The Family Works, a program of the Family Services Agency, in Gaithersburg, MD received a three-year federal grant to serve as Maryland's Parent Information Resource Center (PIRC). The PIRC provides a comprehensive statewide system of information, training, and technical assistance to increase the number of families and school systems receiving information about Maryland's accountability system and the requirements for family involvement in the No Child Left Behind Act.
One part of the PIRC's program, written in cooperation with the National Network of Partnership Schools, encourages all Maryland district leaders and their schools to adopt the NNPS model. Interested districts and their schools receive training and technical assistance from Brenda G. Thomas, Director of Maryland Partnership Program Development. The PIRC's grant also pays for two substitute teachers per school to enable the teachers on the Action Team for Partnerships to attend a day-long workshop, and the NNPS membership fees. At the workshop, Action Teams write draft One-Year Action Plans for family and community involvement linked to school improvement goals. Ms. Thomas also has begun to convene periodic cluster meetings with LEAs in Maryland to share ideas and sustain progress.
To date, 14 of the 24 Maryland school districts and 101 schools are NNPS members, with some joining prior to the grant award. Barbara Gimperling, Director of Family Works stated, "We are happy to collaborate with NNPS to help Maryland's school systems build their capacities to strengthen the partnership programs in every school. It is a real opportunity for the PIRC to involve large numbers of families in their children's education."