Partners In Learning:
Parent information centers funded through the Goals 2000: Educate America grant are required to implement and/or expand research-based early childhood parenting programs. A major emphasis for the Indiana Center for Family, School & Community Partnerships is on expanding the "Parents As Teachers" (PAT) program to reach more Hoosier families. PAT gives parents of children birth to five information about child development and parenting practices that optimize children's intellectual, physical and social growth. National research clearly shows that the program works. Children of families who have been in PAT demonstrate advanced language development, problem-solving and social skills, not only at age three, but into elementary school. Once in school, they have a lower grade retention rate and higher acheivement test scores. The Center is partnering with two Indiana agencies to increase the number of families participating in PAT: ~ Birth-to-Five, Inc. is currently the largest provider of "Parents As Teachers" in Indiana. Based in Richmond, Birth-to-Five serves over 300 families in primarily urban neighborhoods. Funding will allow Birth-to-Five to enroll in PAT an additional 30 families from underserved rural populations. ~ New Hope Child and Family Services, Inc. has provided family-centered early childhood services to urban and rural families in southeastern Indiana for over 20 years. Each year more than 600 families utilize services through one of its five child and family centers. Partnership with the Center will enable New Hope to add the "Parents As Teachers" program to their family services.
The Center aims to increaseThe Center aims to increase the number of families who participate in high-quality family education programs, including the following: ~ Links to Learning
Focusing on parents of 1st through 4th grade children, this program offers a series of guided group discussions on practical topics such as how daily family routines can strengthen children's learning, how parent-child conversations contribute to children's problem-solving abilities, and ways to form partnerships with schools. ~ Family Math & Family Science
These two nationally-recognized programs are for families of preschool, elementary and middle-school children. In these workshops, parents and children learn-and have fun together-through a variety of imaginative (and nonthreatening) hands-on activities. Parents also learn problem-solving skills and strategies to reinforce learning at home. For more information on these and other programs, contact Sue Switzer or Kate Gill Kressley at FSC Partnerships, 317-205-2595.
Teachers in a 1996 public agenda poll agreed: what public schools need most to help children learn is their parents' involvement. Yet most teachers begin their careers unprepared to work with families. Joyce Johnstone, Chair of Marian College's Education Department and a key partner in the Indiana Center for Family, School & Community Partnerships, points out that only a few teacher preparation colleges and universities include such preparation in their curricula. In a majority of states, including Indiana, teacher certification requirements make no mention of family involvement. Dr. Johnstone calls that "a serious discrepancy between teachers' preparation and the types of family involvement activities they are increasingly expected to carry out." The Marian College Education Department has been working to remedy this discrepancy since 1991. Today they have a nationally-recognized teacher training model that is preparing a new generation of teachers to partner with families. The time is right. According to family involvement expert Dr. Joyce Epstein of Johns Hopkins University "many colleges and universities appear ready to add topics of school, family, and community partnerships to their curricula." With Marian College's award-winning teacher training program as catalyst, FSC Partnerships and Marian have joined forces to shrink the family involvement information gap in Indiana's teacher education programs. Assistance and information will be provided to Indiana colleges to support the infusion of family-school-community partnership practices in course work and in practicum experiences for teachers in training. Written by The Family Connection for Partners in Learning [Vol 1:2, 1998] a newsletter of the Indiana Center for Family, School & Community Partnerships. If you would like more information about involving fathers in their children's education, contact the Center at 317-205-2595 or email: fscp@indy.net Back to Partners
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Grant Funds Will Expand Parents As Teachers 
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article: Successful Family-School Partnerships