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Organizations Promoting Parental Involvement
Many organizations across the country are already involved in promoting parental involvement or just beginning campaigns:
• ARCC/Edvantia, Inc. www.arcc.edvantia.org/page/ParentInvolvementPodcasts/ features a series of 18 videos (called “podcasts”) on parental involvement in the schools. Each video includes a Listener’s Guide and a Transcript. This series addresses several topic areas including school and home climate, communicating and developing relationships with parents, and parents’ growth as leaders and mentors. Although many of these videos are targeted for education leaders, parents—especially parents involved in school improvement—will find them very useful.
• Be There www.bethere.org. is a research-based multimedia campaign designed to encourage parents to become more involved in their children’s education. It inspires parents to make ordinary moments extraordinary by relating to their children during the daily routines of life. Teachable moments are everywhere. It features a ready-to-go campaign that is available to school districts and educational organizations at no cost except printing and duplication of customized materials.
• Education World’s www.education-world.com website is full of ideas that parents and teachers can use to be involved in increasing parents’ participation in education. Don't miss dozens of additional resources on Education World's special Parent Involvement page.
• Great Schools www.greatschools.net has a rich body of resources for educators and parents alike on a broad range of topics related to parenting and education. It also gives public and private school ratings, and reviews.
• Project Appleseed www.projectappleseed.org is a non-profit, national campaign advocating for increasing parental involvement as a critical strategy for improving public schools. Project Appleseed is spearheading a national movement to increase parental involvement and their Web site features a kit schools can use to guide their efforts.
• The National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education (NCPIE) www.ncpie.org NCPIE advocates for the involvement of parents and families in their children's education. NCPIE works to build comprehensive family-school partnerships that foster relationships between home, school, and community.
• The National PTA www.pta.org
is the largest volunteer child advocacy association in the nation. National PTA provides parents and families with tools to help their children be successful— in school and in life. This site provides a wealth of information for parents and teachers. In 2009, the National PTA updated its standards for parental involvement to focus on what parents, schools, and communities can do together to support student success. The PTA’s National Standards for Family-School Partnerships are meant to guide parents and school leaders who are working to improve parent involvement programs.
The U.S. Department of Education has useful information in English and Spanish for parent and teachers.
Videos
“Parent Involvement, Part I” [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEkMidcy960&feature=related] YouTube has a great selections of videos on parental involvement. Here is a good place to start. Links to many others are clearly visible on this site.
“A Checklist for Checking in at School” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDSsrzQs4d8&feature=channel] discusses how to schedule and prepare for a meeting at school and how to prepare for parent-teachers conferences, including a list of questions you might want to ask.
“How To’s of Parent Involvement” [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=si6eS3TZb2k&feature=channel] Volunteering in the classroom is very difficult for working parents. This video features tips for being involved in your children’s education as part of everyday life. Research shows that reading the teachers’ notes each night and helping with your child’s learning and homework is far more important than other kinds of volunteering.
“Parent Involvement” [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7QpjzS61ns&feature=channel] is a short piece that gives concrete suggestions for how to talk with your child about school and the importance of talking with the teachers.
“Parents Make the Difference” [http://www.parenting-ed.org/media.asp] is a 15 minute video by the Center for Effective Parenting Media showing various school-based parental involvement activities.
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