PARTNERSHIP CENTER

The research is clear: when parents are involved in their children's education, children do better in school. The parent's important role in a child's social, emotional and intellectual growth begins in infancy and continues throughout childhood and adolescence. The Indiana Family, School & Community Partnership Center aims to boost the academic achievement of Indiana's children by providing information, training and support to parents and to those who work with parents.

Center activities reflect the knowledge that parent participation is critical to a child's school success. Working with local and statewide parent groups, educators and community leaders, the Indiana Partnership Center contributes to Indiana's growing system of high-quality, accessible parent information, education and support services. Special emphasis is placed on serving parents in both urban and rural communities, including those who are low income, minority or limited English-speaking.

Specifically, the Center focuses its efforts in the following areas:

-- Expanding the availability of effective parent education programs, such as Parents As Teachers, Family Math & Family Science and Links to Learning, for parents of young children and for parents of elementary and secondary students.

-- Coordinating conferences, workshops and forums for parents and educators to foster partnership-building and parent involvement in schools.

-- Encouraging teacher education programs to include family-school partnership principles and practices.

-- Disseminating information to parents and professionals in a variety of formats, including written materials and an on-line computer directory of parent resources in Indiana.

-- Promoting local development of family-school-community partnerships and family centers to strengthen parents' roles in children's learning.

-- Building networks among family centers, parent educators, schools, parent groups and individuals active in parent education, parent-to-parent support, parent partnerships for children's learning and related efforts.

The Indiana Family, School & Community Partnership Center is a project of the Indiana Parent Information Network, Inc. It began in October 1997 as an outgrowth of a broad-based statewide coalition of family-focused organizations and is supported by a grant from the US Department of Education. For more information, contact: Kate Gill Kressley at 317-257-8683, 4755 Kingsway Drive, Suite 105, Indianapolis IN 46205.

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