is only 16 percent for Hispanic students who do speak English well.

The Results: Building Stronger Families and Communities

Through the strong bonds of Hispanic families, TFLP is unlocking their learning potential to dramatically improve the educational attainment and economic situation for multiple generations.

Results from the TFLP programs already implemented include:

• Significant literacy gains by adults with 54 percent improving literacy scores by at least one level. This has contributed to an improved understanding of basic oral and written instructions in English, reading a note from a teacher, setting up a doctor’s appointment, and displaying basic computer literacy skills (word processing and sending email).
• Children in the program exceeded peers in such areas as academic performance (79 percent), motivation to learn (86 percent), attendance (96 percent), classroom behavior (91 percent), and involvement in classroom activities (88 percent).
• 92 percent of parents state they are better able to help their children with homework.
• 91 percent of parents state their children’s grades have improved.

The Stories Behind the Statistics:

Content Coming Soon!

Resources:

TFLP Sites Map

Video Clips Coming Soon

Media Hits Coming Soon

TFLP City Fact Sheets
Las Cruces, NM Long Beach, CA Memphis, TN Springdale, AR Las Vegas, NV

Toyota Teacher of the Year (TOY)

Toyota Families in Schools (TFS)

Toyota Families for Learning (TFFL)

All Toyota programs use initial start-up funding for three years, while building local funding collaborations to sustain their operation after that three-year period has passed. This has been standard practice in every model program opened through NCFL since 1991.