What We Do
Millions of children face steep education inequities rooted in poverty and structural racism. The pandemic has made many of these inequities worse, and introduced new challenges — learning loss, absenteeism, increased mental health problems, teacher shortages, and more.
In this context, high-quality early childhood education has incredible promise to reduce inequities and change children's lives. But it's complicated: many educators struggle with building strong family engagement and promoting children's social-emotional well being, two essential aspects of quality, and need more support to provide a high-quality, family-centered early education experience.
ParentCorps is an evidence-based program designed to target this problem. In partnership with school districts and Head Start organizations, we work to build a more impactful education experience — one that centers race and culture, engages parents as partners, and supports children’s social-emotional well-being — to help unlock the full promise of early childhood education.
“I feel very powerful to engage
and encourage my parents.”
Teacher, Detroit
What We Offer
> ParentCorps is available in English
> ParentCorps disponible en Español
> ParentCorps 提供中文服务
“The first day I observed ParentCorps Fundamentals training, I thought, ‘I have to take this home with me.’ It forces you to look internally and recognize how your own personal experiences impact your interactions with other people. It was exactly what we needed. There has been a fundamental shift in how our staff engages parents.”
Kecia Rorie, Operations Director, Starfish Family Services
Professional Development
for early childhood educators and school staff
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Two or four day group-based experiential training
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Supports school staff to form strong, culturally responsive relationships with families and promote children’s social-emotional well-being – school staff engage in candid dialogue to examine their beliefs, reflect on the challenges families face, and learn the science of early childhood development in order to engage with children and families in new ways.
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Grounded in respect for teachers’ expertise
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Dedicated implementation support to fit into a system’s existing professional development framework
“I found it refreshing that we would actually talk about the role that culture plays in how we raise our children. At our school, we had West Indian families, we had Black American families, we had Latino and Puerto Rican families, we had Muslim families... and you really learned what these interactions between adults and kids looked like through the lens of different cultures. And then you found that the tools you were given on some level transcended that.”
Tom Sheppard, Parent
Parenting Program
for pre-K families
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12-session group-based program for all families as part of the pre-K experience
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Supports families to promote children’s early learning and development – in warm, predictable space, parents build community and explore evidence-based practices they may choose to incorporate at home.
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Aims to correct the harmful patterns of telling families of color how to parent, and honor families' culture and expertise
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Dedicated implementation support, including high-quality training and coaching for facilitators, materials, and guided approach to family outreach
“As a former teacher, I know what professional development and coaching is “supposed” to be like. When I came here, I was truly confused. I had no idea why we trained the way we did and coached the way we did. We lean into autonomy to support the goals that teachers have themselves rather than coming in and working on a strict list of best practices. While focusing on best practices is important, the approach really does make a difference. It was so foreign to me it literally felt like a different language. But once I started embodying the ParentCorps spirit in a way that felt authentic to me, I noticed the way school staff reacted and embraced it.”
Cindy Gray, ParentCorps Senior Program Coordinator
Friends School
for pre-K children
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12-session social-emotional learning program for pre-K classrooms
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Supports children to develop foundational social-emotional learning skills – children learn to communicate and process their feelings, develop a positive sense of self, and get along with others.
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Teachers not only to build children’s social-emotional learning, but learn how to model their own SEL skills
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Dedicated implementation support, including high-quality training and coaching for teachers, materials, and more