Pennsylvania Parent Information and Resource Center Receives Funding

Finding information on how to help your child succeed in school just got easier in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania’s Parent Information and Resource Center (PA PIRC), a statewide effort benefiting pre-school and school-age children and their parents, has been approved for funding from the U.S. Department of Education.

"Our mission is to help parents partner with schools and equip them with the knowledge and resources to ensure their children’s success. We believe that this can be accomplished by supporting parents as their children’s first teachers and by promoting effective school-based parental involvement policies, programs and activities that lead to improvements in student academic achievement," said Dr. Linda Dolan, state PIRC director. "Strengthening partnerships among parents, teachers, administrators, and other school personnel and community organizations is a powerful and proven way to improve the educational success of children."

The funding, recently awarded to Next Century, Inc, a 501c3 non-profit organization, for a five-year period, will enable PIRC to work with schools across the state to : 1) increase parents’ understanding of standards-based learning; parent, state and local reports; public school choice; supplemental education services (SES); and parents’ role in their children’s learning; 2) improve and expand Parents as Teachers (PAT) programs for parents of children from birth to age 5 to improve school readiness; 3) improve district and school parent involvement policies, programs, and activities to engage parents for student achievement and school improvement; and 4) coordinate research-based parental involvement resources and services for Pennsylvania schools and parents.

Key partners in the initiative are the Center for Schools and Communities, Academic Development Institute and Temple University. The Pennsylvania Parent Information and Resource Center is housed at the Center for Schools and Communities in Camp Hill and will work closely with the Pennsylvania Department of Education to support children, parents and schools throughout the Commonwealth.

The U.S. Department of Education funds PIRC projects across the country. States tailor their programs to best meet their residents’ needs, but all have common goals and requirements. 

All PIRC projects assist parents to communicate effectively with school personnel and help parents become active participants in school improvement plans. Projects also provide information about high quality family involvement programs to families, schools, and others through conferences, workshops, and dissemination of materials. PIRC projects focus on, but are not limit to serving parents of low-income, minority and limited English proficient (LEP) children.

For more information on the PA PIRC, contact Dr. Dolan at (717) 763-1661 ext. 137, or ldolan@csc.csiu.org.