Parent Empowerment
Parent empowerment is about giving families the information, tools, and tactics they need to improve student performance and to improve local schools.
Ideally, community organizations -- not schools -- should provide the information, tools, and tactics. This community-based approach is especially important for Black children and families, who often feel unwelcome and ill-equipped when dealing with public schools.
The Parent's/Family's Role in Student Success
A recent article from Partners for Public Education states that parental involvement and high expectations are more important factors in student success than either family income or social class. See the article
Our Goals
We are partnering with the Governor's Education Ombudsman Adie Simmons and others to review parent empowerment models that work for Black parents and familes. When we find/develop the right model and secure needed funding, we plan to do a demonstration project in partnership with one or more local schools.
After we see the demonstration's results, we hope to partner with interested state legislators to secure state funding for parent empowerment projects across the state.
Models that work
One parent empowerment model we are considering is already working in Kentucky, Delaware, and other states. The Black Education Strategy Roundtable hosted the directors of the Kentucky and Delaware programs in SeaTac on March 20, 2006.
During this session, we learned a great deal about the Kentucky and Delaware programs. We will incorporate key features of these models into our demonstration.
Partnership Continues
The Office of the Education Ombudsman, the Partnership for Learning, and the Center for the Improvement of Student Learning at OSPI sponsored the March 20 visit of parent empowerment experts from Kentucky and Delaware. These agencies are continuing to work with us to develop a demonstration and prompt state investment in Parent Empowerment.
Keep track of our progress
