National Network Of Partnership Schools
The National Network of Partnership Schools is a group of 900 schools working to promote, evaluate, and improve their family and community partnership programs. In exchange for agreeing to a set of standards and practices for developing, implementing, and assessing their partnerships, schools gain access to training materials, workshops, and a newsletter, along with participating in ongoing research on the effects of family-school-community partnerships; the National Network of Partnership Schools website provides much of this information. “Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork” is a particularly useful section for educators interested in engaging families in students’ daily academic efforts
website: www.partnershipschools.org e-mail: nnps@csos.jhu.edu
telephone: 410/516-8800
mailing address: Johns Hopkins University, 3003 N. Charles Street, Suite 200, Baltimore, MD 21218
National Center For Family & Community Connections With Schools
Part of the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, the National Center for Family & Community Connections with Schools produces research reports, holds conferences and satellite broadcasts, and maintains a website devoted to school-family-community partnerships. Its Resources section offers a searchable research database and a clear and comprehensive review and synthesis of research on school partnerships entitled “A New Wave of Evidence: The Impact of School, Family, and Community Connections on Student Achievement.” If you’re planning or evaluating education partnership programs, it’s a must-read.
website: www.sedl.org/connections e-mail: connections@sedl.org
telephone: 800/476-6861 fax: 512/476-2286
mailing address: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, 211 East Seventh Street, Austin, TX 78701-3281
Study Circles Resource Center
The Study Circles Resource Center assists individuals and organizations interested in addressing challenges facing their community, offering a process to create constructive conversation and action. In facilitated small group discussions, community members exchange views, generate solutions, and collaborate to transform their discussions into change. Through its website and in regional workshops, the Study Circles Resource Center offers advice on organization, facilitation, and goal-setting along with other technical assistance. The website also offers success stories, links to local study circle programs, assessment and documentation information, and discussion guides focused on various civic issues including education (for school-specific discussion structures, look for “Helping Every Student Succeed: Schools and Communities Working Together”).
website: www.studycircles.org e-mail: scrc@studycircles.org
telephone: 860/928-2616 fax: 860/928-3713
mailing address: PO Box 203, 697 Pomfret Street, Pomfret, CT 06258
Institute For Responsive Education
For thirty years, the Institute for Responsive Education has been a leader in the field of school, family, and community partnerships, conducting research, distributing information, offering training and technical assistance, and working as an advocate for effective partnerships. IRE’s work defines what works best in school partnership programs at all grade levels and in various settings. The website presents IRE’s past and ongoing research findings and links to its publications (some available free of charge). It also features a Tips section, which offers advice on starting and sustaining school-family-community partnerships in specific, one-page briefs.
website: www.responsiveeducation.org
telephone: 617/373-2595 fax: 617/373-8839
mailing address: 21 Lake Hall, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115
Coalition For Community Schools
As its name indicates, the Coalition for Community Schools promotes community schools??”schools that bring together services to support students, families, and community members. The Coalition unites dozens of local, state, and national organizations as partners. Its website gathers resources from its partners and other useful sources to assist community school builders in the areas of research, design, advocacy, policy, and network building. The site also offers research reports, a large bibliography, and a diverse group of descriptions of community schools from around the country??”these descriptions demonstrate a wide range of community school possibilities.
website: www.communityschools.org e-mail: ccs@iel.org
telephone: 202/822-8405 fax: 202/872-4050
mailing address: c/o Institute for Educational Leadership, 1001 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 310, Washington, DC 20036
National Parent Teacher Association
The National PTA provides resources for establishing well-organized local PTA or PTSA (parent teacher student association) groups, along with information for PTA members and the general public. Its website houses online conversation groups for idea exchange, resources, positons on federal legislation, and specific advice for parents about children’s nutrition, substance abuse, crisis management, television and media, assessment and standards, family communication, and more. The National PTA offers many resources in Spanish; some are available in Chinese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, and other languages. National Standards for Parent/Family Involvement Programs, offered on the National PTA site, is an excellent resource for assessing and strengthening family-school initiatives. State and school-level PTA websites, linked to the National PTA site, have more specific information on fundraising guidelines, state legislation, and other local issues.
website: www.pta.org e-mail: info@pta.org
telephone: 312/670-6782 or 800/307-4PTA fax: 312/670-6783
mailing address: 330 N. Wabash Avenue, Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60611
Family Involvement Network Of Educators At The Harvard Family Research Project
The Family Involvement Network of Educators provides resources to train teachers and families to work together. Focusing particularly on training educators in the theory and practice of family involvement in education, FINE publishes monthly research and resource updates and a semiannual e-newsletter that concentrates on specific issues such as family involvement in mathematics or working with diverse communities. The website also offers a large resource section with links to research, annotated bibliographies, course syllabi, teaching cases, and workshop materials.
website: http://www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/projects/fine.html
e-mail: fine@gse.harvard.edu
telephone: 617/495-9108 fax: 617/495-8594
mailing address: 3 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
National Coalition For Parent Involvement In Education
NCPIE is a coalition of education, community, public service, and advocacy organizations working to create family-school partnerships. NCPIE works both locally??”with monthly Washington DC-area meetings??”and at the national level to advocate for family-school partnerships and offers policy guidelines and analyses of related legislation. Offering an excellent annotated resource section along with links to research and reports from partner organizations, the NCPIE website is a useful guide to the world of research about and policies affecting families’ involvement in their children’s education.
website: www.ncpie.org
telephone: 703/359-8973 fax: 703/359-0972
mailing address: 3929 Old Lee Highway, Suite 91-A, Fairfax, VA 22030-2401