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Involvement Redefined
PPS's New Brand of Involvement, Essentials for Impact, and Best Practices
serve as the Standards of Operation for PPS Chapters.
Combining these three strands of PPS work will position a chapter to be a strong and powerful force for improved public education for all children.
PPS New Brand of Involvement
How PPS Involvement is Distinct and Effective
Parents for Public Schools members are involved in public school advocacy and reform through distinctive, important work to influence the factors that impact student achievement and improve schools. PPS believes parents are owners of their public schools and supports members in developing and using these traits of meaningful parent involvement:
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Equal partners. PPS reworks relationships between families, communities and schools so that parents are equal and actively engaged partners, not passive, external constituents of their public school systems. |
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Proactive problem solvers. PPS moves parents beyond a reactive, help-only-when-asked mode to identify problems and bring their talents and ideas to the policy table, not just the homework table. |
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Effective decision-makers. PPS provides the resources and ideas that help parents work with educators to define and analyze issues and find solutions. |
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Standard raisers. PPS challenges mediocrity at every level in public schools by setting high standards and helping students and educators meet these standards. |
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Mentors to others. PPS paves the way for ongoing and significant involvement at all levels of the district by creating welcome spaces and meaningful roles for more parents. |
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Committed to diversity in action. PPS crosses racial, cultural and socioeconomic lines to develop partnerships among parents that are needed to effectively promote the best education for all students. |
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Think nationally and act locally. PPS does its local work as part of a national effort and shares resources and ideas with other PPS parents across the nation. |
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Community advocates. PPS answers a civic duty to help make public schools effective for all children and strong anchors of their communities.
Essentials for Impact
How PPS Chapters Need to Function
Parents for Public Schools knows that the following must be in place for a chapter to have a sustained constructive impact on its local public schools:
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A vision that embraces the PPS philosophy of public education in their community; |
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A distinct mission that transforms parent involvement and ties it to factors that improve schools and student achievement; |
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An organizational infrastructure that includes identifiable leadership, financial support, permanent staff (whether paid or unpaid), and an inclusive process for making decisions; |
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A plan and mechanism for communicating locally-derived goals and strategies; |
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A plan for carrying out activities that reflect PPS-defined best practices; |
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A commitment to diversity by working on behalf of all children and all schools and by building membership representative of parents and others throughout the district, including those who have had the least connection to schools; |
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Accountability to the PPS network (pays dues, reports and exchanges best practices, and attends leadership conference). |
Best Practices
What PPS Action Should Look Like and Produce
Parents for Public Schools' practices have significant impact because these questions guide planning and implementation:
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How does this practice demonstrate the attitude that parents are owners of the schools? How does it improve the working relationships with teachers, administrators, policy makers, and the community? |
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How does this practice yield new skills for parents that help improve schools and boost student achievement? |
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How does this practice provide opportunities for the effective involvement of all parents, especially those not typically at the decision making table? |
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How does this practice bring about district level action that benefits all children? |
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How does this practice affect student performance directly or indirectly? |
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How does this practice affect the practice of teachers, principals or superintendent directly or indirectly? |
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How does this practice improve the process of inclusive decision making directly or indirectly? |
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How does this practice build confidence and inspire hope in public education? | |
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