This issue's "Parent Group Spotlight" features Deborah Simon, president of West Sound Gifted, Talented & Twice-Exceptional (WSGT2e), who started a parent group in Washington in 2013. In just one year, this small, but mighty group has held community forums, attended school board meetings, and helped influence local gifted programming.…

Recent policies in Ethiopia put students at the heart of school improvement through structures for peer leadership and school-level consultation, evaluation and decision-making. This article draws on an ethnographic study of a government school in Tigray, Ethiopia, to explore how the participation and influence of students is achieved and mediated…

As school systems nationwide struggle to deliver learning in a pandemic, parent advocacy groups are stepping up to help Black and Hispanic families who have often been left out of previous education policy making discussions. This brief profiles four advocacy groups--The Oakland REACH; Parents Amplifying Voices in Education, or PAVE; Kids First…

An increased level of collaboration is often a specific requirement for groups and agencies involved in complementary grant program activities. This ensures that programs with a common funding source are as efficient and effective as possible in areas where their missions converge. In this report, the authors highlight collaborative activities…

Parental involvement has been defined in various ways by researchers and is reported to have many advantages for children's education. The research utilises a case study strategy to investigate teachers' perspectives of parental involvement at four case sites in Barbados. In-depth interviews were done with teachers and analysis utilised content…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to deepen the understanding of how minoritized families and communities contribute to equity-focused school change, not as individual consumers or beneficiaries, but as educational and community leaders working collectively to transform their schools. Design/methodology/approach: This qualitative case study…

In this study, we tried to find an answer to the question as to whether positive outcomes in socio-emotional and academic sense may be provided to the education of kids kept under the practice known as "Volunteer Guardians on duty". This study reached the following conclusions through the data obtained. The presence of legal guardians…

Goshen Elementary PTA's membership shrank the first year the author was PTA president. In the back of her mind, she was bothered by the fact that their membership numbers had dropped. So, after she attended a regional session with her vice president on growing membership, she got the courage to propose something different. They discussed with…

In order for children to acquire meaningful education, families are advised to participate in learning activities at home. Such activities range from monitoring homework, problem-solving to reading with children during leisure time. But home-learning was claimed to receive little attention from key stakeholders among primary schools in Kenya's…

Summer vacation from school can bring afternoons at the swimming pool, family vacations, and maybe a spirit-filled summer camp that ignites a passion for art or rock climbing. But for many children, summer also means setbacks in learning that take a tremendous toll on teaching and student performance over time. PTA leaders can make a vital…

People will join organizations that serve a great cause in an effective and efficient manner. However, with so many different activities, issues, and concerns competing for people's attention each day, the purpose and goal of every PTA and PTSA membership must be clear, understandable, and practical to convert interested individuals into members.…

This article examines the work of educationist Charlotte Mason (1842-1923) to explore the practice of home education in the late nineteenth century. Mason's work reflected and responded to the particular circumstances and concerns of her clientele. She provided a way for parents to compensate for the practical deficiencies of contemporary…

Just as online tools are connecting school communities, so, too, are the ways of raising the funds for grassroots projects changing. Over the past 10 years, increasingly sophisticated tools have been developed to assist with the process of raising money online. Crowdfunding is a new approach that offers donors a gamelike experience, with pledges…

When Corbell Elementary opened its doors in 2006 in Frisco, Texas, its newly formed PTA faced the challenge of implementing a productive fundraiser to get the school off to a great start. The new board chose to focus its efforts on a single fundraiser, rather than a series of smaller ones. They wanted to avoid having the children selling any kind…

Most everyone knows that times are tough for charitable organizations, and the ever-increasing number of nonprofits asking for donations from families who are also feeling the pinch on their wallet does not help. Many PTA units may be encountering "compassion fatigue" from even their most dedicated donors. How can PTAs compete for donations in…