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February 2007 Dear Subscribers,
In honor of National Parent Leadership Month, this e-news edition is dedicated to parents and families for their vital leadership in schools and communities. This special month has been declared by Parents Anonymous, Inc. to recognize parent leadership and advocacy as an essential and effective means of ensuring community well-being. This month’s featured articles provide information on models and websites that advance local and national efforts in actively engaging families in school communities. The Resource section provides links to materials that emphasize the critical role parents and families play in developing effective policies and programs, in addition to being the primary influence in their children’s education. Several publications and presentations related to parent and family leadership can be found on the NCSE website under Research and Publication. Examples include:
I would like to extend a special thanks to the many parents and students who have contributed to NCSE. They have given generously by sharing their perspectives and ideas about what families, educators and community leaders can do to create environments that lead to school completion. Sincerely, Judith Martinez, NCSE Director P.S. Check out Hot Topics - NCSE announces a contest to promote school engagement. Return to the Index of this Issue
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High Quality Websites Related to Parent and Family Leadership Prepared by The Families and Children
This article offers a review of three websites that have been identified as useful by stakeholders in parent/family advocacy and leadership.
1. National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education 2. Promising Practices Network
1) National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education NCPIE is dedicated to developing effective family/school partnerships throughout the The website has a site map that links to these resources:
2) Promising Practices Network (PPN) This website provides “high-quality evidence-based information about what works to improve outcomes for children, families and communities.” PPN’s target audience is policymakers, service providers and other decision-makers who care about improving outcomes for children and families. The major content areas are Programs that Work, Research in Brief, Service Delivery and Partner Pages. The PPN site presents information in easy-to-understand summaries, but it also includes links to longer, more detailed reports. All information on the site has passed a screening test ensuring that it is scientifically valid and reliable and is perceived as objective. The Education Trust’s website offers links to a regular “reform news” newsletter, links to related organizations and links to free Guides for Latino and African-American parents. The Guide for Latino parents is offered in both English and Spanish. The Education Trust also provides the following:
Logan Square Neighborhood Association: A Nationally-Recognized Parent and Family Leadership Model Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA),
LSNA's collaboration with local schools began in the early 1990s when LSNA’s Education Committee spearheaded a community effort to end school overcrowding. LSNA played a crucial role in bringing together schools from across the neighborhood to address this common problem. Local School Councils and principals signed on to this campaign, joining the LSNA Education Committee, and schools became members of LSNA. Over several years, the campaign resulted in five new annexes and two new middle schools. This successful campaign both demonstrated LSNA's power as a community organization and built a foundation of mutual trust and respect among the principals, teachers, parent leaders and LSNA staff who had been involved in the campaign and witnessed the results.
From this groundwork has emerged a multitude of programs establishing families as crucial contributors to the life and success of public schools. The following list outlines some of the programs that have been developed:
· Parent
· Parent Tutor Program—LSNA’s newest parent initiative, a federally funded Americorps pilot program, places experienced Parent Mentors in six grade schools to tutor children intensively in reading. In 2005-06, 20 Parent Tutors worked one-on-one with more than 190 students in K-8th grades.
· Community Learning Centers (CLCs) - Starting in 1996, CLCs have been established in
· Student Attendance—Through LSNA, six parents have been working passionately with the attendance office at
· Nueva Generación (Next Generation) Teacher Training Program: A successful collaboration with
Information for this article was taken from the LSNA Website
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ANNOUNCING NCSE CONTEST – “21 Ways to Engage Students in School”
Over the past month NCSE has received many emails and phone calls asking about strategies to address chronic truancy. Frequently these inquiries focus on sanctions such as restricting driver’s licenses of truants and using electronic monitoring as an alternative to detention. While these strategies can be effective in calling attention to the importance of school attendance, there is little evidence that they lead to school success. What does lead to school success and helps to prevent truancy is school engagement. To create a greater awareness of school engagement strategies, NCSE has elected to host a contest titled, “21 Ways to Engage Students in School.” The goal is to identify a list of successful strategies that can be shared with families, schools and communities. Contest details will be announced in the March edition of NCSE-News!
A proven, school engagement strategy is to foster family involvement. The
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Kinder Morgan Foundation Federal Grant Writing Tip In order to improve the statistical reporting of federal grants and cooperative agreements, the Office of Management and Budget has directed federal agencies to require all applicants to provide a Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number when applying for Federal grants or cooperative agreements. The DUNS number will be required whether an applicant is submitting a paper or an electronic application, and whether an applicant is applying for a new award or renewal of a current award. Therefore, we encourage all grantees and potential applicants to obtain a DUNS number. Further information can be found in the Federal Register. The goal of GrantsAlert.com is to make life a little easier for those who devote their time to searching for education grants and identifying new funding opportunities for their organizations, schools, districts, consortia and state education agencies. The mission of this dell program is to partner with school districts, corporations and the community to enable low-income or underserved middle school students an opportunity to earn a home computer and learn technology skills that promote self-esteem, academic success and prepare students for opportunities in today’s technology-driven world.
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National Parent Leadership Month Tool Kit FINE is a national network of people who are interested in promoting strong partnerships between children's educators, their families and their communities. FINE's membership is composed of faculty in higher education, school professionals, directors and trainers of community-based and national organizations, parent leaders and graduate students. Free membership. FINE offers: Monthly announcements of current ideas and new resources Resources – research, evaluation, and training tools E-newsletter (FINE Forum) – program models and perspectives on family involvement Member insights – opinions about topics of interest
Newly released Tool Kit for Creating Your Own Sponsored by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and prepared by the Provides an overview of truancy issues, its causes, and solutions to the problem. This toolkit outlines critical components of truancy programs such as family involvement, use of incentives and sanctions, developing a support network, and program evaluation. The toolkit examines the legal and economic implications of truancy and provides recommendations to courts, schools, State lawmakers and researchers for addressing this issue. Chapter One: Overview of
NCJRS services and resources are available to anyone interested in crime, victim assistance and public safety including policymakers, practitioners, researchers, educators, community leaders and the general public. Publication and products are available online and can be ordered, including copies of the recent video conference - Addressing the Needs of Juvenile Status Offenders and Their Families.
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Save the Date: International Association for
16th Annual National Conference on Family Literacy Achieving the American Dream Through Literacy 14th Annual Family Support Conference Everybody Ready = School Success Ready Families, Ready Schools Ready Services Westin William Penn Convention Center Hotel
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