Knowing that parents do not have much free time, this guide is purposefully succinct. Parent Champion is designed to motivate and educate parents to be their very best as school-partners. Parents will be inspired to analyze, reflect, and take action in regard to how they co-educate their children by partnering with their child's school. With practical strategies and tools, Parent Champion allows parents to take action immediately. As parents, you are the best champions for your child's success. Being a Parent Champion means prioritizing (making the choice to give highest importance to) hands-on time and strategies for your child and their education. As a parent, when you prioritize time invested in education, you are modeling your values that education is important and, therefore, championing your child's academic and life success. In addition, this guide is a must-have for parent organizations and schools everywhere to lead their parents to be more actively and purposefully involved in schools so families can assist educators in the paramount work that cannot be done alone: closing the achievement gap. For over 50 years, urban youth and youth of color have been at a significant disadvantage in our country's educational system, with low literacy rates, poor high school graduation rates, and even worse college-going and completion rates. Our schools consistently try to educate our children without significant engagement from parents — and that's a misstep. If we are going to change the trajectory of success in our schools, we must bring parents into the equation more actively and intentionally. This guide is a positive shift in the trajectory.
