August 18, 2010
National Family School Community Engagement Summit

Please consider this a formal invitation to the National Family School Community Engagement Summit, September 13-14, 2010, at the Westin Hotel, Courthouse Square, in Alexandria, VA. Please register by August 22nd at http://www.regonline.com/ National_FSC_Engagement_Summit. An energizing and substantive program is being planned. We look forward to seeing you at this very important event where we will craft policy ideas intended to positively impact our school communities. Note that the special rate at the Westin for conference participants closes on August 23rd. Read more.

August 5, 2010
Georgia's Virtual Family-Friendly Partnership Schools

To help schools, families and communities work together in creating a Family-Friendly Partnership School the Georgia Department of Education and the Georgia Parental Information and Resource Center (GA PIRC) have teamed up to provide Georgia's Virtual Family-Friendly Partnership Schools. Georgia's Virtual Family-Friendly Partnership Schools takes viewers on a virtual journey of an elementary and a middle-high school to show what makes a school family-friendly.

Learn more and download Georgia's Virtual Family-Friendly Partnership Schools software for PC and Macintosh.

April 22, 2010
Statement by Anne T. Henderson, Senior Consultant Community Organizing and Engagement, Annenberg Institute for School Reform Before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

The evidence is clear-schools cannot close the achievement gap without partnering with families. Over 40 years of research has demonstrated that engaging families in their children's education improves student achievement, attendance, and behavior, and increases graduation rates.

1. Children spend 70 percent of their waking hours outside of school, and how they spend that time is critical to their success in school.
2. Modest investments in increasing families' knowledge and skills to support learning can leverage our larger investment in teacher quality and school improvement

Senate Testimony Opening Statement
Senate Testimony Executive Summary
Senate Testimony Full Text

May 6, 2010
Parents Across America Oppose the Administration's "Blueprint" for Education Reform
Today, parent leaders and advocates from throughout the nation sent a letter to the President and Congress, asking them to keep the parent voice in public education and to oppose the administration's "Blueprint" for the re-authorization of Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) put forward by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. More information at www.classsizematters.org.

from ASCD Express, May 3, 2010
Engaging Parents and the Community in Schooling
ASCD Express is looking for 600- to 1,000-word essays on the theme "Engaging Parents and the Community in Schooling." Hosting tutors, offering internships, running a parents center and other parent and community involvement efforts take significant time and organization. What kinds of initiatives work well to harness family and community resources? How do they get funded? What is the payoff for students and the wider community? We welcome stories about innovative programs that break down the barriers between school and community and provide mutual enrichment for all concerned. Submissions are due by May 26. Submissions are due by May 26.

from The Answer Sheet, Washington Post, April 30, 2010
Goodlad on school reform: Are we ignoring lessons of last 50 years?
This is the first of three articles by influential education theorist and reformer John I. Goodlad.

Goodlad, author of more than three dozen books, is president of the Institute for Educational Inquiry in Seattle and has held professorships at Emory University, the University of Chicago, the University of Washington and UCLA, where he was dean of the Graduate School of Education from 1967–1983. His1984 book "A Place Called School," is often credited with launching research efforts on school improvement.

This is long for a blog post, full of reflections by Goodlad about his own life, educational history and schools today, but it is worth your time. Goodlad always is.

from Building Neighborhoods, April 30, 2010
Promise Neighborhoods RFP Released Today
The Department of Education will release the RFP for $10 million in Promise Neighborhoods planning grants today (Friday, April 30). We will send the link out to this email list as soon as it is live.

Text of the Department's press release, including application deadline and webinar registration links, is available now on the blog.

from Education Week, April 27, 2010
Advocates emphasize need for educating the whole child
A U.S. Senate committee heard testimony recently from advocates who want to increase the focus in the revised Elementary and Secondary Education Act on educating the whole child — providing for support services to address students' health and other needs — as a way to improve student achievement. Some lawmakers expressed concerns about the costs of creating programs amid difficult economic times, but supporters testified to the programs' value. "In the end, you have to create a series of supports that really meet all of their needs," said Geoffrey Canada, head of the Harlem Children's Zone. Education Week (premium article access compliments of EdWeek.org)

Washington, DC, April 21, 2010
Note from Todd May
Deputy Director
Special Projects and Events Team
U.S. Department of Education

Mr. May's note to colleagues regards the most recent addition to the Department's suite of school turnaround videos: It Can Be Done: Turning Around America's Lowest Achieving Schools