The California PARENT Center E-News - November 24, 2003
Organizations Collaborating in the California PARENT Center:
California State PTA, Chicano Federation of San Diego, Homey's Youth Foundation (HIPPY), Parent Institute for Quality Education, San Diego Unified Council of PTAs, San Diego Unified School District, San Diego Urban League, Union of Pan Asian Communities.
November 24, 2003

Greetings and welcome to the California PARENT Center E-News Monthly.

The E-News Monthly is distributed by the California PARENT Center, a statewide Parental Information and Resource Center (PIRC) based in San Diego, CA, funded by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Innovation and Improvement. It is a project of the June Burnett Institute for Children Youth and Families, administered by San Diego State University Foundation.

FEATURES:

The California PARENT Center NEW Services and Products for 2004!

We are pleased to share with you the new directions of the California PARENT Center. Our federal grant will be ending in 2004. With the leadership of our new Center Program Director, Jeana Preston, we will begin our newly developed program of parent involvement services and trainings in January 2004. We will soon have brand new resource materials available on our Website (http://parent.sdsu.edu). The Center will selectively continue some services (like the E-News), while adding a variety of new fee-based trainings for parent leaders, parent groups and schools. Services will continue to emphasize building and maintaining successful family-school partnerships that support student achievement. Training services will focus on two major areas:

1) No Child Left Behind -- Helping schools meet the expanded parent involvement requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. All schools receiving Title 1 funds must provide teachers with training to work in partnership with parents and must also provide parents with training and materials to help them support their children's achievement. The California PARENT Center has parent and staff training modules specifically designed to meet NCLB parent involvement mandates. (Costs for training and materials are appropriate expenditures for Title 1 parent involvement funds.)

2) Training and Certification Classes for Parent Involvement Liaisons -- Preparing school-based parent liaisons to use effective, research-based strategies to build strong parent involvement programs. Classes are intended to train parent liaisons to do effective parent outreach to increase parent involvement, plan activities that help parents work with their children to increase achievement, and give parents positive discipline strategies. Participants who successfully complete course work will earn a Parent Liaison Certificate. (Cost of certification classes is an appropriate expenditure for Title 1 parent involvement funds.)

Keep watching the Center's web site (http://parent.sdsu.edu) for more detailed information about the NEW trainings, materials and Parent Liaison Certification classes. If you want us to send the information directly to you, please contact Beth Sondak at <bsondak@projects.sdsu.edu> or 619-594-4756.

California Report on Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) - The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) has accountability as its key component. Each state is required to develop and implement a statewide accountability system that will ensure that all schools and districts make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) as defined by NCLB. All students in all schools in California will be required to perform at or above the proficient level in English-Language Arts and Mathematics by 2014.

California Academic Performance Index (API) Growth Report - This link will take you to recent press releases and related documents that explain the 2003-2004 API Growth in California. It also provides the time line for future reports along with the state guidelines for schools and districts that wish to make corrections to their reports. Click here to link to the API page on the California Department of Education's website.

The California PARENT Center always welcomes the exchange of information and input from the community. We invite you to visit our web site at: http://parent.sdsu.edu/. If you would like to sign up to receive the June Burnett Institute News newsletter, please send a request, including your name and mailing address, to cpclist@projects.sdsu.edu. Do you know anyone who might be interested in receiving the California PARENT Center E-News Monthly? Please pass the word and help us promote parent involvement in the education of children. Any questions, comments or information are welcomed. Thank you for your support and interest in our organization and its work. We look forward to hearing from you.

Feel free to read previous issues of the California PARENT Center E-News, located on our web site at http://parent.sdsu.edu/e-list/. Enjoy!

If you do not wish to participate in this network, please send an email with "Remove" in the subject heading of the email to cpclist@projects.sdsu.edu. We will promptly remove your address from our lists. Thank you.