Here are 3 excellent documents for educators & Parent Teams to plan and strategize building parent partners in your community. It is a summary of the last 3 years best practices from the Johns Hopkins University Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships

Informed by three decades of research—and given new urgency by the No Child Left Behind Act—parent and community involvement in schools is undergoing a paradigm shift. A new model of sustained partnerships and shared decision making is finding its way into the daily operation of schools and districts around the country. In this issue of Northwest Education we profile some of the diverse, dynamic partnerships that are creating this change in our region.

Need some research data to back your efforts?  This document summarizes the research on Parent Involvement with school and student success.

A New Wave of Evidence; The Impact of School, Family, and Community Connections on Student Achievement. National Center for Family & Community Connections with Schools, Southwest Educational Development Laboratory

Building Trust with Schools and Diverse Families: A Foundation for Lasting Partnerships

During the past several decades, the benefits of parents' and other family members' involvement in children's education have been well-documented. Although it isn't the only factor in improving student learning, 30 years of research has consistently linked family involvement to higher student achievement, better attitudes toward school, lower dropout rates, and increased community support for education, as well as many other positive outcomes for students, families, and schools. When families are involved in learning, the research shows, "students achieve more, regardless of socioeconomic status, ethnic/racial background, or the parents'education level". Despite these findings, many schools struggle to actively engage high numbers of parents and other family members in children's schooling. Of those families who do get involved, the majority are white and middle income, typically those whose home culture most closely matches the norms, values, and cultural assumptions reflected in the school. Minority, lower-income, and families who speak limited English, on the other hand, are often highly underrepresented in school-level decisionmaking and in family involvement activities—-a phenomenon that speaks far more often to differing needs, values, and levels of trust than it does to families' lack of interest or unwillingness to get involved (2003)

Guidelines for Being Strong White Allies

Adapted from Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Social Justice by Paul Kivel, www.paulkivel.com

WHAT KIND OF ACTIVE SUPPORT does a strong white ally provide to a person of color? Over the years, people of color that I have talked with have been remarkably consistent in describing the kinds of support they need from white allies.