National PIRC Project Directors' Conference

Parental Information and Resource Center (PIRC) leaders gathered in Washington, DC, for the National PIRC Project Directors’ Conference on July 22–24. The conference was hosted by the U.S. Department of Education and coordinated by the National PIRC Coordination Center, which is a partnership of SEDL, the Harvard Family Research Project, and the Miko Group, Inc. The PIRCs work to promote parent involvement policies and activities that can lead to improvements in student academic achievement. The Coordination Center supports their work by providing technical assistance and national conferences. The July event was the third national PIRC Conference that the Coordination Center has coordinated.

The conference was organized around four content strands: early childhood parent education; statewide leadership and partnerships; communicating with parents about state and local report cards, public school choice, and supplemental education services; and parental involvement strategies described in Section 1118 of the Title I provisions. The PIRC directors, PIRC staff, and parent representatives who attended also received information about recent and upcoming developments in parental and community involvement practices, policies, and programs.

“Research shows that a child’s chances for academic success improve when the parents are involved in his or her education,” says project director Lacy Wood, who directs the Coordination Center work at SEDL. “Events like the national conference help PIRC directors take a more strategic, comprehensive approach to promoting parent involvement, and they also have the opportunity to network and learn from one another.”

To learn more about the National PIRC Coordination Center, visit the program Web site at http://www.nationalpirc.org.