NEAT strengthens, engages and empowers St. Paul public school parents, parent organizations and community members working to improve public education in St. Paul.

To provide or facilitate services for local families and individuals, including education, referral or other support, by bringing together professional staff, volunteers and broad community support.

Dorothy Rich, founder of the non-profit Home and School Institute, looks at how teachers can help kids succeed by helping parents remain hopeful and excited about their child's learning.

Federal education law now requires schools to produce a new kind of report card—one that tells parents how the school is performing. Dorothy Rich, founder of the Home and School Institute, argues that the new reports may miss the essence of a school.

Connect for Kids explores ways to work around both teachers' and parents' busy schedules to improve children's overall success in school.

Info for parents mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act is useless if parents don't know where to get it or how to use it. This guide from KSA-Plus Communications looks at how parent leaders can get smart about their school's data -- identifying which students are and are not being well-served and asking the kinds of questions that lead to school improvement. The site's Parent Leadership Starter Kit also has lots of useful advice about the No Child Left Behind law.

The Harvard Family Research Project's "The Evaluation Exchange" examines programs that promote families' involvement in children's learning and development -- from pre-school to high school.

Raising a Reader by Jennie Nash and See Johnny Read! by Tracey Wood are two recent books about the critical role parents can play in helping their children build a positive relationship with books and reading. Connect for Kids takes a look between the covers.

The Partnership for Learning has a step-by-step guide for families looking for extra academic help during the school year, including the thousands of families eligible for tutoring scholarships under President Bush's No Child Left Behind law. The guide includes hands-on advice to save money, identify learning disabilities and monitor progress. Call 1-800-832-2464 for info.

Children need a great science education and parents can do a lot to help make that happen. Here you'll find a world of information, activities, and ideas that offer "something scientific" for the whole family.