Education Resources for Parents

Research shows that when families are actively involved in their child’s learning, it improves that child’s attendance, behavior, social skills, grades and chances of staying in school. This is true for young children as well as for middle and high school students. The following resources will help you ensure your child is getting a good education.

The Out-of-School Time Project: Chicagoland Afterschool Program Locator
Use this interactive map to find the perfect out-of-school program
Experts say that after-school programs (or “out-of-school programs,” since they are scheduled before school and on weekends) encourage academic achievement, work habits and social skills. Use the City of Chicago’s Program Locator to easily hand pick a program for your child, in your neighborhood.

Neighborhood Parents Network of Chicago
The largest organized parent network in Chicago
Seeking some diverse parent-to-parent interaction? NPN offers a wide variety of programs to help you become more involved in your child’s education. Their calendar is packed with events hosted by neighborhood-based community groups or groups such as Dads Group, Single Parents, Working Mothers, the Adoption Group, and the list goes on! Past events have included: free museum days for members of NPN, “Preschool Primer at Pottery Barn”, and many more.

Family Education
Information to help parents help their children succeed in school – separated by grade level OR subject
From helping with homework to fun family activities, Family Education is your resource for education of every grade level. They also offer advice pages or “toolkits” on useful topics such as: Q&A: Learning Disabilities, the Parent-Teacher Conference Kit and the Custom Report Card Kit.

Freedom to Learn
Scholarship information for Chicago-area private elementary & high schools.

Scholastic Parents: The Home of Parent & Child Magazine Online
Parent bloggers, homework & study skills, school involvement, books/reading clubs etc.
Scholastic’s Parent & Child Magazine has developed a site dedicated to the “joy of family learning.” With School Support Success programs separated by grade level (pre-k to 8th), parents are sure to stay informed and involved with their child’s education.

Read. Write. Think.
The ultimate reading and language arts help-site
Love to get lost in a fantastic novel? Encourage your child do the same with Read. Write. Think. This site is a gateway for parents to guide their child into the wonderful world of books and creative writing. From podcasts to printables, just take a look for yourself!

DealSeekingMom.com™: Back to School Deals
The word “sale” never looked so good
Visit this blog often to find coupons for school supplies in your area. Be sure to sign up for DSM’s Daily Email Digest so you don’t miss a deal!

Great Schools
Great Schools wants to see every child succeed, and that starts with involved parents. From school performance rankings to their “What Works” blog series which offers ideas, tips, and stories about the best ways to improve your child’s school, Great Schools has it all. Get involved at any age, this resource offers pre-school through high school help!

Open Innovation Portal
Seeking a collaborative community aimed at improving the education system? Then Open Innovation Portal is your haven! It combines the internets greatest and most useful sites – Facebook, Ebay, Craigslist, etc., all on one interactive site. Exchange ideas, receive helpful feedback, and more – all from parents like you!

Illinois Association of School Boards
For the working parent it is difficult to attend school board meetings or even keep yourself in the know on your local school. Now the school board meeting is brought to you! The Illinois Association of School Boards now offers a simple search engine that allows you to find your school and see all the latest updates in your school and even in your district.

Interactive Report Card
Planning your child’s future is important and choosing a school is the foundation for their future. Illinois Interactive Report Card allows you to search schools by location, current school district, or state and shows statistics and test scores for all grade levels. Already have a student enrolled? No problem, IIRC offers test descriptions and sample tests to prepare your child to the fullest extent!

Consortium on Chicago Schools Research (CCSR)
The CCSR expands communication among researchers, policy makers, and practitioners to support the search for solutions to the problems of school reform. In addition to its analysis of system-wide data, the Consortium also provides customized data on individual schools in CPS. The Consortium has created reports on each school’s responses to their biennial survey and each school’s progress with helping students succeed in high school.

Illinois Network of Charter Schools (INCS)
The Illinois Network of Charter Schools is a membership and advocacy organization supporting the 115 charter school campuses in Illinois that serve 43,000 public school students. INCS works in collaboration with a host of educational organizations to support school reform measures that place students at the center of reform efforts and advocates in Springfield for policies that support this aim.

First Five Years Fund (FFYF)
The First Five Years Fund (FFYF) is committed to improving the lives of at-risk children by leveraging cost-effective federal investments in early learning. FFYF aims to focus nationwide attention and resources on comprehensive, quality early care and learning programs for children from birth to age five. The First Five Years Fund’s goal is to expand high-quality early learning services to one million additional children from birth to age five, with half of that expansion serving infants, toddlers, and their families.

Advance Illinois
Advance Illinois is an independent, objective voice to promote a public education system in Illinois that prepares all students to be ready for work, college, & democratic citizenship. By listening to Illinois residents and distilling the best research, we have developed a framework of education policy priorities that, when implemented, will help provide a world-class education to all Illinois youth. Advance Illinois believes we can do better, and that all Illinois students should have the chance to graduate from high school college-ready, career-ready and world-ready. Click here to download The State Report Card (http://www.advanceillinois.org/state-report-card-pages-59.php). It is the first full assessment of our educational performance as a state, from birth through higher education. The Report Card covers a broad range of measures from student test scores to dropout rates, from the availability of preschool to the quality of learning environments in our schools.