Better Education Is Everybody’s Business!

1. Better Education Is Everybody’s Business! The Partnership for Family Involvement in Education: A nationwide effort to increase family involvementat home and at school and to Promote children’s learning and achievement

2. It’s a fact! Family involvement contributes to children’sacademic success • Thirty years of research show that greater family involvement in children’s learning is a critical link to achieving a high-quality education. • Schools with high family involvement benefit from greater parent satisfaction with the school, and have improved teacher morale and more community support. (Henderson and Berla, 1994) • Positive attitudes of families and teachers toward learning are consistently related to children’s academic success. (Henderson and Berla, 1994)

3. Recent research again shows: • High involvement by families can make a positive difference for children’s learning across grades K-12. • “High involvement” in this study means both parents have done three or all of these activities in a school year: attend a general school meeting, attend a regularly scheduled parent-teacher conference, attend a school or class event, and serve as a volunteer at school. (National Center for Education Statistics, 1997)

4. According to teachers: • “The single most important thing public schools need to help students learn” is involved parents. (Public Agenda, 1996)

5. According to parents: • The school treats them as important partners in children’s learning(89 percent said this). • They want to learn more about how to become involved in their children’s learning (77 percent said this). • They want to be more involved at their child’s school. (72 percent said this). (GTE, 1997)

6. Who is responsible for maximizing children’s learning? • Responsibility should be shared by educators and families with support from the larger community, community and nonprofit organizations, business, faith communities and government. (Henderson and Berla, 1994 as cited in New Skills for New Schools, 1997)

7. Barriers to family involvementin education • Lack of time • Not knowing what to do • Differences in language and culture • Unsafe neighborhoods • Schools lacking a family-friendly environment • Schools not organized to work with families

8. Solutions to barriers to family involvement in education • Overcome time and resource constraints • Provide information and training to parents and school staff • Restructure schools to support family involvement • Bridge school-family differences • Tap external support for partnerships from the local community, nonprofit organizations, businesses, government and faith communities

9. Who we are • We are thousands of partners joined together in a growing grassroots movement to support student learning according to high standards. We come from families, schools, and a variety of businesses, communities, and religions, and are organized into four groups: Family-School Partners, Employers for Learning, Community Organizations and Religious Groups.

10. How we are organized • The Partnership for Family Involvement in Education is organized into four groups: • Family-School Partners • Employers for Learning • Community Organizations • Religious Groups

11. These partners have pledged to: • Increase opportunities for families to be more involved in their children’s education at home and at school • Promote children’s learning and achievement

12. What the Partnership for Family Involvement does We address issues, provide information, expand professional development, and offer opportunities for sharing and networking through: • Convened meetings • Materials (guides, kits, reports, CDs and videos) • Hosted teleconferences • A monthly newsletter (Community Update) • Directed research • A Web site • Extended technical assistance

13. The benefits of joining the Partnership • Share and exchange good ideas and exemplary practices with partner leaders • Access the latest information and research about family involvement in education • Help families help their children succeed in school • Work with other partners to develop a common vision to improve efforts to help children learn and generate enthusiasm for learning • Promote effective ongoing two-way communication between home and school • Receive recognition for your commitment to education • Promote the arts, a second language and technology as integral to learning

14. How we achieve our goals • We come together as a team. A team could include representatives from a school community—families, teachers, principals, students and concerned community leaders—who agree to share responsibilityfor student learning. • We identify and commit to shared responsibilities. • We evaluate the results of the partnership. • We strengthen, improve and expand your partnership.

15. Community Centers Community Organizations Local, State and National Government Agencies Faith Communities Youth Groups Partners and partner groupswork with: • Schools • School Districts • Classrooms • Students • Teachers and Administrators • Families

16. What partners doin the Partnership • Participate as volunteers, tutors, and mentors • Make work and community sites available as learning sites for students, teachers and families • Promote improvement of schools and teaching in order to reach high standards • Elevate excellence throughout the teaching profession • Support leadership, training and support for principals • Adopt family- and student-friendly business practices • Provide before- and after-school learning activities for children in safe, drug-free environments

17. What partners doin the Partnership (cont.) • Make effective use of facilities (for example, schools, community buildings and churches) for children’s and families’ learning • Give families increased access to resources, training and information to help children learn • Provide educators with a broad range of tools to better engage families in children’s learning • Wire and connect schools, students, teachers, community centers and families to the Internet • Prepare future and experienced teachers as well as students and families to maximize the use of technology for instruction

18. After-School Sponsor after-schoolprograms andpartnerships Technology Wire school classrooms forthe Internet and trainteachers to use technology Distribute informationon local after-schoolprograms Donatecomputers FamilyInvolvement Provide regular releasetime for employees to attendparent-teacher conferencesand other school events Give out informationfor parents to helpchildren with homework The spectrum of partner involvement in education: College-Going Establish mentoringprograms for students toprepare them for college Mathematics Train teachers inreal-world applicationsof mathematics Provide financialaid informationto parents Provide information toparents on math classeschildren should take Reading Establish literacy as acommunity priority throughintegrated tutoring programs Partners Donate Books Low Involvement High Involvement

19. PFIE goal: Increase opportunitiesfor families to be more involved intheir children’s education • Give families the resources, training and information they need to help children learn • Strengthen family-school partnerships: Extend ongoing two-way communication and information sharing, and work together for children’s learning

20. PFIE goal: Promote children’s learning and achievement • Help children read well and independently by third grade • Support learning right from the beginning of the school year…and beyond • Turn around student achievement in mathematics and science • Keep kids safe and smart before, during and after school • Give teachers and principals the tools they need to engage families and their support for learning

21. “How-To” resources available from the Partnership for Family Involvement • For All Partnership Members: • The Compact for Reading Guide(available online at pfie.ed.gov) • A Compact for Learning: An Action Handbook for Family-School-Community Partnerships • Especially for Family-School Partners: • Working for Children and Families: Safe & Smart II–After-School Programs • Preparing for Learning: Preparing Teachers to Involve Families (CD-ROM) • Especially for Community Organizations: • Investing in Partnerships for Student Success: A Basic Tool for Community Stakeholders to Guide Educational Partnership Development and Management

22. “How-To” resources availablefrom the Partnership for Family Involvement (cont.) • Especially for Employers: • The Corporate Imperative: A Business Guide for Implementing Strategic Education Partnerships • A Business Guide to Support Employee and Family Involvement in Education • Using Technology to Strengthen Employee and Family Involvement in Education • Especially for Religious Groups: • Faith Communities Joining with Local Communities to Support Children’s Learning: Good Ideas

23. How to access resources fromThe Department of Education • 1-800-USA-LEARN • 1-877-4ED-PUBS • www.ed.gov • pfie.ed.gov