PPSJ Partners with MS Center for Education Innovation

After ten years of school reform work that includes intensive parent engagement, Parents for Public Schools of Jackson has learned this:  Real, sustainable change comes from the ground up and involves the entire school community.  Last summer PPSJ’s proven success grabbed the attention of the Mississippi Center for Education Innovation. The Center approached PPSJ about helping engage local people in underserved Mississippi Delta communities in turning around low-performing schools.  This resulted in an innovative partnership between the PPS National Office, PPS of Jackson, and MSCEI.

Through a series of community learning sessions, parent leaders trained through PPSJ’s Leadership Institute are empowering principals, teachers, and parents with information, training, and support for identifying their specific challenges and developing local solutions.  Already barriers to positive working relationships between teachers and parents are tumbling down.  For the first time ever in these communities, educators and parents together are reviewing school data and accountability standards, asking strategic questions, and developing strategic answers to help improve their schools and student performance.

One Mississippi Delta superintendent recently stated, “I’m asking the administrators the same question:  ‘Why did we fail?’ That same question is being asked by the board of me.  The district … is working with Parents for Public Schools to share information with parents about the district’s performance, the reasons for it, and what needs to be done.”  The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, Miss.) December 6, 2009

We know that test scores and accountability ratings are only the starting point.  We know that successful schools across the country use this data strategically to develop interventions carefully tailored for troubled students and to build a community of committed principals, teachers and parents.  That is what PPSJ is all about – building solution oriented communities to ensure that no child in Mississippi gets left behind.