U.S. Assistant Deputy Secretary Morgan Brown today announced the release of a new publication, Engaging Parents in Education, at the 2007 National Parental Information and Resource Center Conference in Baltimore, Md. Brown discussed the importance of informing parents and students of their education options under No Child Left Behind and engaging parents in decisions about their children's education.

"Thanks to No Child Left Behind, schools are now required to provide parents with the information and options they need to ensure their children receive the high-quality education they deserve," Secretary Spellings said. "Resources like this show how increasing parental involvement is key to improving student achievement."

The guide profiles five Parental Information and Resource Centers (PIRCs) that are representative of how PIRCs and their partnering organizations can successfully increase parental involvement in education. The centers emphasize the power of strong parent-educator partnerships to improve schools and raise students' academic achievement.

This guide is part of the Department's Innovations in Education series. Other publications in this series will be released later this fall and cover topics such as online courses, charter school authorizing and K-8 charter schools.

To view and download Engaging Parents in Education please visit http://www.ed.gov/admins/comm/parents/parentinvolve/index.html

The organizations featured in the guide are:

• Academic Development Institute, PIRC
  121 N. Kickapoo St.
  Lincoln, Ill. 62656
  http://www.adi.org/solidfoundation
  Reatha Owen, Director

• The Family Works, a program of the Family Services Agency
  610 East Diamond Ave.
  Gaithersburg, Md. 20877
  http://www.familyservicesagency.org/site/
  PageServer?pagename=The_Family_Works
  Barbara Gimperling, Director

• Indiana Center for Family, School, and Community Partnerships
  921 E. 86th St., Suite 108
  Indianapolis, Ind. 46240
  http://www.fscp.org
  Jacqueline Garvey, Executive Director

• Intercultural Development Research Association, PIRC
  5835 Callaghan Road, Suite 350
  San Antonio, Texas 78228-1190
  http://www.idra.org/Texas_IDRA_PIRC.htm
  Aurelio Montemayor, Director

• The Utah Family Center, now operating as Utah Family Partnership Network
  2500 S. State St., Room D120
  Salt Lake City, Utah 84115
  http://www.utahpirc.org
  Barbara Smith, Director

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