Working to Turn Around Schools in Philadelphia

March 4, 2014

The Families and Schools Together (FAST) project designs and distributes research-validated programs to help connect parents to their children’s schools, with the goal of strengthening families and improving outcomes for students. Since 1988, FAST has been implemented in more than 800 schools in 46 states and in 13 countries. FAST retains over 80 percent of parents who participate. Parent graduates (96 percent) say they felt more empowered in helping their child. Parents (75 percent) increased their involvement with schools. Family relationships improved by 16 percent. One year ago, FAST began a five-year intensive project with the School District of Philadelphia, where the program reaches about 4,500 families in 60 schools. The project will investigate how school-wide FAST implementation may affect school climate, encourage social inclusion, empower parents, and achieve school turnaround. The project will also examine the feasibility of scaling up FAST nationally. Find more information on FAST’s work in Philadelphia at familyengagement.wceruw.org/