Lt. Governor and Education Leaders Announce Parental Involvement Initiative

Program Is Designed to Encourage Public Schools to Focus on Making Parents Part of the Educational Team

For Immediate Release: Thursday, October 15, 2009

Wilmington - As part of a broader effort to expand parental involvement in Delaware’s public schools, Lieutenant Governor Matt Denn announced today that his office had created a new Excellence in Parental Involvement award that will be given to two public schools each year at the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce’s Superstars in Education event. Denn was joined by Mark Stellini, the chairman of the State Chamber committee that oversees Superstars in Education, and Bud Mullin, the president of the Delaware State PTA.

The Excellence in Parental Involvement award will be given to schools that have successfully expanded parental involvement through innovative programs. Schools that win the award will be recognized at the annual Superstars program, receive a banner for their schools, and have their programs publicized throughout the state so that other schools can emulate their successes.

"There is a lot of wonderful discussion going on throughout the country about reforming our schools, and I think a lot of good is going to come of it," Denn said. "But as I listen to the discussion, parental involvement is something I don’t hear enough about. So through the creation of this award, we hope to turn up the volume on this important issue, and make Delaware a national leader."

Parental involvement has been found to improve reading in younger children and improve test scores and behavior in students throughout all grade levels.

Mullin said "I would like to thank the Lt. Governor, the State Chamber and Mr. Stellini for recognizing the benefits of having parent involvement in our schools and making it a part of the terrific Superstars program. The Excellence in Parental Involvement award is a sharing of best practices currently going on in our schools and I am sure this will lead to additional opportunities for student success through Parent Involvement in the State of Delaware."

"There can't be teacher accountability without parental involvement. This is a great start to be able to replicate successful parental involvement programs throughout the state to help other schools take advantage of parental involvement," said Stellini.

Denn also noted the pioneering efforts of former Lieutenant Governor John Carney, whose Models of Excellence program established the partnership between state government and the State Chamber of Commerce and forms the model for this new parental involvement award.