Parent Participation

Parental involvement in the education of their K-12 students.

Resources in this category:

FAPE
http://www.fape.org/

"The Families and Advocates Partnership for Education (FAPE) project is a strong partnership that aims to improve the educational outcomes for children with disabilities. It links families, advocates, and self-advocates to communicate the new focus of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The project represents the needs of 6 million children with disabilities."

Getting Involved in Your Child’s Education
http://www.nea.org/parents/index.html

This page from the website of the National Education Association (NEA) offers parents advice on getting involved in their child’s education. Popular guides for parents cover the following topics: understanding testing, helping your child with reading, math, and science and getting involved in your child’s school. Other resources include tips for making the most of parent-teacher conferences and research on the connections between parental involvement and student achievement.

Homeschooling
http://www.ipl.org/div/pf/entry/79907

This IPL pathfinder will get you started learning more about homeschooling, the education of children at home, typically by parents, and sometimes with the help of private tutors. Anyone interested in starting to homeschool their children, or simply learning more about it, should give it a look.

National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education (NCPIE)
http://www.ncpie.org/

NCPIE advocates for the involvement of parents and families in their children's education, and fosters relationships between home, school, and community to enhance the education of young people in the U.S. "NCPIE was founded in 1980, at the initiative of what was then the National School Volunteer Program (now National Association for Partners in Education), with funding from the Ford Foundation and Union Carbide. From the outset, the participating organizations included parent organizations and advocacy groups as well as national education organizations representing teachers and administrators. The group has been meeting monthly ever since to monitor legislation, initiate projects, and share information and ideas about research, programs, and policies."

National Network of Partnership Schools
http://www.csos.jhu.edu/p2000/

Established by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, the NNPS provide partnership program information to help educators and parents develop productive school-family-community involvement.

Parent Involvement in Education – Connect for Kids
http://www.connectforkids.org/taxonomy/term/328

"Learn how schools, businesses and community members can play a role in helping parents ensure their children's success in school." Resources on the site address how parents can help their children develop as learners, work on their homework, and prepare for going back to school. Other information focuses on how parents can get involved in the classroom and improve the school system.

Parent Involvement – PTA
http://www.pta.org/parent_resources.html

Site provides tips for parents on opportunities to get involved in their children’s education. The site is organized into the following sections: Help Your Child Succeed (for example, setting expectations), Parent Talk (for example, 100 Ways for Parents to Become involved in Their Child’s Education guide), Health & Safety (School Safety and Security Toolkit), Drugs & Alcohol (expert advice on discussing drugs), and Family Fun (activities). Access is available to Spanish resources.

Parents - ED.gov
http://www.ed.gov/parents/landing.jhtml?src=fp

A wealth of information for parents from the U.S. Department of Education. Includes tips for parents and questions for parents to ask about schools.

Parents Action for Children
http://www.parentsaction.org/

Parents Action for Children, "is a national non-profit dedicated to advancing the interests of families and young children. Parents' Action develops parent education materials, connects parents with one another, and fights for issues such as early education, health care, and high quality and affordable child care." The site is divided into four areas: Learn, Share, Act, and Videos.

Partnership for Learning
http://www.partnershipforlearning.org/default.asp

Partnership for Learning "helps schools and communities work together to boost learning from birth through the transition to college. The Partnership publishes reports, conducts trainings, and coordinates programs as a non-position-taking collaborative resource." Site provides access to these reports and guides of particular value to parents of elementary-age students, such as "When Good Kids Get Bad Grades", "4 Steps to Finding the Right Tutor", "Breaking Barriers Without Breaking the Bank", and "Does My Child Have a Learning Disability".

Pathways to School Improvement
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/

Pathways synthesizes research, policy, and best practices on issues critical to educators engaged in school improvement, such as assessment, at-risk students, family & community, instruction, leadership, literacy, mathematics & science, policy, professional development, and technology in education, as well as access to archived favorites.

Project Appleseed
http://www.projectappleseed.org/

Project Appleseed is devoted to getting parents involved and volunteering in order to improve their public schools. This site has a parental involvement pledge for parents to formalize their commitment to working with their child's school.

PTO Today
http://www.ptotoday.com/index.php

PTO Today is a resource for parent-teacher organizations. This site includes ideas on how to improve your group, fundraising, and increase involvement in your school. Also has useful peer-to-peer message boards.