Creating and Sustaining Family Friendly Schools
VI. Resources
Here is a sampling of organizations that work on issues of family and community involvement in the schools:
The Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships, Joyce Epstein's organization, offers many valuable publications relating to partnerships.
Johns Hopkins University
3003 N. Charles Street, Suite 200
Baltimore, MD 21218
Phone: 410-516-8808
Internet site: http://www.csos.jhu.edu/p2000/center.htm
The Parent Institute is a privately run organization that offers resources for parents on a variety of education-related topics.
P.O. Box 7474
Fairfax Station, VA 22039-7474
(800) 756-5525
Internet site:
http://www.parent-institute.com/
The North Central Regional Educational Laboratory offers an impressive range of resources on family and community involvement in the schools, including "Critical Issues" summaries of research on topics including parents centers in schools and establishing collaboratives and partnerships with community based organizations.
1900 Spring Road, Suite 300
Oak Brook, IL 60523-1480
800-356-2735
Internet site:
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/pa0cont.htm
The Southwest Educational Development Laboratory is another regional educational lab which offers a number of resources for building community partnerships supporting education.
211 East 7th Street
Austin, TX 78701-3281
800 476-6861
Internet site:
www.sedl.org/sedl/community.html
The National Parent Information Network provides access to research and resources related to parenting and family involvement in education, including a Resource Guide on organizing a successful family center.
NPIN is a project of the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) system and can be reached via email at
npin@uiuc.edu.
Internet site: http://npin.org/
The Center for School Change, at the University of Minnesota, works with educators and other concerned people in Minnesota and throughout the country to promote positive change in the schools. The Center houses the New Twin Cities Charter School project, and their research includes a number of studies on charter schools.
Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota
301 19th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455
(612) 626-8910
Internet site:
http://www.hhh.umn.edu/centers/school-change/
The National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education is a collaborative organization which advocates for the involvement of parents and families in their children's education.
3929 Old Lee Highway, Suite 91-A
Fairfax, VA 22030-2401
703-359-8973
Internet site: http://www.ncpie.org/
The School Development Program, James Comer's project, is a well-known model that seeks to mobilize all available resources, including families, to support student learning.
55 College Street
New Haven, CT 06510
203/ 737-1020
Internet site:
http://info.med.yale.edu/comer/
The CHARTERSCHOOLS Listserv/Email Discussion Group, is an active forum for discussion of charter school issues including parent involvement. Participants include practitioners, researchers and other interested parties from across the country. Archives of past discussions are available at the listserv's website (a June 7, 2000, search for "parent involvement" yielded 148 postings, dating from the past four years, from the listserv archives).
Federal Twenty-First Century Community Learning Centers program. This program exists to provide grants for schools to establish partnerships with other entities (e.g. human services providers, higher education, businesses, healthcare providers) in order to establish centers providing a variety of services in schools, operating extended hours. Another round can be expected in early 2001 pending Congressional approval, which seems likely as this project has enjoyed broad bipartisan support. Grants of this sort can provide substantial resources, but be aware that the application process is long and involved, and competition is strong. The program website has material that may be of interest, such as a database with information on grantees.
Email 21stCCLC@ed.gov
Internet site:
http://www.ed.gov/21stcclc/.
Here is a sampling of publications that may be useful in planning and implementing school/family/community partnerships.
A New Generation of Evidence: The Family is Critical to Student Achievement, Anne T. Henderson and Nancy Berla, editors. Washington, DC: Center for Law and Education, 1995.
Since 1981, when they published The Evidence Grows, Henderson and Berla have been at the forefront of research on the importance of family involvement for student achievement. This report is the third in their Evidence series. These reports are based on surveys of dozens of studies, reviews, reports, analyses and books on family involvement initiatives in schools across the country. A New Generation begins with a powerful summary of what the research shows about the efficacy of family involvement, then goes on to summarize each of the programs reviewed.
Reaching All Families: Creating Family-Friendly Schools, U.S. Department of Education. Washington: ED, 1996.
Designed for school administrators & teachers in their efforts to involve parents & families as more active participants in their children's education. Goes through steps school people can take, e.g. preparing handbooks, carrying out home visits, how to do conferences, "positive phone calls," and parent workshops. Suggested strategies are appropriate for all students, including students with special needs. Available on the Internet at http://www.ed.gov/pubs/ReachFam/ - or may be ordered from the U.S. Department of Education 1-877-433-7827 or http://www.ed.gov/pubs/edpubs.html.
Strong Families, Strong Schools: Building Community Partnerships for Learning, U.S. Department of Education. Washington: ED, 1994.
Explains why family involvement is so important to learning. It summarizes recent research & offers practical tips to parents, schools, businesses, and community groups about how to connect
families to the learning process. Discusses roles of families, schools, communities, businesses, states, and the federal government in promoting family involvement with children's learning. Online version has pointers to material on specific issues, e.g. scheduling a daily homework time, communicating positive behaviors, values, and character traits, making learning relevant to children, and reducing cultural and language barriers.
Available on the Internet or may be ordered from the U.S. Department of Education.
Team Up for Kids! How Schools Can Support Family Involvement in Education, U.S. Department of Education. Washington: ED, 1998.
Outlines strategies for schools to use to promote family involvement in education. Offers suggestions on how to: learn to communicate better; encourage parental participation in school
improvement efforts; involve parents in decision making; make parents feel welcome; & use technology to link parents to the classroom. Partnership for Family Involvement in Education Internet site includes many other resources for family involvement.
Available on the Internet, at http://www.ed.gov/pubs/PFIE/schools.html, or may be ordered from the U.S. Department of Education.
Building Successful Partnerships: A Guide for Developing Parent and Family Involvement Programs, National PTA. Bloomington, Indiana: National Educational Service, 2000.
The National PTA's take on what is necessary for schools to implement parent involvement. Follows Epstein's six types of involvement (this framework is the basis for the PTA's National Standards for Parent/Family Involvement). Much common-sense advice on how to promote parent involvement, and examples of successful programs.
Organizing a Successful Family Center in Your School: A Resource Guide, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Madison, Wisconsin: DPI Division for Libraries and Community Learning, 1996. Discusses the benefits that can result from having a family center in a school, and provides advice on establishing a family center. Available from the Wisconsin DPI (800 441-4563) or from the National Parent Involvement Network Internet site.
Tool Kit for School-Family-Community Partnerships, Washington State School Directors' Association. Olympia, Washington: WSSDA, 1999.
Thick 3-ring binder with a wide range of practical resources for teachers, administrators and other school personnel to use in building partnerships. Follows Epstein's framework of the six types of involvement. Huge number of resources, many of which are excellent, well-organized by topics and sub-topics. Local schools are allowed to reprint its materials for their own use. Totals almost 500 pages. Available for $79 from the WSSDA (phone 360 493-9237; http://www.wssda.org).
Urgent Message: Families Crucial to School Reform, Anne C. Lewis and Anne T. Henderson. Washington, DC: Center for Law and Education, 1997.
Discusses parent and family involvement as a crucial component of school reform efforts. Includes many examples of successful parent involvement initiatives.
School and Family Partnerships: Surveys and Summaries, Joyce L. Epstein and Karen Clark Salinas. Johns Hopkins University: Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships, 1993.
Includes highly detailed surveys for teachers, to assess levels of parent involvement and teachers' beliefs about parent involvement in general and at their school; and surveys that ask similar things of parents. The surveys themselves are followed by a section on how to summarize the data they generate, including interpreting the data and sharing the results with the respondents. There are survey packets for both elementary/middle school and for the high school level. Available for $8 from the Center on School, Family and Community Partnerships (410 516-8808 or on the Internet at http://www.csos.jhu.edu/p2000/ivory.htm).