FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 9, 2004

CONTACT: Steve Dolan
(619) 594-5664
sdolan@mail.sdsu.edu

SAN DIEGO, Wednesday, June 9, 2004 - San Diego State University's College of Extended Studies (CES) has received a $32,545 grant from the CSU Commission on the Extended University to develop a certification program for paraprofessionals in public schools working as parent liaisons.

CES and the June Burnett Institute will work together to implement this new certificate program. It is designed to serve those currently, or seeking to be, employed as parent liaisons in preK-12 schools.

"This grant will allow us to start our 31st professional certificate program," said William Byxbee, CES dean. "We are always pleased when we can work with other partners in workforce development to provide training designed to increase the level of professionalism and accessibility to new job opportunities."

The parent liaison program will be self-sustaining after the pilot project is funded by this grant. Based on conversations with school district personnel, it is hoped that each school in San Diego County will encourage and perhaps eventually require this training for parent liaisons.

According to Internet searches and extensive discussion with school personnel, there are not any current comprehensive training programs for California paraprofessionals assigned to communicate with parents in helping them work as partners with school staff to support their children's education. Local schools and their districts typically do not provide training for this job.

"This gives us the opportunity to develop and implement a new certificate program needed by school paraprofessionals," said Dr. Cindy Emmans, director of grants and contracts for CES. "These parent liaisons are required to do a myriad of jobs and need the necessary skills. We are developing the curriculum to assist them."

Jeana Preston, program director of the June Burnett Institute's California PARENT Center, will develop and implement the curriculum for certifying school-based parent liaisons in collaboration with the College of Extended Studies.

"Our goal is to boost student achievement by working strategically to prepare parent liaisons to establish effective family-school partnerships at Title I and other schools," she said. "The June Burnett Institute and the California PARENT Center are extremely pleased to have this opportunity to work with the College of Extended Studies to develop this new certification program, which is the first of its kind in California."

Over the summer, the center is conducting a series of statewide trainings that are geared toward similar school audiences. The next training will be June 24-25 in Orange County. These trainings are in collaboration with the California Department of Education. More information is available on the center's website at http://parent.sdsu.edu.

SDSU's College of Extended Studies offers a wide variety of lifelong learning classes, seminars, and certificate programs. Career advancement courses are offered in many areas of management, leadership, and quality improvement while self-enrichment courses range from astronomy to web design. Additionally, the College offers over 30 certificate programs, online courses, and many other learning opportunities. To register or for more information, call (619) 594-5152 or log on to www.NeverStopLearning.net.