Engaging Parents to Support a College

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Engaging Parents to Support a College Career
Ready Agenda

• National Parent Teacher Association (PTA)
• June 17, 2010

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PTA Overview

• PTA is the nations oldest and largest child
  advocacy organization
• PTA stretches from small towns to large cities,
  from state legislatures to the Nations Capital
• 5 million members
• 24,000 units
• A presence in all 50 states, US Virgin Islands,
  Puerto Rico, and abroad in U.S. military
  installations

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Beyond the Bake Sale

• PTAs history is rooted in advocacy and social
  justice
• PTA championed efforts to defeat Polio, led the
  campaign for child immunizations, supported
  school desegregation, advocated for hot school
  lunches, labored to improve the nations juvenile
  justice system, among other accomplishments.

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Moving Forward

• Today, PTA is working to ensure that every
  child's potential is a reality.
• PTA is working to advance
• Family Engagement / Parent Involvement
• Child Health and Nutrition
• Student Success and Engagement
• College and Career Readiness

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PTA Common Core State Standards

• State leaders are meeting with key decision
  makers to advocate for their adoption and
  implementation
• Governors, Chief School Officers, State Board of
  Education members, legislators, and many others
• PTA leaders are also training parents, families
  and PTA members in these states about the
  standards

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PTA and College/Career Readiness

• PTA members are overwhelmingly supportive
• When asked if every student should graduate from
  high school to be ready for college and career
• 95 of PTA members agreed

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PTA and College/Career Readiness

• When asked if they support their state adopting
  the Common Core State Standards
• 78 of PTA members polled were supportive

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Parents Supporting a College and Career Ready
Agenda

• State PTAs can be part of your collaborative,
  systemic effort to ensure that all students are
  ready for college, work and life.
• Advocates with key constituencies and
  decision-makers
• Participate in P-20 Councils, RTTT Planning
  Committees, Standards Review Committees,
  Superintendents Parent Advisory Committees, Blue
  Ribbon education committees, and more
• Offer credible parent voice to support the effort

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The Power of Parents

• gt2.2M PTA Members
• Range From 1,000 575,000 Members in each state

HI
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Parents Supporting a College and Career Ready
Agenda

• Local PTAs can
• Plan and implement programming to provide support
  to students
• Educate other parents about why changes are
  needed in assessments, accountability systems,
  and standards
• Serve as watch dogs to ensure that implementation
  occurs
• Advocate for funding to support implementation

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Parents Supporting a College and Career Ready
Agenda

• Most importantly, local PTAs can focus on
  engaging families in their child's education
• Family engagement is a cross-cutting solution
  that can benefit students from cradle to career.
• The research is overwhelmingly clear
• When parents are involved, students have better
  test scores and higher grades, enroll in higher
  level classes, attend school and pass their
  classes, develop better social skills, graduate
  from high school, attend college, and find
  productive work.
• Parent involvement is so significant that it has
  been shown to be equivalent to an extra 1,000 in
  additional per-pupil spending.

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Local Example

• KW Barrett Elementary School in Virginia promotes
  family engagement and student success by
  hosting
• Afterschool enrichment programs
• Roving Readers Program
• Family Library Nights
• Scholarships to students in need to pursue higher
  education
• Parent education sessions (e.g. Understanding How
  the School System Works and How to be an
  Effective Advocate)

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Tips for Partnering with PTAs

• PTAs exist at the state, regional/district, and
  local levels Depending on the project, you may
  want to work with different individuals.
• Know Key PTA Leaders -- Each PTA has a President,
  President-Elect and Secretary-Treasurer
• Remember that PTA members are volunteers Some
  staff exist at the state level, in some
  circumstances.
• Brainstorm with your target PTA to understand
  their strengths and weaknesses Each PTA is
  different and can contribute different things
  (volunteers, expertise, contacts, etc.) to the
  project.

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Tools from National PTA
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THANK YOU! Erin Hart Director of Strategic
Alliances, Partnerships and Programs (800)
307-4PTA (4782)ehart_at_pta.org www.pta.org
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