This handbook has been written to address issues such as how to organize an effective parent group, how to develop a plan of action that gets results, how to deal effectively with school officials, how to make a parent organization work, and how to develop leadership, plan meetings, use funds, and find resources. It is directed toward parents who are concerned about their children's education and about the environment in which that education takes place, and who have organized--or would like to organize--a parents' group that can make a positive contribution toward improving conditions at their children's school. The focus of this handbook is the smallest unit of parent organization--the parent group at a school. This focus was chosen because it deals with the issue that strikes closest to home for every parent--his or her own children's schooling--and because the local school group is the basic unit on which citywide and statewide parent organizations are built. (Author/IRT)