The National Center for Family Literacy
The National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL) was established in 1989 with a grant from the
William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust. Founded by current president Sharon Darling, NCFL began
with a simple but ambitious mission: to help parents and children achieve their greatest potential
together through quality literacy programs. Today, NCFL is recognized worldwide as the leader in
family literacy development. NCFL works with educators and community builders through an array
of services to design and sustain programs that meet the most urgent educational needs of
disadvantaged families. http://www.famlit.org/
Center for Applied Linguistics
The Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) is a private, non-profit organization involved in the
study of language and the application of linguistics research to educational, cultural, and social
concerns. A major focus of CAL's work is to encourage and improve language and literacy
education in the United States. CAL carries out quantitative and qualitative research on language
issues and evaluations of language programs; provides technical assistance to schools and school
districts and professional development for teachers; and collects, analyzes, and disseminates
information about language and culture.
CAL houses the Center for Adult English Language Acquisition (CAELA), the only national
center in the United States that focuses on adult ESL language and literacy issues. CAELA's mission
is to help states that have recently begun serving adult English language learners build their capacity
to improve the skills of teachers and administrators in adult English as a second language (ESL)
programs. This, in turn, will help promote the success of the learners. CAELA will also make
research findings and research-based resources available to practitioners working with adult English
language learners across the nation (http://cal-org.wdi.net/caela/). CAELA replaces the National Center
for ESL Literacy Education (NCLE), which was operated by CAL from 1989 to 2004 and provided
technical assistance to professionals working with adult English language learners. This toolkit was
developed by NCLE staff.
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