Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Make way, New Orleans, Chicago, Detroit and Phillie!! Baltimore is gaining on you in the race to destroy public education!

Make way, New Orleans, Chicago, Detroit and Phillie!! Baltimore is gaining on you in the race to destroy public education! | educationalchemy:






Make way, New Orleans, Chicago, Detroit and Phillie!! Baltimore is gaining on you in the race to destroy public education!



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Who will win? The corporations with the most real estate. Maryland public education is a land grab for the education technology industry and privately managed charter schools.
Meet Calvert Education and Camden Partners: Because They’re Coming to a District Near You!
What is Calvert Foundation?
The company was founded in 1906 and is based in Hunt Valley, Maryland.
As of October 7, 2013, Calvert Education Services, LLC operates as a subsidiary of VSCHOOLZ, Inc.
What is Vschoolz?
Vschoolz is located at 1999 N University Dr, Coral Springs, FL 33071. According to their website: “VSCHOOLZ, Inc. provides digital solutions to launch virtual programs to schools, districts, corporations, and other organizations. The company offers an integrated customizable platform that enables teachers to edit, change, remove, or adapt the content provided to fit the individualized classroom and school needs. Its courses are delivered in an online environment incorporating collaborative tools, such as message boards, digital drop boxes, chat rooms, and teacher to teacher file sharing.”
Calvert Education Services and VSCHOOLZ announced a merger to create the “premier provider” of virtual and blended learning solutions for K-12 Education
Enter Pearson. Are we surprised?
Baltimore-based Calvert Education Services has appointed education company executive Steven C. Gross as its new CEO. Gross had been senior vice president of marketing for the school business segment of Pearson Plc.
But Wait! There’s more!
Calvert Education Services is a portfolio company of Camden Partners.
Camden Partners is a Baltimore-based private equity firm that funds and participates in the growth of well-managed emerging public company businesses within the business services, health care and education industries. Current investments include: Infocrossing, Inc., Blue Rhino, Concorde Career Colleges, Superior Consultant Holdings and Pharmanetics.
As a private equity firm they have a long history of “significant investments in the education space.” Their current portfolio companies include companies such as:
David Warnock is a managing member of Camden Partners. He is also  co-founder of the Green Street Academy and co-chair of the board of trustees.
According to Warnock:
“What’s coming fast and what we should aspire to is why shouldn’t every kid in a Baltimore City high school haveMake way, New Orleans, Chicago, Detroit and Phillie!! Baltimore is gaining on you in the race to destroy public education! | educationalchemy:
 

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The Big Error of School Accountability - Living in Dialogue

The Big Error of School Accountability - Living in Dialogue:



The Big Error of School Accountability 



 By John Kuhn.

With the debate over testing roiling Congress and state capitals nationwide, it is important to recognize the damage done to American pedagogy by high-stakes testing and the deleterious effects of punitive accountability on the students who depend on public schools.
In their slick apologia for high stakes testing and punitive accountability, both of which have dominated American education politics and pedagogy since the 1980s, Bill McKenzie and Sandy Kress start out on the high road.  McKenzie is a high-ranking opinion-shaper at the George W. Bush Institute and a former editorialist for the Dallas Morning News. Kress was an architect of Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and, though he leaves this out of his bio attached to the essay, a long-time lobbyist for Pearson, the world’s leading vendor of K-12 standardized tests. The two edu-lobbyists begin their essay by mentioning historical moments in education policymaking and politics that would seem to appeal to a wide audience. They condemn segregation and celebrate Brown v. Board of Education. They praise the Elementary and Secondary School Act of 1965 (later renamed ESEA) and they celebrate its noble intention that “schools in disadvantaged communities would receive the resources to provide their students a decent education.”
Pay close attention to that statement, because it is the last time the authors will refer to resources as a necessary element to ensuring quality education in disadvantaged communities. Through the sleight of hand that has been perfected by the modern education reformer—and McKenzie and Kress are education reformers of the highest order—the writers deftly pivot from any and all talk of the need to provide equitable educational resources across all communities so that schools in even the poorest areas can deliver on the promise of education, and they spend the remaining pages of their article discussing something much easier on the taxpayer’s pocketbook: accountability, or the careful creation of just the right punishments to make teachers and students succeed in making learning happen, without respect to the pesky details of The Big Error of School Accountability - Living in Dialogue:
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Impact of Poverty, Race and Cultural Bias on Educational Opportunity | Parents Across America Webinar

Link to our webinar | Parents Across America:



Impact of Poverty, Race and Cultural Bias on Educational Opportunity | Parents Across America Webinar



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Last night’s webinar was informative, disturbing, and energizing!
Here’s the link to listen in on the program for those who were not able to join us last night, or for anyone who wants to get a second look at the data and other resources we provided.
We want to thank Dr. P.L. Thomas, who has become something of a mentor to PAA, for his significant role in the webinar. Also contributing were PAA leaders Nate Harris, who moderated the webinar, and Lourdes Perez, Dora Taylor and Julie Woestehoff, who added their thoughts and information to the discussion -thank you!
In addition to the information and issues presented on the webinar slides, we wanted to share some of the suggestions our presenters made for further reading.
  • Dr. Thomas blogs here. Here is a list of relevant recent blog posts
Also recommended:
  • Bruce Baker, School Finance 101, especially his recent Primer on school funding.
- See more at: http://parentsacrossamerica.org/link-webinar/#sthash.pIcb6kGg.dpuf
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NYC Public School Parents: Testimony of Leonie Haimson before the NYC Council Education Committee On school overcrowding and the deficiencies of the capital plan

NYC Public School Parents: Testimony of Leonie Haimson before the NYC Council Education Committee On school overcrowding and the deficiencies of the capital plan:



Testimony of Leonie Haimson before the NYC Council Education Committee On school overcrowding and the deficiencies of the capital plan


March 3, 2015

Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today.  My name is Leonie Haimson; I head Class Size Matters a citywide advocacy group devoted to providing information on the benefits of smaller classes to parents and others nationwide.

Last June, Class Size Matters released a report, Space Crunch, which analyzed the school overcrowding crisis in New York City, and pointed out the need to improve the City's proposed five year capital plan for school construction.[1] We found that given enrollment projections and existing overcrowding, it is likely that the real need in our schools is likely over 100,000 new seats, though the current capital plan would create less than half that number. 

By averaging the enrollment projections of the two DOE consultants, Statistical Forecasting and Grier Partnership, and then adding the additional growth from housing starts, as DOE does, one can estimate that  is that there will be approximately 84,000 additional students in grades K-8 by 2021; and an additional 32,000 high school students.[2]

There are only 38,654 seats in the proposed five year capital plan – with 4,000 of those seats still unsited as to district and with undetermined grade levels. Unless the plan is significantly expanded, our students are likely to be sitting in even more overcrowded schools in the years to come.

School overcrowding has significantly worsened in the last six years, especially at the elementary grade level. Last year, elementary school buildings had an average 97.5 percent utilization rate, according to the DOE's figures in the Blue Book, with the median rate at a shocking 102 percent. High schools were not far behind at an average of 95.2 percent.  About half of all students were enrolled in overcrowded schools last year, according to DOE’s figures, with 60% of elementary school students, totaling more than 490,000 students in all. 

At the same time, most experts believe that the official utilization figures reported by the DOE are faulty and actually underestimate the actual level of overcrowding in our schools, The Chancellor has appointed a task force to improve the formula, which will hopefully take account of the real needs of children for smaller classes, and a well-rounded education, with dedicated rooms for art, music and science, as well as mandated services. 

The result of all this overcrowding is that class sizes are pushed above reasonable levels, students have lost their cluster rooms, are assigned to lunch as early as 10 a.m., and/or have no access to the gym. Many special needs students are forced to receive their services in hallways or closets rather than in dedicated spaces.
In eleven NYC school districts, elementary schools average above 100 percent capacity; in 20 out of the 32 districts, above 90 percent. In addition, high schools in Queens and Staten Island average above 100 percent. More than 30,000 additional seats are needed in just these districts to bring schools down to 100 percent.
Even more seats are needed if overcrowding is to be eliminated at the neighborhood level, as evidenced by thousands of students sitting in trailers, and thousands prospective kindergarteners on wait lists for their zoned schools. 

Recent and past policies have worsened overcrowding.  During the Bloomberg administration, fewer schools built than in earlier administrations, as shown in ourSpace Crunch report. In addition, the DOE insisted on inserting hundreds of small schools and charters into buildings that already housed existing schools, eating up classrooms by replicating administrative and specialty rooms – a very inefficient use of space when the infrastructure is already inadequate to meet most students’ needs. In the effort to squeeze in more schools, DOE also redefined the size of a full size classroom down to only 500 square feet in their Instructional footprint, at the same times as increasing class size.  As more and more children were pushed into smaller and smaller rooms, the result has been a violation of the building code in many cases, which requires 20 square feet per student. 

This administration has also undertaken policies that have worsened overcrowding.  This year, in the push to expand pre-Kindergarten, at least 11,800 preK seats were added in 254 schools that were already overcrowded, according to DOE figures. [3]  The DOE’s plan to create community schools with wrap-around services also requires space, for offices and other programmatic needs. And none of this takes into account the need to reduce class size, which remains at a 15 year high in the early grades.   

In addition, the Mayor’s new ambitious plan to build an additional 160,000 additional market-rate units, on top of the 200,000 affordable units over the next ten years will create the need for even more school seats.[4]

Just as this capital plan is totally inadequate to relieve overcrowding, it is also unlikely to achieve the DOE's widely-publicized promise to eliminate trailers or temporary classroom units (TCUs). While the NY Times has reported that 7,158 students are enrolled in classes in these trailers, [5]  the actual number is likely 50 percent higher – as the DOE has omitted from its count thousands of high school, middle school and elementary school students, as well as severely disabled students, who attend classes in these substandard structures.

Moreover, although DOE officials have promised that the capital plan will accomplish the goal of eliminating trailers, many of which are in disrepair and long past their expected lifetime, and have allocated nearly $500 million to remove them and recondition the school yards on which they sit, there is not a single dollar in the capital plan dedicated specifically to replacing their seats. In the November capital plan, 81 TCUs are identified for removal with a minimum enrollment of 1126 students; but 236 TCU’s will remain with at least 6,265 students. The NYC Public School Parents: Testimony of Leonie Haimson before the NYC Council Education Committee On school overcrowding and the deficiencies of the capital plan:

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Arne Duncan Spends Visit To Local Elementary School Looking At UFO Books In Library | The Onion

Arne Duncan Spends Visit To Local Elementary School Looking At UFO Books In Library | The Onion - America's Finest News Source:



Arne Duncan Spends Visit To Local Elementary School Looking At UFO Books In Library


WASHINGTON—Saying the cabinet official could be heard periodically muttering exclamations of surprise and amazement, sources at Harriet Tubman Elementary School told reporters that Education Secretary Arne Duncan spent the entirety of his visit Thursday sitting Indian-style on the floor of the library, completely engrossed in books about UFOs. “Hey, Mrs. Keck! Did you know that more than 6,000 people see a UFO every year?” an awestruck Duncan reportedly asked librarian Joanne Keck after finishing a book titled Mysteries Of The Cosmos: Extraterrestrials And Flying Saucers. “Do you have any books about alien abductions or Area 51? I heard they have a real alien skeleton there!” At press time, Duncan was drawing a flying saucer with Magic Markers and could be heard making the high-pitched sound of a tractor beam.Arne Duncan Spends Visit To Local Elementary School Looking At UFO Books In Library | The Onion - America's Finest News Source:

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"Decarceration" Panel at Rowan Student Center, March 6. 6:45 PM Decarcerate The Garden State:

Decarcerate The Garden State: For Advance Release: "Decarceration" Panel at Rowan Student Center, March 6. 6:45 PM:




For Advance Release: "Decarceration" Panel at Rowan Student Center, March 6. 6:45 PM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Decarcerate the Garden State 908-881-5275

Tour de Decarcerate is a project of Decarcerate the Garden State that is working to bring “panel discussions” to cities and campuses throughout NJ to lay the ground work for a critical mass rising around the demand to DECARCERATE THE GARDEN STATE.



At Rowan University, the Glassboro Students Union, The Rowan University Students for Sensible Drug Policy and others are teaming up with the Decarcerate the Garden State to present such an event this week, Friday, March 6, 6:45 pm at the Rowan Student Center in Room 221.

The date of the event concurs with commemorations in Selma Alabama on March 7 of the 50th. Anniversary of the Bloody Sunday freedom march across the famous Selma bridge, when protesters were beaten and set upon by police dogs.  While politicians, including President Obama and former President Bush, will be using the event to laud civil rights “progresss”, organizers of the Rowan event believe “We should question how far did we come really as the number of people incarcerated in the United States has increased 11-fold since then.”

The event will feature a key note presentation from the nationally known Rev. Nyle Fort, who was recently dubbed the “Pastor of Fergsuson” by the London based Guardian paper and news service for his role in participating and inspiring resistance to “impunity” for killings by police, specifically in the Michael Brown case that has led to nationwide and international protests against police brutality.  Rev. Fort will give the historic back drop of mass incarceration and the role it plays in undermining the Black community and other “oppressed” groups in the United States.

Also on the panel will be two members of the Rowan University faculty.




The event will feature a key note presentation from the nationally known Rev. Nyle Fort, who was recently dubbed the “Pastor of Fergsuson” by the London based Guardian paper and news service for his role in participating and inspiring resistance to “impunity” for killings by police, specifically in the Michael Brown case that has led to nationwide and Decarcerate The Garden State: For Advance Release: "Decarceration" Panel at Rowan Student Center, March 6. 6:45 PM:
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REFUSE to surrender our children’s rights. OPT-OUT. How? | Reclaim Reform

REFUSE to surrender our children’s rights. OPT-OUT. How? | Reclaim Reform:



REFUSE to surrender our children’s rights. OPT-OUT. How?

Posted on March 3, 2015by 
Mr. Rogers knew. Mr. Arne Duncan, certain governors, legislators, school boards and school administrators seem to be ignoring our and our children’s basic rights.
Whatever race or combination of races we and our children are, we have basic human rights.
Mr Rogers and Arne Duncan
We and our children do not surrender our basic rights as Americans as we enter a school building.
Civil rights apply to all Americans. How can we stop the labeling and monetizing of our children when they are forced to take high stakes tests that none of us as parents were ever forced to take?
The wonderful people at United Opt Out National give us the paperwork to complete to defend our children and our children’s basic human rights.
Whether we are one of those “white suburban moms” that Arne Duncan insulted or are someone he chose to marginalize and ignore, we have legal recourse by filing a valid Civil Rights Complaint.
Make your school comply with American laws – not the new legislative threats passed by corrupted state legislators who accept campaign donations from corporate education REFUSE to surrender our children’s rights. OPT-OUT. How? | Reclaim Reform:
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The Smarter Balanced Common Core Mathematics Tests Are So Flawed They Should Not Be Used

The Smarter Balanced Common Core Mathematics Tests Are So Flawed They Should Not Be Used:



The Smarter Balanced Common Core Mathematics Tests Are So Flawed They Should Not Be Used

A Critique by Steven Rasmussen, SR Education Associates, March 2015




This spring, tests developed by the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium will be administered to well over 10 million students in 17 states to determine their proficiency on the Common Core Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM). This in-depth analysis of sample mathematics test questions posted online by Smarter Balanced reveals that, question after question, the tests (1) violate the standards they are supposed to assess, (2) cannot be adequately answered by students with the technology they are required to use, (3) use confusing and hard-to-use interfaces, or (4) are to be graded in such a way that incorrect answers are identified as correct and correct answers as incorrect. No tests that are so unfair should be given to anyone. Certainly, with stakes so high for students and their teachers, these Smarter Balanced tests should not be administered. The boycotts of these tests by parents and some school districts are justified. In fact, responsible government bodies should withdraw the tests from use before they do damage.


To download this report, simply click here to open the file . Please share it with your colleagues and friends

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Brainstorming Common Core: Challenging the Way We Think about Education

Rowman.com: 9781475817713 - Brainstorming Common Core: Challenging the Way We Think about Education:

Brainstorming Common Core Challenging the Way We Think about Education




In Eldon "Cap" Lee's new book, standards become guidelines for success rather than deadlines for failure as it is recognized that all children are unique, with different brains and different dreams. This leads to the reality that children are children, not branded on their foreheads for their differences but accepted within the wide range of skills and abilities present in all of us.Brainstorming Common Core: Challenging the Way We Think about Education includes ideas developed in the trenches by talking to and servicing parents, educators, and students for over fifty years. This book draws away from an artificial testing based education to one that teaches the whole child. As we brainstorm Common Core we see the necessity to empower children to chase their dreams and follow their pathway to success, parents to become full partners in the process, and educators to take back their profession.


 Reviews

Moving us away from a fail/pass, test-based system, Lee dares us to imagine schools that incorporate hands-on, proficiency-based curriculum that will propel students into being lifelong learners who are prepared to meet future challenges.
— Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO

 Eldon "Cap" Lee has a unique way of poking holes in common treatments of schooling and reform that makes everyone within a moderate distance of his sphere take pause. With this book, Cap cautions us to take stock of Common Core's impact....not simply its intent. He challenges us to reconcile our philosophy with practice so that the phenomenon of high standards is a matter of application and not just one of rhetoric.
— Angela Dye, PhD, CEO/Senior Consultant, PBS Development, LLC

 It’s a great book! 
— Karran Harper Royal, Education Advocate, New Orleans

About the Author
Eldon “Cap” Lee attended Eastern Michigan University and after many years of struggle and a short campus career in rock and roll to support his education, he decided to go to classes and settled into the teaching profession. From the moment he started teaching at a small Catholic school in Michigan, he knew the rules had to be changed. He then travelled to Wisconsin to join the teaching staff at Milwaukee Public Schools. There he earned his master’s degree at Cardinal Stritch College. After fifteen years of complete enjoyment he left teaching to be a school administrator, climbing the ladder of success only to yearn for the good old days surrounded by more kids than adults.

Rowman.com: 9781475817713 - Brainstorming Common Core: Challenging the Way We Think about Education:
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Holyoke Teachers Association president responds to state report critiques #takingitback | masslive.com

Holyoke Teachers Association president responds to state report critiques | masslive.com:

Holyoke Teachers Association president responds to state report critiques

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HOLYOKE -- The president of the city teacher's union responded to critiques made by state education officials with a simple message: "We all want the same thing, we want success for Holyoke."
Agustin Morales, the president of the Holyoke Teachers Association, addressed the recentreview of city schools by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education at a Holyoke School Committee meeting on Monday.
The concerns, documented in the 65-pagereview of city schools, range from testing in the district to the relationship between the Holyoke Teachers Association and the superintendent's office.
The report said city schools need the district and HTA to develop and maintain a "more productive and appropriately collaborative partnership."
Morales said he received emails from teachers who read the report and felt it presented the union and teachers as separate entities.
"There is no separation between the teachers and their union, they're one and the same," he said. "The teachers are the ones that make up the union, I'm just the president. To delineate or to intend to do so in that report somehow that the teacher's leadership and the teachers themselves are two different organizations is just wrong."
Morales said while he and Superintendent of Schools Sergio Paez disagree on many things - most notably state testing - they're both on the same team when it comes to maintaining local control of Holyoke Public Schools.
More than 100 people were in attendance at the Holyoke School Committee meeting on Monday. Morales criticized some local education officials for not attending, specifically those from Project GRAD USA.
"I didn't see anybody from Project Grad here," he said. "I find it very troubling that this organization that could potentially be a part of the receivership - who knows, we don't know much - but they're not even present to talk to the state, to talk to the school committee, to talk to me, to talk to Dr. Paez. They're not here to talk to anybody. It's almost like they're above the law and I find that to be so reprehensible in this stage that we find ourselves in with the possibility of a state takeover."
Dean Vocational Technical High School, a Level 4 school, was ordered in 2010 by the state to be put under control of a manager. The control was shifted to Project GRAD more than a year ago. The non-profit was also given control of Morgan School last year Holyoke Teachers Association president responds to state report critiques | masslive.com:
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Career Technical Education: In California it's an endangered species

Career Technical Education: In California it's an endangered species:

Career Technical Education: In California it's an endangered species





 As superintendent of MetroED and the largest Career Technical Education (CTE) center in Northern California, I often visit with legislators in Sacramento to discuss the future of these programs. Last year, I was disappointed that many CTE programs were in danger of closing at the end of the school year due to the new Local Control Funding Formula and a lack of dedicated funds.

However, this year in Sacramento, these programs are a hot topic.
In February, when three MetroED board members and I met with Senators Jim Beall, Bob Wieckowski and Jerry Hill, Assembly Member Nora Campos and Ian Johnson and Megan Stanton-Trehan from the Department of Finance, they were all open to discussing the future of career education and improving accountability for the programs.
This is a timely issue because in January, Gov. Jerry Brown released a proposal to fund the programs for three more years. Unfortunately, the allocation is half the amount allocated to CTE prior to 2007, and it leaves the future beyond three years in question. But given fears that the programs could be eliminated entirely, it's good news. It sets the stage for restructuring programs and making CTE accountability a large piece of the new legislation and California Education Code.
The accountability piece will require that CTE programs be monitored and data is collected.
In early December, Linda Darling-Hammond and Soung Bae released a Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education brief titled: "Recognizing College and Career Readiness in the California School Accountability System." The report said "all students will ultimately enter a career regardless of whether the timing of the career begins after postsecondary education or directly after high school. Therefore, it is imperative that career readiness, operationalized as technical and 21st century skills and dispositions, along with college readiness, be supported and developed in all students."
This is a mantra I have stated for several years, and finally I see it coming to fruition.
Last year, in an op-ed piece in the San Jose Mercury News, I requested that legislators count the number of students completing CTE Career pathways, internships, and programs giving college credit in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of these programs. This year Linda Darling-Hammond made a similar request and three recommendations: record a percentage of students who successfully complete Career Technical Education: In California it's an endangered species:
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Radical shake-up of parental involvement in schools | Herald Scotland

Radical shake-up of parental involvement in schools | Herald Scotland:

Radical shake-up of parental involvement in schools




 THE involvement of Scottish families in the education of their children is facing a radical shake-up.

A pilot project in three council areas is aiming to encourage much greater parental involvement in the running of schools than is currently the case.
The initiative, which is being trialled in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Angus, comes after surveys have shown most parents are reluctant to get involved in their school.
A survey conducted by the Scottish Government in 2005 found 70 per cent said they had never volunteered to help despite half being willing to do more.
Families who don't get involved often feel parent councils are dominated by the same elitist cliques or they simply don't have the time to help.
The new scheme aims to improve involvement by setting up dedicated action teams at each school involving staff and parents whose role it is to reach out to all members of the school community.
Parents will be encouraged to participate in a number of ways from helping with their children's homework to having a greater say in key school decisions.
Families will also invited to participate in specific projects to tackle issues such as improving literacy, attendance or behaviour or visiting classrooms to demonstrate their own skills or hobbies or simply to share their experiences.
Eileen Prior, executive director of the Scottish Parent Teacher Council (SPTC), initiated the pilot scheme in partnership with Skills Development Scotland (SDS) after hearing about the international success of the National Network of Partnership Schools (NNPS), which is based at Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore.
The scheme has been developed by university academics over the past 30 years and has been adopted in a number of American states as well as spreading to countries such as Australia and the Republic of Ireland.
Mrs Prior said she hoped to see the project rolled out over the next six years to more than 600 schools.
"Parents want the best for their children and it is for that reason that we have been working to bring this approach to Scotland," she said.
"It is an evidence-based programme and a practical way of helping parents and schools to raise expectations and make a tangible difference to our youngsters by building strong partnerships between home, school and community.
"We talk a lot about parental involvement in Scottish education, but to date have struggled to find a consistently successful way to make it a reality for all schools."
Neville Prentice, a senior director with SDS, said it was clear parents had a key role to play in supporting their children's career and learning choices.
He said: "Our support for this work recognises the strong link between parents' involvement in learning and in supporting their child's career choices."
Angela Constance, the Education Secretary, added: "Research into family engagement in education has shown it to have a significant positive effect on attainment, achievement, health and wellbeing."
Dr Joyce Epstein, from Johns Hopkins University, who founded the scheme, said it challenged the traditional focus that parental involvement should be the goal, instead focusing on improving pupil success at school.
She believes schools should not just encourage parental involvement, but work in equal partnership with families and the wider school community to improve standards.
She said: "People were arguing what was more important - the family or the school - and I felt that was a silly argument because both are important.
"If families are so important, as all studies show they are, how can we help all schools link to families in the way that only now some families do?
"Some families make it their business to get involved, but schools need to be ready for all families, not just the easiest to reach or those that are already engaged."Radical shake-up of parental involvement in schools | Herald Scotland:
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