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PROJECT REPORTS AND INFORMATIONAL BROCHURES

• Developing Partnerships
“The National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education (NCPIE) is dedicated to the development and strengthening of family/school partnerships. Based on the broad experience of NCPIE members, this site recommends specific ways teachers, parents, administrators, and community leaders can work together to strengthen relationships between schools and parents.”
http://www.ncpie.org/DevelopingPartnerships/

• ERIC Digest Publications
The Challenges of Parent Involvement Research (1998)
http://www.ericfacility.net/ericdigests/ed419030.html
Father Involvement in Schools (1998)
http://www.ericfacility.net/ericdigests/ed419632.html
Online Resources for Parent/Family Involvement (1999)
http://www.ericfacility.net/ericdigests/ed432775.html

• Fathers’ and Mothers’ Involvement in Their Children’s Schools by Family Type and Resident Status (May 2001)
This report uses data from the 1996 National Household Education Survey to address questions about the level of involvement of parents with their children’s schools and the relationship between involvement and student outcomes. Available in pdf.
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2001032

• Family Involvement in Children’s Education: Successful Local Approaches (An Idea Book) (1997)
This Idea Book is offered to stimulate thinking and discussion about how schools can help overcome barriers to family involvement in their children’s education–regardless of family circumstances or student performance. Highlights successful local approaches.
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/FamInvolve/index.html

• Focus on School-Family-Community Partnerships (Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory NWREL)
NWREL maintains several resource pages and publications on school-family-community partnerships and programs.
Building Trust with Schools and Diverse Families (2003) http://www.nwrel.org/request/2003dec/index.html
Parent Partners: Using Parents to Enhance Education (March 1999) http://www.nwrel.org/request/march99/index.html
School Improvement Research Series – Parent Involvement in Education http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/sirs/3/cu6.html
School Community Partnerships http://nwrel.org/comm/topics/scommp.html

• How Can Parent-Teacher Differences Be Prevented or Resolved? (ERIC Parent Brochure)
This brochure examines the cultural context for parent-teacher relationships, suggests some general strategies for creating a climate in which misunderstandings and disagreements between parents and teachers can be minimized through communication, and discusses some general principles for parents and teachers in dealing with misunderstandings or disagreements as they arise.
http://mirror.eschina.bnu.edu.cn/Mirror1/accesseric/www.eric.ed.gov/archives/ptdiff.html

• Making Family and Community Connections Workshop
Sponsored by Disney’s Learning Partnership, this site provides an online video and text workshop for participants to learn ways to create partnerships among schools, parents, and members of the local community.
http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/month9/index.html

• Middle School and High School Teachers as Initiators of Parent Involvement Projects
“What happens when you give secondary school teachers small awards of money and freedom to develop their own ways of involving parents or the community in their work in the school? This article by Don Davies, founder of IRE, provides some useful answers to this question by examining a 2001 evaluation of the Rhode Island Foundation Sizer Fellow program instituted over the last three years. The original evaluation was conducted by a team of Northeastern University and IRE-affiliated researchers.”
http://www.responsiveeducation.org/pdf/RIprojectreport.pdf

• Parent Guides (Archive of ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education Publications)
Guides for parents on a multitude of subjects: understanding vouchers programs, choosing an after school program. Some available in Spanish. Maintained by the Institute for Urban and Minority Education
http://iume.tc.columbia.edu/eric_archive.asp?show=3

• Project Appleseed: Parent Involvement Toolbox
Free tools to help parents organize a parental involvement program at their school.
http://www.projectappleseed.org/npid.html

• PTA National Standards for Parent/Family Involvement Programs
Developed in 1997, the standards are designed to help direct leaders as they move from discussion to action in developing dynamic parent involvement programs that are meaningful, well planned and long lasting.
http://www.pta.org/parentinvolvement/standards/index.asp

• School-Parent-Community Partnerships Resource Book (2001)
>From the Indiana Department of Education, includes research, worksheets and methods for implementing school-parent partnerships for learning.
http://www.doe.state.in.us/publications/pdf_other/SFCPnarrative.pdf

• Templates for Parents (Microsoft)
Includes sample letters (in Microsoft Word) that can be downloaded and edited to assist parents in communicating with their child’s teacher, school, or school board.
http://office.microsoft.com/templates/category.aspx?CategoryID=CT010044421033&CTT=4&Origin=CT062100841033

PORTALS AND RESOURCE SITES

• Especially for Parents (US Department of Education)
This resource guide for parents includes access to publications, research, and school information.
http://www.ed.gov/parents/landing.jhtml

• National Parent Information Network (NPIN) Illinois
NPIN provides links to ERIC digest reports on parent and family involvement.
http://npinil.crc.uiuc.edu/involve.html

• Parent/Family (Education Commission for the States)
A resource list of readings, research and web sites on parent/family involvement in education. Select Parent/Family from the drop-down menu, then click on Go.
http://www.ecs.org/ecsmain.asp?page=/html/issuesK12.asp

• Parent and Family Involvement
Resources provided by the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory.
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/pa0cont.htm

• Parent Involvement (Education Week)
This hot topic provides an overview of parent participation in education and includes links to past articles, related organizations, and web resources.
http://www.edweek.org/context/topics/issuespage.cfm?id=12

• Parents for Public Schools
Parents for Public Schools is a national organization of community-based chapters working in public schools to help them attract all families in a community by making sure all schools effectively serve all children. Their Resources page includes strategies for engaging parents in education, from their perspective.
http://www.parents4publicschools.com/

• Partnership for Learning: Parent Involvement
A non-profit organization that promotes collaborations between school and community to enhance learning. Links to anecdotal and research articles on the subject.
http://www.partnershipforlearning.org/category.asp?CategoryID=23

• Public School Parents Network: Parental Involvement
A portal to resources and links for parents on becoming involved in your community’s public schools.
http://www.psparents.net/ParentalInvolvement.htm

• School, Family & Community Partnerships (Knowledge Loom)
Research and resources that support best practices in developing school, family & community partnerships
http://knowledgeloom.org/sfcp/index.jsp

Online Communities:

• Putting Families First
This weblog is maintained by the grass roots organization “Putting Families First, founded in Wayzata, Minnesota. They believe in “building a community where family life is an honored and celebrated priority.” Their weblog is used to share news and information about families, books and activities.
http://www.puttingfamilyfirst.org/index.html

Organizations:

• National PTA
330 N. Wabash Avenue
Suite 2100
Chicago, IL 60611
Phone: 312-670-6782
Toll-free: 800-307-4PTA (4782)
Fax: 312-670-6783
E-mail: info@pta.org
http://www.pta.org/

• National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education
3929 Old Lee Highway, Suite 91-A
Fairfax, VA 22030-2401
Voice: 703-359-8973
Fax: 703-359-0972
Email: ferguson@ncea.com
http://www.ncpie.org/