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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 2, 2002

Speech

Remarks by National PTA President Shirley Igo to the 2002 NEA Representative Assembly

Dallas, Texas

Thank you for inviting me to be here today. This is a phenomenal group! You've demonstrated your staying power and passion for a cause-you come early; stay late-You MUST BE TEACHERS!

It is my pleasure to add the appreciation of National PTA to Bob Chase as he leaves the presidency of NEA. For his...

1. 25 years of service in classroom.
2. Editorial writings that have brought attention to the critical education issues.
3. Proactive organizational leadership, which your keynote address so eloquently exemplified.
4. His promotion of parent involvement in his recently published book and his recognition of the important role of grandparents-because I have 11 grandchildren myself.

And a special thank you to this organization for the long-standing cooperative efforts that have been shared by NEA and PTA, focused on advocating for the excellence in public education. We believe that the "P" for Parent and "T" for Teacher in our name is the partnership that benefits children and schools.

As a native Texan, I also welcome you to my state and I bring greetings from more that 6 million PTA members who are working in our school communities to better the lives of every child-whoever they are, wherever they live. We will continue to work to assure that our public schools have adequate public funding as we oppose voucher programs. We are committed to providing safe and nurturing environments, adequate facilities, and smaller classrooms in schools. We are in our schools volunteering thousands of hours each year to provide that support and partnership with teachers that can assure the opportunities for every child to achieve.

And it's wonderful to be with all of you education professionals today. Last week at National PTA's convention, I had the privilege of spending time with parents, teachers, student leaders, and administrators who represented PTAs from coast to coast. In fact, Bob joined us at our convention to help debut what I am going to talk with you briefly about today-National PTA's newest parent involvement initiative-the Parent Involvement Schools of Excellence certification program.

Your organization-the NEA-served on the 6-member advisory committee with National PTA to develop this program. Others on the committee included representatives from the national associations of elementary principals, secondary principals, public relations directors, and colleges of teacher education. The committee developed guidelines, set up pilot sites, and evaluated outcomes...helping us to arrive at what we believe is a premiere program-and the first of its kind.

The Parent Involvement Schools of Excellence certification program was designed to assist every school in this nation to evaluate and increase parent involvement. Every child deserves to attend a school of excellence. Research tells us that when parents are involved in their children's education, those children achieve at higher levels, they exhibit more positive attitudes and behaviors, and they have higher graduation rates.

We know that schools that work well with families have improved teacher morale, and that those schools have more support from families and better reputations in the community.

It's a winning situation for all parties.

But how do you define "parent involvement"? What level of parent involvement is the right level? To answer these questions, National PTA five years ago adopted Six Standards for Parent/Family Involvement Programs. These standards are research-based, and are supported by 75 national organizations. We believe that it is the gold standard for parent involvement practices.

Even more importantly, it represents single standards for all schools and all children, regardless of school, personal, or community situation. When schools receive certification, they will be recognized as upholding the highest standards in parent involvement. Each will be certified by National PTA as a Parent Involvement School of Excellence.

The certification process was developed and tested in seven pilot schools across the country. These schools and their PTAs formed teams, took the self-assessment, and participated in a site visit. Their participation was critical to refining the certification process and tools.

Schools from New Hampshire to Alaska, from Indiana to Texas were among the pilot sites. They included a magnet school, elementary, middle and high schools, low income and diverse populations.

All schools-your schools-have the opportunity to earn one of two distinctions in this program. The Certification of Excellence is awarded to schools that have outstanding parent involvement practices in place. The Recognition of Commitment is given to schools that are committed to pursuing excellence in parent involvement...with an expectation of becoming a School of Excellence. Both recognitions are achieved through a three-stage process. First a team comprised of teachers, school administrators, parents, community members, and others as determined by the site conducts a self-assessment based on National PTA's Standards. Second, an application is completed and submitted to National PTA. The third and final step is to celebrate success.

We know that you as teachers fuel student success in the classroom. And that's a goal we as parents share with you...because we want our children's success in the classroom to prepare them to be skilled workers and contributing citizens in society. Together, we all want success for our children and are willing to do whatever it takes to help them.

Excellent schools just don't happen. They are created through the dedication of people like you who are passionate about student success. With parents as partners in this effort, your job can be even more rewarding, success more encompassing, and the future brighter for our children.

I want to encourage every teacher in this room to help facilitate this Schools of Excellence program in your school community. I know you have great parent involvement programs in many schools, and that with your encouragement we can have meaningful parent involvement in every school. I believe you know the value of partnering with parents, and would like to see your school recognized for its efforts. Information on how to participate in this program will be available on the PTA website (www.pta.org) by mid-August. I would enjoy coming back next year and celebrating every one of you becoming a National PTA-certified Parent Involvement School of Excellence.

Thank you.

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The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing 2.6 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators, and students preparing to become teachers.