Current national and local education policies often pit teachers and parents against each other, trapping them in a cycle of blame and mistrust. But in one Minneapolis community, parents and teachers decided to work together to make their schools better – with great results. This is their story.
About Organized Parents, Organized Teachers
Organized Parents, Organized Teachers was produced by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform as part of AISR’s efforts to support community organizing for better schools and collaborative, effective partnerships between community members, parents, and teachers. The film was inspired by the report Community Voices for Equity and Excellence.
Learn More about Effective Parent Organizing for School Reform
Getting Started in Education Organizing
This publication outlines strategies and resources for groups considering education organizing.
Community Organizing as an Education Reform Strategy
Highlighting compelling research, this report shows how community organizing for school reform has the great potential to create equitable changes in schools and districts.
Community Organizing for Stronger Schools: Strategies and Successes
Drawing on a six-year national study, the authors of this publication examine the role of organizing in building social and political capital and improving educational outcomes for students in some of the nation’s most challenged school districts.
A Match on Dry Grass: Community Organizing as a Catalyst for School Reform
Based on a comprehensive national study, Mark Warren’s book presents rich and compelling case studies of prominent organizing efforts in Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, Denver, San Jose, and the Mississippi Delta.
Examples of Successful Parent-Teacher Collaboration
Parent Power: Education Organizing in New York City, 1995-2010
Through the voices of parents, this film chronicles fifteen years of effective parent organizing for education reform in New York City – organizing that has led to effective collaboration with the local teachers union.
Family-School-Community Partnerships 2.0: Collaborative Strategies to Advance Student Learning
This report by the National Education Association highlights successful partnerships between the national teachers union and sixteen communities across the nation.
The Lead Teacher Project
An intensive three-year collaboration by organized parents and teachers in the Bronx led to this innovative effort to collaborate with the school district to improve teacher quality in some of the city’s lowest-performing public schools.
Grow Your Own Teachers of Illinois
This partnership of community organizations, higher education institutions, and school districts supports parents, community members, and paraprofessionals in low-income communities to become highly qualified teachers.
The Parent-Teacher Home Visit Project
By building trust and respect, instilling cultural competency, and increasing personal and professional capacity for all involved, this model of family engagement aims to end the cycle of blame between families and school staff.
Alliance School Initiative
In this Texas-based initiative, community members partnered with schools and used relational organizing principles to engage parents and community in the transformation of their schools to improve student achievement.
Logan Square Neighborhood Association
Collaborating closely with local schools, LSNA has created created several successful education programs for immigrant families.