Have the children in your family or neighborhood started on their summer reading lists?
Have you started on yours?
Education Week's K-12 Parents & The Public asked a sampling of parents and parent-engagement experts to weigh in on what they're reading—or what they think parents and community members should be reading—this summer to educate themselves about improving their local schools.
Thanks to a highly cooperative group, we were able to compile a long list of recommended reading:
From Myrdin Thompson, regional director for the Central States of the National Family Engagement Alliance, and a White House Champion of Change for education, this is her own (partial!) reading list:
A Match on Dry Grass: Community Organizing as a Catalyst for School Reform
By Mark Warren and Karen Mapp
Thompson writes: "While this book is specific to school reform, it is also great for advocates looking to connect their community around any issue."
Beyond the Bake Sale: The Essential Guide to Family/School Partnerships
By Anne Henderson, Editor
Mobilizing the Community to Help Students Succeed
By Hugh Price
School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action, Third Edition
By Joyce Epstein, et. al.
The Flat World and Education: How America's Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future (Multicultural Education)
By Linda Darling-Hammond
Dropping Out: Why Students Drop Out of High School and What Can Be Done About It
By Russell Rumberger
From Karen L. Mapp, a lecturer on education at Harvard's Graduate School of Education and presenter in Education Week's recent webinar, "Engaging Parents in Schools and Student Learning":
A Cord of Three Strands: A New Approach to Parent Engagement in Schools
By Soo Hong
The Essential Conversation: What Parents and Teachers Can Learn from Each Other
By Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot
From Larry Ferlazzo, who wrote the book for educators, Building Parent Engagement in Schools, and who writes the Education Week blog, Classroom Q and A with Larry Ferlazzo:
101 Ways to Create Real Family Engagement
By Steven Constantino
From Hilary Frambes, who represented Ohio in Parenting Magazine's 2011 Mom Congress:
Why Our Schools Need the Arts
By Jessica Hoffmann Davis
From Yolanda Gordon, the South Carolina delegate to the Mom Congress in 2010:
Everyday Engagement: Making Students and Parents Your Partners in Learning
By Katy Ridnouer
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Do you have anything to add to this list? Or, any feedback about the books recommended?
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