Study Site for Home, School and Community Collaboration
Culturally Responsive Family Involvement
Kathy Grant and Julie A. Ray


Chapter Resources

Note: Click on each link to expand and view the content then click again to collapse.

Chapter 1: Family Involvement and the Beginning Educator

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Building Parent-Teacher Partnerships maintained by National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
http://www.naeyc.org/ece/1999/02.asp
Excellent strategies to increase family involvement through links to family-based documents and resources

Family and Community maintained by North Central Regional Education Laboratory http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/pa0cont.htm
Excellent source for strategies, advice and support for improving family involvement in the classroom; site also provides additional resources, through links, for subject integration, educational software, and links for parents

Family Involvement in Children’s Education: Successful Local Approaches maintained by US Department of Education
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/FamInvolve/index.html
Excellent strategies to increase family involvement and detailed examples of successful schools that have undergone extensive transformations to form partnerships with families are highlighted; site also has contact information for both resource centers and regional assistance centers.

A Framework for Family Involvement maintained by the National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education (NCPIE)
http://www.ncpie.org/DevelopingPartnerships/
Excellent strategies to increase family involvement; these strategies maybe used by the individual teacher, school-wide and/or community wide

Child Trends.org
http://www.childtrends.org/
Social science research for those who serve children and youth, this website includes a current databank on the family and community, school and community, and peer relations.

Family Involvement and Beyond: School-Based Child and Family Support Programs maintained by Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory
http://www.nwrel.org/cfc/publications/familyinvolvement.html
Check out the on-line book (downloadable), “Family Involvement and Beyond.” The book offers strategies and real-life examples to improve family involvement. Pages 39-43 focus on strategies and pages 99-106 are printable handouts focusing on strategies and self-assessments.

Family Involvement Network of Educators, Harvard Family Research Project sponsored by the Harvard Graduate School of Education
http://www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/projects/
The Family Involvement Network of Educators (FINE) is a national network promoting strong partnerships between children's educators, their families, and their communities.

United States Census Bureau
http://www.census.gov/
Pay attention to the “Census in Schools” page that can provide a wealth of valuable information on demographics affecting students and their families.

 

Chapter 2: Theories and Models for Family Involvement in Schools

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The Comer School Development Program affiliated with the Yale Child Study Center
http://info.med.yale.edu/comer/
Site includes the components of the School Development Program, in which family input into school decision making is key. Check out the publications page for recent articles and texts written by Comer and others.

The Connection Collection maintained by Southwest Educational Developmental Laboratory
http://www.sedl.org/connections/resources/bibsearch.html
Excellent school-family-community publications database from the National Center for Family and Community Connections with Schools

National Network of Partnership Schools (Epstein)
http://www.csos.jhu.edu/p2000/
Site for schools, districts, and states using Epstein’s Family School Partnership Framework; Check out the Promising Partnership Practices for ideas of successful activities done in partnership schools, organized by the six “keys” of Epstein’s model  

RMC Research Corporation, a regional educational laboratory
http://www.rmcportsmouth.com/ParentandFamilyInvolvement
Collaborating with the National Institute for Literacy, RMC has developed free family-friendly parent guides (also in Spanish) to address issues such as kindergarten reading, dads as reading coaches, and ideas from research to encourage children to become readers.

Academic Development Institute
http://www.adi.org/
ADI publishes the School Community Journal, an excellent resource for peer reviewed articles written by experts in the field of family involvement. Articles can be accessed online (1993-current issue) as a ready source for increasing a family informational knowledge base.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center maintained by the Institute of Education Sciences
http://www.eric.ed.gov/
ERIC provides free access to 1.2 million articles on educational topics. Check out publications from regional educational laboratories which are highlighted on the site.

 

Chapter 3: Family Support Strategies and Standards Promoting Collaborative Practices

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Center for Child Protection and Family Support, non-profit organization http://www.centerchildprotection.org/
Center for Child Protection and Family Support’s mission is to ensure that children are given the opportunity to mature and develop within a family free of maltreatment. Check out their programs and services that incorporate culture and diversity.

Families & Schools Together (FAST)
http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/fast
Families & Schools Together is a multifamily group intervention designed to build protective factors for children and empower parents to be the primary prevention agents for their own children and is an outreach and multi-family group strategy for building protective factors around children and their families. 

National Black Child Development Institute 
http://www.nbcdi.org/
NBCDI’ s mission focuses on improving the lives of children, including child welfare services, early care and education , and building family support services. Check out the PEP program- the Parent Empowerment Project “is a unique program that seeks to educate, motivate and inspire parents to excellence as their child’s first teacher.” (NBCDI, n.p., 2007)

Parents Helping Parents
http://php.com/
Support organization whose mission is to build strong families through support and information on childhood or adult disabilities, including assess to mentor parent matching, bilingual specialist phone services, and Family Resources Specialists on call within 48 hours.

Casey Family Programs, Established by United Parcel Service founder Jim Casey
http://www.casey.org/Home
The Seattle-based national operating foundation Casey Family Programs’ mission is to provide and improve—and ultimately to prevent the need for—foster care.

National Association of State Boards of Education
http://www.nasbe.org/
There public policy section outlines a commitment to increasing family involvement in schools.  Their Public Education Position on diversity endorses a culturally competent education system as well as fostering family and community involvement in school.

National Staff Development Council
http://www.nsdc.org/standards/family.cfm
The NSDC family involvement standards promote staff development that improves the learning of all students by providing educators with knowledge and skills to involve families and other stakeholders.

Portland Research and Training Center, affiliated with Portland State University
http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/
Their research is focused on increasing knowledge of supports, services, and policies that build on family strengths, are community based, family driven, and youth guided to promote cultural competence. Downloads are available in PDF format.

 

Chapter 4: Parenting Today’s Children

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Family Education Network 
http://www.familyeducation.com/home/
Launched in 1996 as the first parenting site on the Web, Family Education has become the Internet's most-visited site for parents who are involved, committed, and responsive to their families' needs.

Home and School Institute, non-profit
http://www.megaskillshsi.org/academics.html# 
Based on the work of Dr. Dorothy Rich and her MegaSkills program, which provide home learning “recipes” for families, this site includes many useful short articles. Refer to web page on New Teacher Megaskills and free teacher activities.

Parents Action for Children
http://store.parentsactionstore.org/prostores/servlet/StoreFront
Website developed by Rob Reiner and his wife to help raise public awareness about the critical importance the prenatal period through the first early years plays in a child’s healthy brain development. Check out the I Am Your Child video series which address the mental health needs of children in their care. Reasonably priced booklets and books on many parenting topics round out the site.

Zero to Three
http://www.zerotothree.org
Non-profit site dedicated to informing, educating and supporting adults who influence the lives of infants and toddlers. Their Parent Resources page contains “science-based” information and tools designed to nurture young children’s development.

KidSource
http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/pages/Education.html
The recipient of numerous awards, this website primarily focuses on health and education related issues. Check out their articles on current education issues including gifted educational opportunities. 

The Parent Institute
http://www.parent-institute.com/educator/
The Parent Institute encourages parent involvement in the education of their children. The Parent Institute publishes a variety of materials including newsletters, booklets, audio CDs, brochures, videos and presentation kits; some are free, other low cost.

Surfing the Net with Kids
http://www.surfnetkids.com/
Syndicated columnist Barbara Feldman provides hundreds of educational resources for families and teachers including website reviews, a directory of kid’s games, and a calendar for surfing dates of famous events and birthdays.
 
BBC Parenting
http://www.bbc.co.uk/parenting/
This site includes parenting videos, newsletters, family matters, learning suggestions, as well as many other topics of interest to UK as well as US parents.

 

Chapter 5: Structurally Diverse Families

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The Family and Work Institute
http://www.familiesandwork.org/
A non- profit research organization studying the changing family and community. Check out their reports available for download that provide important information on the influence of work on the family.

Family Involvement and Beyond: School-Based Child and Family Support Programs maintained by Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory
http://www.nwrel.org/cfc/publications/familyinvolvement.html
Check out the on-line book (down loadable), “Family Involvement and Beyond.” The book offers strategies and real-life examples to improve family involvement. Pages 39-43 focus on strategies and pages 99-106 are printable handouts focusing on strategies and self-assessments.

Family Involvement Network of Educators, Harvard Family Research Project sponsored by the Harvard Graduate School of Education
http://www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/projects/
The Family Involvement Network of Educators (FINE) is a national network promoting strong partnerships between children's educators, their families, and their communities.

The Parent Institute
http://www.parent-institute.com/educator/
The Parent Institute encourages parent involvement in the education of their children and publishes a variety of materials including newsletters, booklets, audio CDs, brochures, videos and presentation kits; some are free other low cost

The Fathers Network
http://www.fathersnetwork.org/682.html
The Fathers Network is funded by the Office of Children with Special Health Care Needs/Washington State Department of Health, and advocates and provides resources and support to all men who have children with special needs.

Free Spirit Publishing
http://www.freespirit.com/parents/downloads.cfm
Downloads for parents and teachers on topics such as “Freeing Our Family from Perfections,” “The Power of Positive Talk,” and “Our Family Meeting Book.”

The Public Agenda
http://www.publicagenda.org/publicengagement/choicework-discussion-starters
Check out their Public Agenda Citizen Choicework Guide found under “Parental Involvement” for a video and article on community conversations, classrooms, study groups, and individuals.

National Childcare Information Center
http://www.nccic.org/index.html
The National Child Care Information and Technical Assistance Center (NCCIC), is a national clearinghouse and technical assistance center that provides comprehensive child care information resources and technical assistance services to Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Administrators and other key stakeholders.

 

Chapter 6: Culturally Diverse Families

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Bridging Cultures between Home and School Institute (maintained by WestEd)
http://www.wested.org/cs/we/view/serv/94
WestEd, a regional educational laboratory, offers a one day institute for school districts to help design and implement programs to meet the needs of underserved cultural, linguistic, and racial groups with the goal to improve educational outcomes for these groups.

Children’s Defense Fund
http://www.childrensdefense.org
This site includes information on family income research and policies affecting families including food insecurity, poverty statistics for states and cities, and minimum wage increases

Colorin Colorado
 http://www.colorincolorado.org/
Colorín Colorado is a free web-based, bilingual service that provides information, activities, and advice for educators and Spanish-speaking families of English language learners. Reading Rockets sponsors the site.

Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
http://www.religioustolerance.org
A site developed initially to combat religious intolerance by featuring information on all world religions. Parents could utilize this site to discuss diversity of religious belief with their children.

Academy for Educational Development
http://www.aed.org/About/index.cfm
AED, a non-profit, is committed to making a positive difference in people’s lives in the areas of health, education, and economic opportunities. Check out their page on centers of excellence.

Children Now
http://www.childrennow.org/
National organization focusing on health, education, and media influences on children. It especially focuses on issues affecting California in particular, including border children, bilingual families, poverty, and lack of health insurance coverage.

Rethinking Schools Online
Resources on Family Diversity 
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/19_03/fam193.shtml
Several books, All Families Are Different and All Families Are Special, a project entitled “Families All Matter Book Project,” and a film “That's a Family: A Film for Kids About Family Diversity” are highlighted on this web page from Rethinking Schools.

Strength for Caring
http://www.strengthforcaring.com/articles/0/diversity-in-caregiving-websites/
Website sponsored by Johnson and Johnson Consumer Products Company highlights various diversity in caregiving websites. These include resources available online that discuss diversity in caregiving for Asian, African American, Chinese, Filipino, Hispanic, Japanese, Jewish and Thai families and communities.

 

Chapter 7: Students of Families in Transition

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Center for Law and Social Policy
http://www.clasp.org/
CLASP works to encourage policies and programs that support ex-offender parents in making a fresh start with their families and the labor market. PowerPoint presentations on prisoner re-entry, child support, welfare reform and women with drug convictions are available on this website.

The Florida Partnership for Family Involvement in Education:
http://www.floridapartnership.usf.edu/links.html
This Florida Partnership for Family Involvement in Education is hosted by the University of South Florida and this website has some especially good links covering a broad spectrum of Fatherhood-related issues as well as descriptions of successful projects from USF such as the Family as Faculty program and Teachers as Faculty.

Military Student.Org
http://www.militarystudent.dod.mil/
The Department of Defense has set up a website with parent and school assess to  transition toolkits, Sesame Street Talk, Listen, and Connect Kit and also a compendium of promising practices in making school transitions less traumatic for students.

The Military Child Initiative (The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins Center on School, Family and Community Partnerships) http://militaryk12partners.dodea.edu

Institute for Children and Poverty
http://www.icpny.org/index.asp?CID=1&PID=103
The Institute for Children and Poverty is a nonprofit research and development organization focusing on action-oriented research designed not just to study the complex issue of family homelessness, but also to provide data and ideas that will inform and enhance public policy serving homeless families. Check out their selection of posters and children’s literature focusing on homelessness in America.  

Child Welfare League of America
http://www.cwla.org/
Under this extensive website they offer adoption and foster care training and conferences, as well as free downloads on topics such as family preservation, kinship care, residential group care, and sexual orientation, among many other topics available.

National Partnership for Women and Families
http://www.nationalpartnership.org
For 30 years this organization fought for many of the rights involving children and families including civil rights, family and medical leave, and affirmative action. Their extensive library in PDF format contains documents on issues such as genetic discrimination, the uninsured and underinsured, and workplace flexibility.

National Center for Children in Poverty, affiliated with Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health
http://www.nccp.org/
Fifty state policy wizards help create tables based on 15 dimensions including Head Start, TANF, housing vouchers, food stamp utilization, and minimum wage standards.

Chapter 8: Families Overcoming Obstacles

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American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
www.aap.org
The mission of AAP is to attain optimal physical, mental, and social health and well-being for all infants, children, adolescents, and young adults.  The AAP has compiled resources to assist in these efforts, including a resource guide to help children cope with natural and other disasters at www.aap.org/new/disasterresources.htm.

Healthfinder.gov and Healthfinder.gov kids
http://www.healthfinder.gov/kids/
An award winning federal website can guide families to the best government and nonprofit health and human services on the internet. Teachers can download free reproducible health brochures in multiple languages. 

National Coalition for the Homeless
http://www.nationalhomeless.org/
NCH is a national organization of individuals committed to ending homelessness and changing the attitudes that prevail about homeless families. Check out research-based fact sheets on issues such as “Homeless families with children,”  “Who is homeless,” and “Education of homeless children and youth.”

National Mental Health Association (NMHA)
www.nmha.org/reassurance/
The National Mental Health Association (NMHA) has several resources available to help survivors cope with tragic events, loss, and other related issues. Tip sheets are available for download on numerous youth and adult mental health topics, including coping with natural disasters, war and terrorism, and divorce.

National Institute for Early Education Research sponsored by Rutgers Graduate School of Education
http://nieer.org/ 
This informative site features policy briefs, state pre-school yearbooks and pre-school policy facts, as well as online reports which especially focus on early childhood and family issues.

Parents Active for Vision Education (P.A.V.E.)
http://www.pavevision.org/
P.A.V.E.® is a national non-profit education resource and support organization whose mission is to raise public awareness of the crucial relationship between vision and the academic achievement of students.

UN Children’s Fund
http://www.unicef.org/
The UN Children’s Fund page on key recent publications highlights reports on the state of the world’s children, children and AIDS, and climate change and children. They are leading advocates for the rights of children in 190 countries; take a look at their Information by Country page that provides valuable demographics for researchers and practitioners.

Children’s Health Protection- United States Environmental Protection Agency
http://yosemite.epa.gov/ochp/ochpweb.nsf/content/homepage.htm
Protecting children's health from environmental risks is fundamental to EPA's mission. This invaluable website lists the latest product recalls, reacting to emergencies such as natural disasters, and also toxicology reports that may affect children.

Chapter 9: Families in Abusive Situations

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American Bar Association’s Commission on Domestic Violence
http://www.abanet.org/domviol/home.html
Contains state specific domestic violence information, downloadable publications in six languages (ex. Domestic violence safety tips for you and your family, 10 myths about custody and domestic violence and how to counter them), and a listing of attorneys specializing in domestic law.

Family Violence Prevention Fund
http://www.endabuse.org/
Instrumental in developing the landmark Violence Against Women Act passed by Congress in 1994, the FVPF has continued to break new ground by reaching out to address violence prevention.

National Council on Child Abuse and Family Violence
http://www.nccafv.org/
Founded in 1984, NCCAFV provides intergenerational violence prevention services
by bringing together community and national stakeholders, professionals and volunteers 
to prevent domestic violence (spouse/partner abuse), and child abuse

YWCA
http://www.ywca.org/site/pp.asp?c=djISI6PIKpG&b=284783
The YWCA is an organization which provides safe places for women and children, as well as programs that empower women, advocate for women’s rights and civil rights in congress, and promote racial justice.

ChildHelp
http://www.childhelp.org
Since 1959, ChildHelp has been a leading national non-profit organization dedicated to helping victims of child abuse and neglect.

Center for Child Protection and Family Support
http://www.centerchildprotection.org/
The Center for Child Protection and Family Support has been committed to promoting healthy children and families. Their mission is to ensure that children are given the opportunity to mature and develop within a family free of maltreatment.

National Safe Place
http://www.nationalsafeplace.org/
This community collaboration program, operated by youth shelters or youth serving agencies make it possible for any youth to access help at locations including fast food restaurants, convenience stores, fire stations, libraries and city buses which display the Safe Place sign. 

National Women’s Law Center
http://www.nwlc.org/
Issues defended by this group include gender equity, military child care and early education, as well as poverty and income support. Informational fact sheets and Power Points outlining the effects of policy changes on families and children are available online.

 

Chapter 10: Teacher as Classroom Family Involvement Practitioner

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Cultivating Readers
http://www.famlit.org/site/c.gtJWJdMQIsE/b.3485129/
From the National Center on Family Literacy, this magazine for parents provides strategies for promoting reading throughout a child's early years.  The booklet includes activities for parents of children ages Birth to Two three to five, and six to eight.

No Child Left Behind:  Parents Toolkit
http://www.ed.gov/parents/landing.jhtml
This site, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education offers help in explaining the No Child Left Behind legislation to families.

U.S. Department of Education:  Helping Your Child series
http://www.ed.gov/parents/academic/help/hyc.html
This site offers articles for families on different ways they can help their children with homework in a variety of subjects.

ClassHomework.com
http://www.classhomework.com/
Free site where students and parents can go to view their teacher’s website. Also included is listing of important classroom events and hints for learning resources.

DiscoverySchool.com
http://school.discoveryeducation.com/homeworkhelp/index.html
For pay site devoted to homework support for students and parents in the area of math through NutshellMath and also other subjects through COSMEO.

SchoolNotes.com
http://www.schoolnotes.com/
SchoolNotes sponsored by Education World is a site allowing parents and students to view notes posted by their teachers for their classes.

Smithsonian Education- Families page
http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/families/index.html
Contains a student website, kid’s activity sheets, and IdeaLabs or interactive learning sites for children.

 

Chapter 11: Teacher as Family Communication Facilitator

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Family Communications
http://www.fci.org/index.asp
A nonprofit organization founded in 1971 by Fred Rogers, this site encourages families with "important talk" - talk about thoughts, feelings and concerns. Parent resource articles support communicate with the children in their lives.  Neighborhood News newsletters offer resources for parents and educators on dealing with communication issues.

HeadStart Information and Publication Center
http://www.headstartinfo.org/publications/communicating_with_parents/index.htm
Communicating with Parents: Training Guides for the HeadStart Learning Community provides on online module for communications with parents with the goal of building partnerships with families.

Scholastic Parents
http://content.scholastic.com/browse/familylife.jsp
Includes a free parent newsletter, message boards and blogs, as well as articles on teacher-family communications: “Policies & Practices: Family Communications - Ideas That Really Work” (Moore, 2002).

The Whole Child, sponsored by PBS
http://www.pbs.org/wholechild/providers/f-s.html
Links to series on PBS, available through video cassettes, and telecourses. Look for the article on “Establishing Strong Family-School Communications,” as well as many others on family communication.

Home School Communications at FINE
http://www.hfrp.org/publications-resources/browse-our-publications/home-school-communication-what-s-all-the-commotion
This workshop developed by Margaret Caspe (FINE- Family Involvement Network of Educators-2006) helps teachers understand different approaches to home-school communication and how these shape relationships with families.

http://www.hfrp.org/family-involvement/fine-family-involvement-network-of-educators

The Family Involvement Network of Educators (FINE) is a network of educators, policymakers and families. The site has the latest information about family involvement; including articles, tools and training materials for creating partnerships between the school, community and families.

ParentLink
http://www.parentlink.net/html/ContentBase/Content/Home
A private corporation focused on parent notification and school-to-home communications. Their system is purchased by schools or districts to consolidate messages to parents, provide information on grades and attendance, and offer a parental contact log feature.

SchoolFamily.Com
http://www.schoolfamily.com/about-us
SchoolFamily.com is a website focused exclusively on helping parents help their kids make the most of their school year. SchoolFamily.com provides parents with expert insight, information, and resources to help them set up their children for success at school.

Sesame Workshop
http://www.sesameworkshop.org/home
The Sesame Workshop is an outreach program that provides useful educational content for parents, educators, and children through a variety of different media including television, radio and books. The site also has community outreach initiatives in various areas of education.

 

Chapter 12: Working With Families of Children with Special Needs

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Council for Exceptional Children
http://www.cec.sped.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=About_CEC
Organization focused on meeting the needs of exceptional children and their families. Check out their publications and products page for downloadable information on advocacy as well as books to purchase on issues of diversity in special education.

The Family Center on Technology and Disability, funded by the Office of Special Education Programs
http://www.fctd.info/about/purpose.php
A resource designed to support organizations and programs that work with families of children and youth with disabilities. Includes free Family Information Guides to Assistive Technology as well as a series of fact sheets including a parent glossary for terms associated with assistive technology (Spanish also)

National Association for Gifted Children
http://www.nagc.org/
This site offers information for families and teachers on how to support the needs of high potential learners.  Includes numerous resources for teachers on “hot topics” and offers sample lesson plans and ideas of how to challenge gifted learners.

Through the Looking Glass, funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, U.S. Department of Education
http://lookingglass.org/index.php
This site includes online articles focusing on parents and/or children with disabilities, publications on the legal program for parents with disabilities, and many other resources supporting families with disabilities.

FAPE (families and Advocates Partnership for Education)
http://www.fape.org/

Originally sponsored by the U. S. Departments of Education,  the FAPE project is a partnership that strives to improve the educational outcomes for children with disabilities. It links families, advocates, and self-advocates to important information about the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

FamilyVillage
http://www.familyvillage.wisc.edu/
Family Village brings together thousands of online resources in an organized, easy-to-access directory.  The Family Village hosts a library in which visitors can find information on over 300 diagnoses and can help parents understand legal rights and current legislation.

NAEYP Legislative Action Center
http://capwiz.com/naeyc/home/
Details what is happening in Congress and the Administration that impacts young children and families. Supplies contact information for local and state legislators to encourage advocacy on an individual basis.

National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center http://www.nectac.org/
Sponsored by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the NECTAC aims to strengthen state and local service systems to ensure that children with disabilities (birth through 5 years) and their families receive and benefit from high-quality, evidence-based, culturally appropriate and family-centered supports and services.

 

Chapter 13: Teacher as a Family Resource and Advocate

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National Even Start Association
http://www.evenstart.org/
National Even Start Association’s mission is to provide a national voice and vision for Even Start Family Literacy Programs. Visit their legislation and advocacy page.

Parental Information and Resource Center
http://www.ed.gov/programs/pirc/index.html
PIRCS are U.S. Department of Education grant funded centers that help implement and support effective family involvement efforts in schools and communities. The site contains articles on engaging parents in education and other topics.

Children, Youth and Families Consortium, sponsored by the University of Minnesota
http://www.cyfc.umn.edu/welcome.html
This web site is a bridge to a wide range of information and resources about children and families by connecting research, teaching, policy, and community practice. Their current theme addresses educational disparity which includes their ecological model “The Circles of Influence” Framework.

Stand for Children
http://www.stand.org
Stand for Children is a citizens' advocacy organization whose mission is "to teach everyday people how to join together in an effective grassroots voice in order to win concrete, long-lasting improvements for children at both state and local levels."  The website offers information about how to be an advocate and examples of successful state and local advocacy campaigns.

American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/
Check out the ALA Projects and Partnership web page listing federal and state initiatives to support family literacy. Selected initiatives include Every Child Ready to Read-early reading, First Book-providing books to low income children, and Drop Everything and Read Day-promoting literacy across America.

Edutopia
http://edu.magserv.com/cgi-bin/subscribe?qt=new&ot=controlled
Free magazine and newsletter accompany this site funded by the George Lucas Educational Foundation.

Google for Educators
http://www.google.com/educators/index.html
Access this site for classroom activities as well as free posters providing information on searching the internet effectively.

Study Skills.com
http://www.how-to-study.com/
Magrum-Strickert Learning Resources sponsors the number one study skills site on the web.  By clicking on hundreds of topics, elementary students through college can get advice and strategies for improving their study skills and academic preparation.

 

Chapter 14: Preparing for Family Events

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Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy
http://www.barbarabushfoundation.com/
This website offers information about grants available for family literacy activities, which must include “intergenerational activities where the parents/primary caregivers and children come together to learn and to read.”

Education World
http://www.educationworld.com
This website has a wealth of resources for teachers, including professional development articles on hosting family events.  Check out the Family Fitness nights, where kids and families engage in physical activities together:  http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/profdev/profdev095.shtml.

LearnNC: Science Family Fun Night. http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/familyfun022006
One night a month a North Carolina teacher opens her classroom to families where they work together to solve logic problems and conduct experiments. Through this monthly fun night she increases family involvement in her students' education and finds ideas for science experiments and other classroom science projects.

PTO Today
http://ptotoday.com/boards/school-family-events/
This page highlights family events message boards where successful ideas for family events can be spotlighted and discussed through online interactions. Some ideas included “Inside Winter Games,” a “Read-A-Thon,” and a “Family Arts and Crafts” night.

Math. Com
http://math.com/parents/family.html
Includes articles on family math and helping your child learn math from the U.S. Department of Education.  Some titles include “Doing Math with your Child” and “Helping your Child Learn Math.”

Reading is Fundamental (RIF): Books for Ownership Program (free paperback books for children).
 http://www.rif.org/
Reading is Fundamental prepares and motivates children to read by providing free books and literacy resources to those children and families who need them most. The Family of Readers program improves family reading habits and enhances the time families spend sharing books with their young children while promoting parents’ confidence in themselves as participants in their children’s education.

Smithsonian for Kids
http://www.si.edu/kids/
Online fun and games can be found on this site which is highly educational and motivational for children and families. Some include Artificial Anatomy, Polar Pairs, and Experiments with Solar Shingles.

Texas Instruments: Tools for Parents
http://education.ti.com/educationportal/sites/US/sectionHome/parents.html
Check out this page: “Math and Science: What’s Real?” for real life examples of useful applications of math and science concepts.

 

Chapter 15: Schoolwide Family Involvement Activities

» Quiz

» Flashcards

» Web Resources

CES National Web: Parent Teacher Communication page sponsored by Coalition for Essential Schools
http://www.essentialschools.org/cs/resources/query/q/932?x-r=runnew
Printer friendly articles, book reviews, and web site resources. One of the major principles behind the Coalition of Essential Schools remains strong community collaboration to affect school reform.

Flagstaff United School District Family Involvement Plan
http://www.fusd1.org/frc/fmly-involvmnt.htm
Look over the Flagstaff Unified School District Family Involvement Plan (2006-2007) for ideas on how to write and implement a FIP for your school.

Parent Information and Resource Centers Grantees (PIRCS)
http://www.ed.gov/programs/pirc/grantees.html
A statewide list of organizations receiving grants to develop, expand or maintain FRCs. They can provide start up suggestions for schools interested in beginning the process.

Parental Involvement: Title I, Part A
www.ed.gov/programs/titleiparta/parentinvguid.doc
The purpose of this guide book is to assist state education agencies, districts, and schools in administering the parental involvement provisions of Title I, Part A of the ESEA.

National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education (NCPIE)
http://www.ncpie.org/
NCPIE’s mission is to advocate for the involvement of parents and families in their children's education, and to foster relationships between home, school, and community to enhance the education of all children.

NCLB Action Briefs (No Child Left Behind)
http://www.ncpie.org/nclbaction/parent_involvement.html
A joint project of the Public Education Network and National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education, this site helps parents understand the role they can play in developing a written parent involvement policy in their Title 1 School.

National Education Association (NEA)
http://www.nea.org
The National Education Associate is an organization dedicated to keeping up to date on important issues and actions that affect education. The site provides tools and ideas on subjects such as: classroom management, lesson plans, and parental involvement.

Seattle Public Schools: Family Involvement in Seattle Public Schools
http://www.seattleschools.org/area/fam/SFP%20Policy.dxml
This page outlines Seattle’s plan for their school-family partnership which was board adopted establishing parent advisory committees as well as implementing decisions at both the district and school levels to insure cultural inclusive family involvement.