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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE:

MISSION AND PHILOSOPHY

THE NEED FOR PIQE IS VITAL

2003 PIQE HIGHLIGHTS

Nine-Week Core Program:

Four Month Follow-Up Program:

Teacher Workshop:

Gear Up Federal Grant:

PROGRAM ACTIVITIES

Nine Week Parent Involvement Program Number Of Graduates:

Follow-Up Program:

Teacher Workshop:

Gear Up Schools:

SPECIAL PROJECTS

Pre-K:

EVALUATIONS/REPORTS

UCSB Report:

FINANCIAL SUPPORT

Major Contributors In 2003:

Summary Of Financial Results For Calendar Year 2003:

Expenses: January 1, 2003 – December 31, 2003:

PROGRAM OUTCOMES FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2004

STRENGHTENING MANAGEMENT & OPERATIONS OF PIQE

Board Of Directors

PIQE OFFICES & PROGRAM STAFF

David Valladolid President & CEO

The year 2003 was a very challenging year for the Parent Institute for Quality Education (PIQE) but thanks to our many supporters and the dedication of our staff, we were able to meet and exceed our program goals and objectives. As a result of the 2002-03 declines in the stock market, several of our major contributors were forced to decrease their contributions or suspend them entirely. Since PIQE depends on private donations for close to 50% of its program costs, these unexpected decreases challenged us to the core.

A challenge of this nature can do one of two things, stop you in your tracks or make you stronger as a result. I’m proud to say that PIQE met the challenge by responding with a program re-organization, by focusing ourselves on the marketing aspects of the program and by diversifying our fundraising efforts. PIQE’s leadership accepted my challenge to stay focused, work harder than ever and take a reduction in their pay (5-15%). They complied without any complaints and as a result of their dedication and commitment, PIQE is a stronger organization today.

In spite of these financial challenges, PIQE was able to pilot and implement a new program component. A 0-5 Pre-K program was implemented in Santa Clara County and we look forward to expanding this program to other cities in California in the near future. In closing, I want to thank all of our supporters who never lost faith in PIQE and continue to support us today. Many individuals, organizations and businesses stepped-up to help PIQE and we are eternally grateful.

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Founded in 1987, by Rev. Vahac Mardirosian and Dr. Alberto Ochoa, Ph.D. and headquartered in San Diego, California, the Parent Institute for Quality Education (PIQE) is a statewide, 501(c)(3) community-based non-profit organization. It’s aimed at educational reform by motivating parents, especially low-income immigrant parents, to become more involved in their children’s education. PIQE defines its mission as, “To help bring schools, parents and community together as partners in the education of every child.”

Guiding principles are that:

• All parents love their children and want a better life for them.
• All parents are a valuable resource that must be nurtured and fully embraced in the education process.
• Parents can provide important information and assistance to schools to improve learning.
• Schools can give parents valuable information on how to help their children learn.
• Parents and teachers need to work together to ensure every child’s academic success.
• Without parental involvement, the best educational reform will fall short of its goals.
• Education is the best anti-poverty program in the nation!

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By 2005, Latino youth are projected to represent 50% of the California public K-12 enrollment.
Latino high school student drop-out rates are at 42% according to the California Department of Education.
56% of Latinos who did not complete high school did not progress past the ninth grade.
Latino and African-Americans drop out at twice the numbers as White or Asian students.
Standardized test scores of limited-English-speaking children are an average of 23 percentile points below other students.
Less than 1 out 4 Latino students who graduate from high school will be fully eligible to attend a four-year university.

Research leaves no doubt that when parents become involved, students do better. Henderson and Berla (1996) found in a review of 66 studies that:

The family can make critical contributions to student achievement from pre-school through high school.
Efforts to improve children’s outcomes are much more effective if families are involved.
When parents are involved at school as well as at home, children do better and stay in school longer.
When a critical mass of parents is involved, the whole school improves.

During PIQE’s nine-week course at a neighborhood school site, parents learn the importance of visiting their child’s classroom. Through the PIQE curriculum they are informed on how to ask teachers how their child is doing relative to other students in the class and to grade level expectations. There are lessons on how to enhance their child’s reading skills, how to better communicate with their child, offering positive discipline techniques that enhance self-esteem, and how to help their child avoid drugs, violence, and gang involvement.

”The end of all education should surely be service to others.” -Cesar E. Chavez

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NINE-WEEK CORE PROGRAM:

The Nine-Week Core Program celebrates over 300,000 graduates and has impacted the social and educational development of over 1 million children. The core program is offered in fourteen languages, ranging from English to Spanish, to Kenyan, to Russian, and to Vietnamese. It is offered at no charge to parents and is taught by professional facilitators that have been trained by PIQE. Parents choose to participate in either morning or evening sessions depending on their individual schedules.

The core program is held over a nine-week period, in which the initial planning session delineates the mission of the program, stresses parental importance of taking the first step toward not only self-improvement but also how to improve the home and school educational environment of the child. It is also at this session that parents are encouraged to provide input on issues they would like to have included in the course. In addition, parents are encouraged to talk with teachers and counselors about how their child is doing and the types of programs and resources that the school utilizes.

Within the nine-week curriculum, parents learn how to navigate the school system and what steps and classes their children must take to prepare themselves for a post-secondary education. During the eighth week of classes, parents get the opportunity to meet with the principal of the school and address issues of concern. The ninth week recognizes the voices of parents with a graduation celebration where parents speak about their experiences and receive their certificates of completion.

The program’s intent is to empower parents with information, knowledge, skills, behaviors and personal commitment to improve the conditions surrounding the educational and personal development of their children. Parent graduates return to their communities as a powerful collective force of change, committed to improving the well being of their children. They become aware that in supporting their children, they are creating a pathway for success that is free of violence and drugs; and in turn, the community grows positively as it gains new leaders with clear and directed visions. As more parents graduate from PIQE, more children benefit from an improved environment, with parental and school support low-income at-risk children will grow up to be the well-adjusted, productive, successful and responsible for contributing to our country’s future.

FOUR MONTH FOLLOW-UP PROGRAM:
The four-month parent follow-up program, with over 50,000 graduates, is also offered at no cost to parents and participation is optional. However, many parents find this component to be highly rewarding as it provides a regular schedule under which implementation of the educational principles of the core program are reinforced. Moreover, parents are presented with an opportunity to continue their dialogue with other parents and establish an open relationship with the school. It allows the school to effectively monitor the parent-child relationship instead of only being able to see the school-student relationship. This follow-up inherently actualizes activities that promote the educational development of a child that is guided by motivation, habit, and confidence.

TEACHER WORKSHOP:
The final component is a six-hour teacher workshop, which trains instructors on how to introduce the community to the school as an equal and valuable asset. Teachers are provided strategies on overcoming language and cultural barriers that have hindered efforts in the past and training on how to utilize cultural differences to the child’s advantage. Teachers also learn to interact with parents from varying educational and economic situations, specifically those that may have misconceptions about the educational system, ranging from distrust to lack of information on procedures. The true challenge is for teachers, parents, and students alike to work together to invest in the future of the community.

During Year 2, PIQE was invited to submit a supplemental proposal for funding from the Eishenhower Fund to design and pilot a three-unit college course to prepare GEAR-UP educators and school leaders to view families as partners in fostering school success. If funded, PIQE will collaborate with San Diego State University to pilot the 3-unit course with 10 GEAR-UP schools in San Diego County.

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In FY 2003, the Parent Institute for Quality education (PIQE) graduated 27,124 parents from its nine-week parental involvement classes and more than 5,000 from the Follow-up “Coaches” program. In addition, 81 teachers participated in a six-hour workshop on the importance of parental involvement in every child’s education. Both were designed and facilitated by PIQE.

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