US Department of Education
www.ed.gov/parents/academics/help/tools-for-success/index.html

Parents are children's first and most promising source for success in school. This site highlights this fact by promoting numerous links to online or hard copy publications that can be used by both parents and teachers to help families actively become involved in the development of their children?s reading skills. The materials also focus on topics such as homework, keeping kids drug-free, and living a healthy lifestyle.

Family Education Network
www.familyeducation.com/home

This site serves as a resource advice and information for parents and families. Some of the highlighted topics are education, discipline, health, entertainment, and downloadable activity books.

First Day of School America
www.firstday.org/index.html

This site offers information on how to promote family involvement in education. It also offers information on the campaign to get parents involved from the first day of school, free activity materials, and a message board for parents to ask questions or gather info.

National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education
www.ncpie.org

This is a database of resources documents about the important role families have in the academic development of children. Many of the posted resources are free. The site also offers contacts for support and information for parents of children with disabilities.

Parents as Teachers
www.patnc.org

Gaining support from national, state, and local funding, this site promotes the Parents as Teachers program, an initiative that began in 1981 to encourage parents to nurture educational development in their children from birth to age five. It site offers many resources that can help parents prepare their children for education and to help them find a program in their area.

Parents for Public Schools
www.parents4publicschools.com

Parents for Public Schools is a national organization of community-based chapters which helps public schools attract all families in a community. The web site provides parents with resources to support equality and diversity, and to help all students succeed.

Project Appleseed
www.projectappleseed.org

Project Appleseed promotes a greater involvement in children?s education by asking parents to take a pledge to agree to read with children at home, assist with homework, and increase the connection between learning at school and learning at home. This site offers multiple site links and resources to aid parents in volunteer efforts, school support, and grading their children's school.

PTO Today
www.ptotoday.com

PTO Today serves as a reference for parents who want to start a parent group or who already have one, and want ideas on how to keep it going, funding, and membership. This site also offers a magazine and parent yellow pages for contact and additional resources.

National PTA
www.pta.org

This site encourages parents to increase their involvement in their children?s schools in many different ways. There are links for parents with information about:

• helping children succeed in and outside of school
• approaching health and safety issues
• dealing with drugs and alcohol
• a web forum for parents to share their thoughts and concerns.

Parents can also nominate their child's school for the Schools of Excellence Certification, recognizing the dedication of parents and educators in the success of their students.

National Parent Information Network
www.npin.org

Michigan Resource Center
www.mrc.org

Search Institute
www.search-institute.org

Partnership for Learning
www.EduGuide.org

Michigan Department of Education
www.michigan.gov/mde

Career Portal
www.michigan.gov/careers

Great Start FIA
www.ceoexpress.com/html/member/indhomework.asp

National Center on Secondary Education and Transition
www.ncset.org/default.asp

Lots of great information on this site on issues related to high school school-to-work and to transition to post-secondary schools.

National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities
www.nichcy.org/index.html

A national information and referral center that provides information on disabilities and disability-related issues for families, educators, and other professionals.

ASCD SmartBrief
www.smartbrief.com/ascd/

Designed specifically for professionals in K-12 education, ASCD SmartBrief is a FREE daily e-mail newsletter. It provides the latest education news and information you need to stay on top of issues that are important to you. Sign up today to receive ASCD SmartBrief!

ACRN Parent Involvement Guide
www.acrnetwork.org/parents.aspx

US Department of Education Helping Your Child Series
www.ed.gov/parents/academic/help/hyc.html

No Parent Left Behind - Reaching the Hardest-to-Involve Parents
www.daleicle.org/Parentkitinfo.htm

This resource kit is the International Center's latest publication in its closing the achievement gap series.

Partnering with Families and Communities
www.ascd.org/publications/ed_lead/200405/epstein.html

To learn at high levels, all students need the guidance and support of their teachers, families, and others in the community. Click the link above to learn the best practices in building school partnership programs.

Michigan's Children
www.michiganschildren.org

Families and schools need to make efforts to improve communication for the benefit of their children's education. The family advocacy group Michigan's Children helps to see that happen.

Looking Anew at Parental Involvement
http://www.ascd.org/cms/index.cfm?TheViewID=2541&reid=sb

Schools across the country are redefining parental involvement, writes Gene R. Carter. From family literacy nights to parents who volunteer in school offices and classrooms, schools are transcending bake sales and parent teacher conferences to explore new ways to involve parents in their children's education. A relationship between parents and their children's school helps parents feel comfortable contributing to the school and their children's academic success. The importance of parental involvement is well documented in education research.

GreatSchools.net
www.greatschools.net

GreatSchools.net is a nonprofit organization providing parents with information to choose schools, support their children's education, and advocate for education excellence.

Prevention Network
www.preventionnetwork.org

Prevention Network, a statewide organization of volunteers and professional, supports substance abuse prevention and related efforts in Michigan, provides services which build the capacity of diverse grassroots groups to carry out effective local solutions, and coordinates statewide awareness and advocacy initiatives.

Connect for Kids
www.connectforkids.org

Connect for Kids makes the best use of communications technologies, specifically the Internet, to give adults, parents, grandparents, guardians, educators, advocates, policymakers, elected officials and others the tools and information they need to improve the lives of children, youth and families. The Connect for Kids online publication covers more than 30 topics ranging from arts to youth development, foster care to adoption, and welfare reform to oral health.

Parent Leader
http://parentleaders.blogspot.com

Parenting for Tolerance
www.tolerance.org/parents/talktokids.jsp

Tolerance.org is a principal online destination for people interested in dismantling bigotry and creating, in hate's stead, communities that value diversity.

DisabilityInfo.gov
www.disabilityinfo.gov

This user-friendly Web site contains links to information of interest to people with disabilities, their families, employers, service providers and other community members.

Three4Me.com
www.three4me.com/theprogram.htm

The mission of Three for Me is to improve the well-being of children by inspiring and equipping parents/families to be effectively involved in their children's education.

National Center for Family & Community Connections with Schools
http://www.sedl.org/connections/

The National Center for Family & Community Connections with Schools bridges research and practice - linking people with research-based infromation and resources that they can use to effectively connect schools, famillies, and communities.

Family Day http://www.casafamilyday.org/

A national effort to promote parental engagement as a simple, effective way to reduce youth substance abuse and raise healthier children.

America's Career Resource Network http://www.acrnetwork.org

ACRN consists of state and federal organizations that provide information, resources and training on career and education exploration. This page on Career Development, for example, contains information about reaching out to hispanic populations.

Family-to-Family Health Information and Education Center http://www.bridges4kids.org/f2f/

The Family-to-Family Health Information and Education Center offers information for individuals and familys on insurance, health care, transition for youth prescription assistance, and more.

AACTE - Parental Engagement
http://www.aacte.org/Programs/Parental_Engagement/default.aspx

AACTE, with support from the MetLife Foundation (and behind the scenes support from NCPIE), held a Mini Institute for their members in February of 2007 to promote the importance of engaging parents in the academic success of their children in pre-service teacher training programs and in-service professional development programs. The Survey and Findings, as well as the presentations from leading researchers are being made available on their website.

Bright Futures: Family Matters
http://www.brightfuturesforfamilies.org/pdf/FamilyMattersFall2007.pdf

Just as our children occasionally need a parent's help with homework, schools also rely on parents. A school may need parents to chaperone a field trip, join the PTA (Parent Teacher Association), respond to school surveys, or help develop policies. Consequently, going ?back-to-school' is not just for kids. Parents are encouraged to go back to school as well. In fact, children whose parents/guardians are involved in their education and participate in school-related events, are better students, are more likely to graduate and less likely to smoke, abuse alcohol and drugs or get into fights.

State Sets Standard for Family and Community Involvement
http://www.education.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/45597738-F31B-4333-9BB9-34255F02BC6D/0/PACtheMissingPiecev2.pdf

The Commissioner's Parents Advisory Council (CPAC), a group that advises the Kentucky education commissioner on policy issues, has issued a ground-breaking report that sets a state standard for family and community involvement focused on improving student achievement. The report, The Missing Piece of the Proficiency Puzzle, contains six standards-based objectives, a sweeping set of recommendations, and a comprehensive rubric.

Career Exploration Workbook
www.getcareerwise.com/career_exploration_workbook.html

Download a free Teaching Guide that shows how valuable and versatile this new 96-page, consumable workbook is for kids from 5th to 12th grade. Filled with career exploration activities, exercises, vocabulary words, a journal and more, the workbook makes career exploration relevant, fun and affordable. Kids can keep the workbook for years to come as a valuable reference. Also available online: National Council of Teachers of English Standards for the English Language Arts; the National Career Development Guidelines Framework, the American School Counselor Association national Standards for Career Development.

Bookshare
www.bookshare.org

Bookshare is the world's largest accessible digital library for persons with print and learning disabilities (such as dyslexia). Students with qualifying disabilities get FREE access to over 43,000 digital books, textbooks and teacher recommended reading, as well as assistive reading technology to help them read and study independently. Membership for students and schools is free thanks to an award from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education (OSEP).