Minnesota Parent Center

Online Articles

• Learning to Talk and Listen: An oral language resource for early childhood caregivers
  This resource summarizes the research findings on the relationship between young children’s oral language skills and their later reading achievement, and suggests implications for early literacy practices to promote children’s language development.
• Culturally Responsive Parent Involvement
• Giving Parents Options: Strategies for Informing Parents and Implementing Public School Choice and Supplemental Education Services Under No Child Left Behind
• Harvard Family Research Project's Family Involvement Makes a Difference series of research briefs on family involvement and student outcomes makes the case that family involvement promotes school success for every child of every child of every age.
  • Family Involvement in Early Childhood Education
  • Family Involvement in Elementary School Children's Education
  • Family Involvement in Middle and High School Students' Education
• Key Findings: A New Wave of Evidence
• No Child Left Behind: What’s in it for parents?”
• Strategy Briefs available from the National Center for Family and Community Connections with Schools at Southwest Educational Development Laboratory:
  • Easing the Transition from PreK to Kindergarten: What Schools Can Do to Address Child Readiness
    • English
    • Spanish
  • Reaching Out to Diverse Populations: What Can Schools Do to Foster Family-School Connections?
    • English
    • Spanish
  • Organizing Family and Community Connections With Schools: How Do School Staff Build Meaningful Relationships With All Stakeholders?
    • English
    • Spanish
  • Engaging Families at the Secondary Level: What Schools Can Do to Support Family Involvement
    • English
    • Spanish
  • Developing a Collaborative Team Approach to Support Family and Community Connections With Schools: What Can School Leaders Do?
    • English
    • Spanish
  • Learning Outside of the School Classroom: What Teachers Can Do to Involve Family in Supporting Classroom Instruction
    • English
    • Spanish
  • What Do We Mean by "Family and Community Connections with Schools?"
    • English
    • Spanish

Additional Reading: Books and Other Resources

Epstein, J. (2002). School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action. Thousand Oaks, CA. Corwin Press, Inc.

Family Involvement Network of Educators at Harvard University

Family-School Partnership Lab at Vanderbilt University

Henderson, A. et. al. (2007). Beyond the Bake Sale: The Essential Guide to Family-School Partnerships. The New Press: New York.

Henderson, A. (2002). A New Wave of Evidence: The Impact of School, Family, and Community Connections on Student Achievement. Austin, TX. Southwest Educational Development Laboratory
Full text available online >>>

National Network of Partnership Schools at Johns Hopkins University

NCLB Reauthorization & Parent Involvement >>>
Anne Henderson, Senior Fellow at the Annenberg Institute for School Reform, testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions regarding the reauthorization of NCLB. Read her comments on "Effective Strategies for Engaging Parents and Communities in Schools."