How can I learn about standards, about what my child should be learning in school?

·         Home2School.com:  This site requires a password (which you can get for free) and an email address. The site provides specific information on what children of different ages should be learning. You can do a series of “Two Minute Tutorials” about any subject for any grade level, up to Grade 8. You can also set up a specific education plan for your child, simply by entering a name, sex, grade, and state. 

·         SchoolWisePress.com:  “Helping Parents Get Smart about California Schools.”  If you are from California, you can use this site to compare schools, and there are several good articles about standards. There is also a link to a report on the “State of State Standards,” which compares how different states are doing on standards.

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How can I help my child with homework and with school work in general?

• The Family Education Network: This commercial site includes a section called “What Kids Need to Know.”  This has a simple list of things children of different ages should know in different subjects. If you want to go further, you can look at different activities, exercises and games to help children of various ages in different subjects. 

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How can I get more involved at my child’s school?

• African American Village: Lists links to websites that are useful to parents and educators, including homework assistance, national education organizations, California newsreel: African American Perspective, Learning Network: Milestones in African American Education…and more.

• Coalition for Community Schools: An organization that promotes community schools, underlining the importance of high standards for all children, and pushing for community involvement in schools.

• GreatSchools.Net: GreatSchools.net is a nonprofit online guide to K-12 schools that provides parents with the information they need to guide their children's education. This site includes lots of data on California schools that parents can use to organize around school issues.

• National African American Parent Involvement Day: Gives information about an annual event and also provides information in general for parents and communities.

• National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education: This organization’s mission is “to advocate the involvement of parents and families in their children's education, and to foster relationships between home, school, and community to enhance the education of all our nation's young people.”  The information on this site is organized by subject, by audience, and by organization. 

• National Community Education Association: This is a national coalition of groups promoting the idea of community schools.  The site has a section on “community education, parent-community-school involvement,” which includes links to many other organizations. 

• National Parent Teacher Association: The website for the national center for parent-teacher school organization. It has information about how to get involved in your school’s PTA, as well as general advice and support for parents.

• Parents for Public Schools: This site helps parents organize who are “not typically at the decision making table.”  It includes many good resources for parents, and links to other web sites for further information.

• SchoolSuccessInfo.org: This site is designed to help parents get involved in their children’s education. There are sections that give general parenting tips, such as how to help a child with reading or homework, or how to prepare for a parent-teacher conference. 

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How can I find out more about my rights as a parent under the new No Child Left Behind law?

• U.S. Department of Education: This website includes fact sheets for parents about important aspects of the law, testing and supplemental services (free tutoring for students in low-performing schools). 

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