Connect for Kids is joining with the National Education Association (NEA) on our latest public service campaign to foster and promote parental involvement in education. Look for new ads this fall in newspapers, on television and radio, and on the Internet that use gentle humor to ask parents and caring adults to find opportunities to engage in the education of our children.

The NEA's involvement in this campaign stems from the organization's most basic beliefs, according to president Bob Chase. "As teachers, we want every child educated to his or her fullest potential. But we can't do it alone. We need the help of our students' first teachers—their parents and other caregivers."

Public Support
This effort comes at a critical time for public education in our country. Two reports released in April 2001 address different aspects of this issue. Action for All: The Public's Responsibility for Public Education, commissioned by the Public Education Network (PEN) and Education Week, based on a national survey of registered voters, looks at the extent to which the public supports (or fails to support) public schools.

While the bad news is that more than half of the respondents reported that they themselves are not involved in making their local schools better, the poll also revealed that five times as many Americans identify their public schools as the most important institutions in their communities, compared to churches, libraries and hospitals. PEN president Wendy Puriefoy says that "local communities are a significant, but often underutilized resource for school improvement."

PEN wants to tap into the strong sense of community ownership of public schools revealed by this report. Key findings show evidence that Americans are now looking beyond their personal concerns for their own families and children, to a broader view that quality public education is important for all children in this nation.

School/Community Partnerships
Education Reform and Community Building: Connecting Two Worlds, published by the Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL), addresses the lack of connections between educators and individuals interested in community building. "Efforts throughout the country to strengthen standards, assessments and accountability in our public education are long overdue, "says IEL president Michael D. Usdan. "?but there is growing recognition that in too many cases the emphasis on academics alone will not be sufficient."

Education Reform points to the Chula Vista, California elementary school district; the Germantown Settlement Multi-Purpose Agency in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; the Logan Square Neighborhood Association in Chicago, Illinois; and the Marshall Heights Community Development Organization in Washington, DC, as examples of good collaborations between educators and community-building organizations, based on mutual understanding and respect for the assets and talents of each group. "Parents, neighborhood residents and community organizations are asserting that they must have a larger role in reforming our nation's public schools," says Usdan. This report discusses what IEL calls "rules of engagement" to help guide the collaboration.

Both of these reports support the contention shared by Connect for Kids and the NEA that Americans value the concept of quality public schools, and that all of us share the responsibility for seeing that the schools our children attend reflect this value. We know that this starts with parents, but we also believe it does not end there.

Beyond Parent/Teacher Conferences
As a child, I never gave it a second thought. Of course my parents were involved with my education and that of my five siblings as well. There was never a question that either my mother or father—or, more often, both—would make time to talk to my teachers during parent-teacher conferences. What this parental involvement provided for me and my brothers and sisters was a seamless and steady emphasis on our education, from the time we arose each morning, to the time we went to sleep each night.

The parent-teacher conferences provided the most visible evidence of my parents' involvement in my education. But their involvement began even before I stepped into a classroom. It took many forms, including my father reading aloud to me before I was able to recognize that the letters of the alphabet on the page formed words that communicated ideas. It was my mother sharing sunsets with us every evening and her sense of wonderment at their beauty.

I would have liked it if my mother could come with us on class trips during the day, like the mothers of some of my friends did during grade school. Or help us start the first girls' basketball team at my grade school, like another friend's mother did, because she was available at 3:30 p.m. to run our practices.

That wasn't possible because she and my father worked pretty hard at various jobs to keep us clothed and fed. Nonetheless, today, when I think of parental involvement in education, I think of my parents as the best models. They communicated to me and to every teacher they came into contact with that nothing was more important than my education and they orchestrated my life so that nothing interfered with the value they placed on it. I think they would have fit NEA president Bob Chase's definition of ideal parental involvement.

"Teachers would like to see parents and other caregivers more involved in their children's education. But that doesn't mean being at school every time the doors are open," says Chase.

"Parents can do things at home that will help their children succeed in the classroom. They can really listen and really talk with their children. They can read them a bedtime story at night, even after they are old enough to read for themselves. They can play brain games with their kids. A parent who's not equipped to help with his or her kid's algebra problems or in interpreting Canterbury Tales can still be a totally involved mom, dad, grandparent, or guardian ? his or her love, support, caring, attention, and discipline can make a world of difference in a child's education," he says.

During the course of this public service campaign Connect for Kids will create and gather resources to help all of us find the appropriate way we can join in this crucial effort to ensure that children receive a quality education in our nation's public schools.

Online Resources:

• The National Education Association offers a Parental Involvement Resource page.
• The George Lucas Education Foundation's Parental Involvement page can be found in the site's "Involved Communities" section.
• The National PTA has a parental involvement initiative called "Building Succssful Partnerships."

Cecilia Garcia directs Connect for Kids.

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