Parents Using Data to Improve Schools – Podcast Episode 92

Parents Using Data to Improve Schools – Podcast Episode 92 | Classnotes Podcast 92

Classnotes Podcast (August 9, 2011) Armed with actionable knowledge, parents are able to work with their schools to bring about positive change. As seen in IDRA’s Quality Schools Action Framework, a key element is having access to disaggregated data in ways that are meaningful and actionable. Anne Foster, executive director of Parents for Public Schools, describes how PPS is training parents to interpret data and to better understand how schools and school boards function. She gives several examples of transformations that have occurred as a result, like improving science achievement and dramatically improving graduation rates.

Anne is interviewed by Aurelio Montemayor, M.Ed., director of the IDRA Texas Parent Information and Resource Center and a member of the PPS advisory board.

Show length: 16:00

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Resources

Parents for Public Schools
http://pps.ginkgostreet.com/

IDRA Quality Schools Action Framework
http://www.idra.org/change-model/quality-schools-action-framework/

Partners and Catalysts – How Communities Are Putting Data to Work to Improve Education
By Laurie Posner, M.P.A., IDRA Newsletter
http://www.idra.org/resource-center/partners-and-catalysts/

Knowledge for Action – Organizing School-Community Partnerships Around Quality Data
By Laurie Posner, M.P.A., and Hector Bojorquez, IDRA Newsletter
http://www.idra.org/resource-center/knowledge-for-action/

Authentic Consultation – NCLB Outreach Leadership and Dialogues for Parents, Students and Teachers
By Aurelio M. Montemayor, M.Ed., IDRA Newsletter
http://www.idra.org/resource-center/authentic-consultation/

Informing Change Bringing School Data Online
By Laurie Posner, M.P.A., IDRA Newsletter
http://www.idra.org/resource-center/informing-change-bringing-school-data-online/

IDRA OurSchool data portal (Texas)
http://www.idra.org/OurSchool

IDRA OurSchool data portal – in Spanish (Texas)
http://www.idra.org/OurSchoolsp

Courage to Connect: A Quality Schools Action Framework
http://www.idra.org/change-model/college-bound-determined/

IDRA’s Family Leadership Principles
By Aurelio Montemayor, M.Ed., IDRA Newsletter
http://www.idra.org/resource-center/idras-family-leadership-principles/

Raise Your Hand Texas
http://www.raiseyourhandtexas.org/

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Show Notes

Anne outlines the Parents for Public Schools (PPS) mission to engage parents and community members in supporting public education; she also recounts the organization's beginnings in 1989.

Anne explains how PPS chapters across the country tailor their work and activities to the most pressing issues in their local communities.

Anne talks about the importance of understanding education data. She outlines the work of the parent leadership institute, which teaches parents how to read and interpret data and then apply that knowledge to projects in their own school districts.

Anne shares the success stories of two Mississippi parent groups, who studied the data for their children's schools and then created programs to raise science test scores and graduation rates.

Anne talks about the challenges of moving parents forward on the engagement spectrum and helping them to secure funding for their PPS chapters.

Resource Center