The Indiana Center for Family, School, and Community Partnerships

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The Indiana Center for
Family, School, and Community
Partnerships
Together for a change
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Who are we????

• Parent Information Resource
  Center for the state of Indiana
• Funded through a grant from the U. S.
  Department of Education

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Our Mission

• To improve student achievement through
  partnerships between schools, families and
  communities.

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Our Philosophy

• All parents have strengths and are
  important.
• All parents can contribute to their
  childs education and the school.
• All parents can learn how to help their
  children in school.

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Our Philosophy (contd.)

• All parents have useful ideas and
  insights about their children.
• All decisions about how to involve
  parents should be made only after consulting
  parents.
• All parents really do care deeply about
  their children.

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Research Shows

• When parents are involved students achieve
  more, regardless of socioeconomic status,
  racial/ethnic background, or parents
  education level.
• When parents are involved, students exhibit
  more positive attitudes and behavior.
• There is a correlation between parental
  involvement and student achievement. Increased
  parent involvement higher student achievement

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Workshops Training

• Family Math Family Science
• Literacy
• RQP Asking the Right Question to Get the
  Best Education for Your Child

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Family Math/ Science

• Interactive, hands-on, activity-based
  program for families
• Involves parents in their childrens math
  and science education
• Connects the learning of math and science to
  everyday events and future studies.

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The Right Question Parent Workshop

• Helps parents develop question formulating
  techniques in which they can get answers to
  their questions about
• supporting monitoring their childs
  education.
• advocating for their child

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Other Workshops

• Pathways to Partnerships
• Overcoming Barriers to Parent Involvement
• Parent Leadership Development
• Family School Partnerships The Educators
  Perspective
• Parents Teachers Talking Together
• Understanding Standards Assessments

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Pathways to Partnership

• Provides strategies for teams of parents
  and educators who are creating partnerships.
• Provides strategies for parents and
  educators who want to build their partnership
  capacity.

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Helping Parents Make Sense of Standards and
Assessments

• Gives parents a common understanding of
  the language of standards assessments.

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Parent Leadership Development

• Training tailored for your district based on
  expectations and action objectives.
• Curriculum draws from multiple sources of
  real life examples.

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Family-School Partnerships The Educators
Perspective

• Developed in collaboration with the Indiana State
  Teachers Association.
• Demonstrates research findings that show parents
  as critical to student achievement.
• Explores effective building-wide and
  classroom-specific practices that can be used to
  help parents and educators work together.

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Special Initiatives
The Indiana Academy for Parent Leadership
Fathers Too Willing to Serve
Parent Centers
Public Law 221 NCLB
Special Audiences Reaching families with special
needs children and limited-English proficient
families
State Training Teams Trainer of Trainers
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Fathers Networking

• Demonstrates the importance of men in the
  lives of children.
• Explores ways in which having fathers
  involved in the school can help schools address
  safety issues.
• Provides educators with ideas about
  involving more fathers in their childs
  education.

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Indiana Public Law 221

• Requires schools to have School Improvement
  Teams.
• Requires schools to have a plan of action
  for parent and community involvement.
• As a state affiliate for the National
  Network of Partnership Schools, The Center can
  help schools meet the requirements of PL 221

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Understanding No Child Left BehindNCLB

• Helps provide parents and schools with a better
  understanding of this new federal legislation
  that affects all schools.
• NCLB deals with accountability, standards
  assessments, teachers
  paraprofessionals, and parents.

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The 6 Keys of Successful School-
Family-Community Partnerships
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• Parenting
• Assist families with parenting, child rearing
  skills, and understanding child and adolescent
  development.
• Examples
• Parents as Teachers
• The Right Questions, Inc.

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The 6 Keys of Successful School-Family-Community
Partnerships

• Communicating
• Communicate with families about school programs
  and student progress.
• Examples
• Newsletters written by teachers and parents
• Home visits

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The 6 Keys of Successful School-Family-Community
Partnerships

• Volunteering
• Involve families as volunteers at the school or
  in other locations to support students and school
  programs.
• Examples
• Parent Centers
• Success for All

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The 6 Keys of Successful School-Family-Community
Partnerships

• Learning At Home
• Involves families and their children in learning
  activities at home, including homework and other
  curriculum-related activities and decisions.
• Examples
• Family Math/Family Science
• Family Reading Nights

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The 6 Keys of Successful School-Family-Community
Partnerships

• Decision Making
• Include families as participants in school
  decisions, governance, and advocacy.
• Examples
• Parents on all school-wide planning committees.
• Taking part in monitoring student achievement.

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The 6 Keys of Successful School-Family-Community
Partnerships

• Collaborating with the Community
• Coordinate resources and services between
  families, students, and the school with
  businesses, agencies and other groups.
• Examples
• Service Learning
• Reading Mentor Program

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The Indiana Center for
Family, School,and Community Partnerships
Together for a change
United schools and families are the keys that our
children need to make their dreams realities!