Family literacy is commonly examined in larger discussions of literacy and language and in relationship to PreK through 12 schooling, adult learning, or child-parent learning in home and school settings. As a formal area of inquiry in language and literacy research, family literacy has a relatively short history. Definitions of family literacy vary. A common definition used in the United States and the United Kingdom describes family literacy as encompassing a wide variety of programs that promote parents and children in literacy-enhancing practices and activities. This definition is often accompanied by a more purposeful and controversial goal, described later in this entry: to improve the literacy of “educationally disadvantaged parents and children,” based on the assumption that parents are their child's first and most influential ...