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Areas of Expertise

Family and Community

At a Glance | Services | Significant Work | Products

National PIRC Coordination Center: The National PIRC Coordination Center, a partnership of SEDL, the Harvard Family Research Project, and the Miko Group, Inc., supports the work of the nation’s 62 Parental Information and Resource Centers (PIRCs) by providing training events, research-based materials, new grantee orientation, on-site visits, and regional and national conferences.

National Center for Family and Community Connections with Schools: SEDL’s National Center for Family and Community Connections with Schools disseminates research-based information and resources to foster connections among families, communities, and schools with the goal of improving student academic achievement.

Bright Futures Early Reading First Project: Staff at SEDL’s Louisiana office are working with the Madison Parish Public School System and the Delta Community Action Association Head Start on the Bright Futures Early Reading First project to develop, test, and refine strategies for creating family-friendly preschools that support language and literacy development.

South Carolina Parental Involvement Support: Southeast Comprehensive Center (SECC): SEDL’s SECC has been helping the South Carolina Department of Education plan, develop, and implement parental involvement strategies that meet the requirements of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act.

Past Work

National Institute for Literacy Dissemination Project: SEDL helped the National Institute for Literacy get its free booklets, which provide parents with tips for developing children’s early reading skills, into the hands of parents nationwide.

Collaborative Action Teams: SEDL staff evaluated and refined the process for creating Collaborative Action Teams, which worked to develop partnerships among students, families, communities, and schools at the local level. These teams identified pressing issues in a community and took action to address them.

Family and Community Research Studies: In the 1970s, SEDL undertook three projects that sought to study and improve relationships among schools, families, and communities. The most significant was a groundbreaking 6-year study examining the beliefs and attitudes about parent involvement in children’s elementary education. The results revealed that educators supported more traditional roles for parent involvement, whereas parents supported more active roles such as school advocate.

Supporting Family Involvement in Education: In the 1980s, SEDL provided guidance and tools to assist businesses, schools, and communities in helping working mothers be more involved in their children’s education. We also conducted field-based research on building successful school-family-community partnerships, particularly in lower-income and minority communities.