• Closing the Achievement Gap? Five Questions Every School Should Ask
   
• Helping Parents and Your Community Better Understand NCLB: The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is a very complex law comprised of nine titles and over 50 different programs designed to close the achievement gap between high- and low-performing students. To help educators, parents, and community leaders stay well informed about the provisions of the law, and the impact of these provisions on them and their communities, Public Education Network (PEN) and the National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education (NCPIE) has developed online action briefs for the major themes covered by NCLB. The action alerts can be used in multiple ways -- as a training tool, for professional development, or an easy reference to the law's intricacies -- with a variety of audiences. The first set of action briefs is now available including resources on the legislation, regulations and policy guidance, a glossary of education terms, and an implementation timeline. Each action brief includes information on what the law says, action items for parents and community leaders, and a set of resources. Visit this site to signup for the alerts or to read the currently posted briefs.
   
• Guide to Talking to Your Community about NCLB: Polls show that parents and the public at large are not well informed about the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act and how it will affect their children and schools. While this may create uncertainty and confusion in your community, it also offers school leaders a chance to discuss the law with them and enlist their support in meeting its new challenges. No Child Left Behind is controversial, with vocal supporters and critics. The materials presented here are not intended to engage debate about the pros and cons of the law. They are designed to help school leaders communicate with parents and the public about the law and its effects in each community. These were written primarily for district superintendents and principals, since they are often the first to be called to comment on school issues. But these materials can be readily adapted for use by teacher leaders, PTA presidents, school board members, and others. This Guide also contains links to many other resources on the law and other education issues. You will most likely want to adapt these for your community, picking and choosing the issues that are most relevant and modifying them with some specifics from your district and state. Many of the materials are designed so that they can easily be converted into brochures or flyers.
   
• Parents Guide to No Child Left Behind by Suzenne Heath

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