The academic achievement of children is a national concern. Thus, PTA focuses not only on individual schools, but also on the communities they serve. One of the innovative approaches to community involvement in education is the community PTA. Community PTAs are not tied to a single school, but instead offer membership and involvement to various…

The booklet describes the Parents Alliance Employment Project, a program to provide job development, job placement, and job coaching to persons with intellectual disabilities in the DuPage County, Illinois, area. The first four sections provide an introduction, explain the program's philosophy, describe the population served by the project, and…

Children benefit academically when parents and educators work together. For this reason, parents' involvement in their children's education is a priority of the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001." But a strong connection between parents and educators does not come about automatically. Both parties may need to learn new roles and skills…

The Special Education Parents Alliance created an employment project seeking jobs in the business community for special education graduates and other persons with disabilities. The project serves learning disabled, educable mentally handicapped, trainable mentally handicapped, and physically disabled persons in DuPage County and portions of west…

Described is an action research program in four elementary schools in disadvantaged areas of Quincy, Illinois. This educational improvement effort focused on parent involvement and enrichment during and after school as well as in the summer. Curricular modifications and enrichment included field trips, development of listening skills, puppetry,…