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Parent Power! Helping You Make Sense of Schooling Today Managing Editor Caralee Adams Contributing Editors Anita Seline Nan Nelson 1001 Connecticut Ave., NW Suite 204 Washington, DC 20036 202-822-9000 800-521-2118 Fax: 202-822-5077 parentpower@edreform.com www.edreform.com Published eight times a year by The Center for Education Reform Jeanne Allen, President Bring Parent Power! to your home.  To subscribe, send our tax deductible donation of $9.95 to the address above.  Or receive a free e-mail subscription by logging onto www.edreform.com/ parentpower/signup.html on the same level playing field. At Vista, some kids come from wealthy families, others from shelters. “With uniforms, no one knows from where the other one is coming. The students are really enjoying each other instead of getting caught up in a cultural thing,” VanDeusen says. Any school can adopt the right elements to ensure that character is a necessary component of the school day and throughout the year.  The key is making sure that everyone involved—from staff to students to parents—know and live the traits, and that there is enough reference to the character focus in the ordi- nary teaching every day to make it count.  Throughout this issue you’ll read about other institutions and efforts underway to help schools and children respond to the strong push for character develop- ment that many believe has long been lacking in most public schools.  Feel free to contact any of the groups mentioned by using the tool box on page 3! CONTINUED   FROM PAGE   1 Building a Great School Culture What parents can do to keep good teachers Find out how teachers are hired, evaluated and rewarded. Is it because they have a credential, or do they really help children achieve? Asking questions is often a first step toward raising an issue’s visibility. Ask a school board member if the board has ever considered tying pay to performance. If not, why not?  Offer them information and research, starting with the National Council for Teacher Quality. Are there career-changers or people in your community that may want to enter teaching?  Your state may already have alternative routes to certification that would encourage more people, if they knew about them. Know your teachers. Ask your school to print a biography of every teacher with information about his or her education, research and other credentials. This faculty roster could be distributed to all parents or hung in the school hallway. Volunteer in the school. Whether helping in the classroom or getting involved in your parent-teacher orga- nization, your participation will make a difference. Motivate your kids to achieve. Keep high expecta- tions talk up at home. Praise your child’s positive study habits. Your support at home helps the teacher do his job. Help filter new demands. Before new curriculum or educational strategies are implemented at your school, ask to see the evidence to support the effectiveness of the new idea.  If parents act as consumers and ask the administration for a careful review of new materials, it can save the teachers time. Push for a Value-Added Program. Is your school district moving toward a program that will assess student learning and the value teachers add?  Testing at the start and end of a school year will not only assess how much kids learned, it will help determine which teachers are most effective. Show that testing and assessment matters. Take an active interest in your student’s achievement. If parents ask questions and show they care about grades and test scores, the teacher feels more appreciated. Speaking about highly successful schools, good teachers find successful schools. Parents can make a difference in helping keep good teachers. If your school is facing high teacher turnover or as preventative medicine, think about what you can do to help create an environment where the best teachers want to work. And work to make certain “good teachers” is defined on the basis of student learning.