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ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY News Release

December 1, 2006 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ASU parental involvement program celebrates inaugural graduates

PHOENIX – Nearly 200 parents of students at Mitchell Elementary School and Mesa Junior High School will graduate from the Parent Institute for Quality Education (PIQE) in mid-December. They are part of an inaugural, nine-week parent involvement program implemented by the Arizona State University’s Center for Community Development and Civil Rights at the Downtown Phoenix campus. Each parent will earn a certificate of completion and will be recognized for their commitment and work on behalf of their children’s education.

When asked about PIQE’s impact on his family Indalecio Romero Perez said, “Before PIQE I just signed my child’s homework without looking at it. Now, I ask him questions about the assignment to make sure he’s doing it and understands it and I make sure I give him lots of hugs and encouragement.”

PIQE, a national program offered free of charge to parents, which began in California 19 years ago, teaches parents how to take a more active and supportive role in their child’s educational efforts and is unique since it has impacted more than a million children and has been offered in more than 16 languages. According to a San Diego State University longitudinal study, 94% of the parents who have graduated from PIQE report that their children have received their high school degrees.

Other positive program outcomes include increased parental involvement in schools, reduced absenteeism and improved retention and graduation rates of school-aged children.

PIQE and the ASU Center for Community Development and Civil Rights will continue to work with parents offering a broad range of classes such as financial literacy and homebuyer education to parent graduates as well as working to connect parents and their families with the many community outreach programs offered throughout ASU. The Center will also track graduates and their families longitudinally to mark the success of these families in achieving college educations for their children.

Program topics include creating a nurturing home learning environment, working with teachers and school administration, identifying a child’s educational needs, and ensuring the child’s needs are being addressed at school.

Graduation ceremonies are scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on December 12, 2006 at Mesa Junior High, 828 E. Broadway and on December 18, 2006 at Mitchell Elementary School, 1700 N 41st Avenue. Both graduations are open to the public. PIQE is administered through the ASU Center for Community Development and Civil Rights, founded by Raul Yzaguirre, a national civil rights leader and professor of practice at ASU. The Center is dedicated to empowering all people by building bridges between the university and the community as catalysts for change. PIQE is one of The Center’s many programs and research projects that facilitates joint university- community research and initiatives to achieve major social impact which can be replicated regionally, nationally and internationally. The overarching goal is to make communities and societies more prosperous, equitable, and just.

MEDIA CONTACT: Debra Palka, [email protected] (602) 496-0409 direct line / (602) 370-6128 cell

SOURCE: Leticia de la Vara, [email protected] ASU Center for Community Development and Civil Rights www.PIQE.org (602) 496-0433

College of Public Programs Arizona State University Phoenix, Arizona USA copp.asu.edu