Family Involvement in Children's Education; Appendix D - The Partnership for Family Involvement in Education

A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

Family Involvement in Children's Education - October 1997

The Partnership for Family Involvement in Education

"Better Education is Everybody's Business"
U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley

What is the Partnership's mission?

To increase opportunities for families to be more involved in their children's learning at school and at home;
To use family-school-community partnerships to strengthen schools and improve student achievement .

What are activities that the Partnership supports? Partnership members support activities in their own local community focused on bringing the public back into the schools and get involved in several nationwide activities.

READ*WRITE*NOW!, an intensive summer component to the American Reads Challenge, to encourage children's reading and writing with a reading partner 30 minutes a day.
America Goes Back to School: Answering the President's Call to Action encourages every American to go back to school each fall to share their talents and experiences. Taking the challenge means addressing local educational concerns and making a year-long commitment to learning.
Getting Ready for College Early, an initiative to encourage all students to take the courses they need to enter college and to inform parents of the sequence of courses their child needs to take, as well as the financial planning involved. To be launched in winter 1998.

Who are the partners? More than 3000 family, school, community, employer and religious groups comprise the partnership. Each of the these groups have come together to pledge support for student learning to high standards as actualized through involvement in nationwide activities and other area of concern identified by the Partner groups. The Partners represent a growing grassroots movement across this country and are organized into four groups:

Family-School Partners for Learning support home-school partnerships where communication and mutual responsibility for children's learning to high standards are key.
Employers for Learning adopt family- and student-friendly business practices, such as providing leave time to attend parent conferences and volunteering in school, providing parent training and child care, and working with neighborhood schools.
Community/Cultural Organizations for Learning support learning communities through organized before- and after-school and summer activities, volunteer in the schools during the school day, help to make streets safe for children, and support supervised recreational activities.
Religious Organizations for Learning provide parent education programs and reading tutoring programs for children, sponsor cultural programs, make their buildings available for organized learning and recreational activities, and support out-of-school learning.

What are the benefits from joining the Partnership? Partners improve their effectiveness by connecting with other groups and drawing on each other's strengths. The benefits of being part of a coordinated effort are key. Partners learn about and share the latest and best practices from other Partner organizations. Recognition is earned for organizations' visible commitments at the national, state, and local levels. Members of the Partnership for Family Involvement in Education receive Partnership publications and support on an on-going basis.

How can your organization join the Partnership? If your organization wants to become a Partner for Learning, see the Family-School Partnership Promise on the next page. Call 1-800-USA-LEARN for more information about becoming a member. Website: <www.ed.gov/PFIE>

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