For nearly three decades, CER has argued that parents are the most important ally in any effort for education. Whenever parents are engaged, change occurs. Time and time again, we’ve seen that information in the hands of parents is power. We witnessed this in the earliest days of CER’s existence, from actions directly connected to the publication of the School Reform Handbook to the response from readers of our very first Parent Power! newsletter in 1999. And since the maturity of the World Wide Web, we’ve seen parent engagement soar each year. And coming out of the disastrous reality of the education policies created during the Covid pandemic, parent power is growing in strength in every state. But what does it take for all parents to get it?

The Parent Power! Index exists to answer that question. It exists to ensure that any parent, guardian or caring adult understands how education is shaped, and what they can do to ensure it works for all kids.

Great schools come about when parents have power. Parent Power comes about when states give parents enough information and the discretion to exercise control over their children’s schooling.

The Parent Power! Index measures the extent to which each state:

• has policies in place that put students ahead of systems;
• values the diversity of need and condition of every family;
• provides vital accessible information, and
• by doing so affords parents the power to exercise fundamental decisions regarding how their kids are educated.

The Parent Power! Index gives parents an interactive tool to discover to what extent their state affords them this power – and if not, what they can do to get it.

The first Parent Power! Index in 1999 focused primarily on evaluation of educational opportunities available, teacher quality and transparency. In 2018, personalized and digital learning was added to gauge the growing recognition and research that individualized learning is a fundamental determinant in student success. Subsequently CER added Innovation as a key metric, and with COVID-19 fundamentally disrupting how education operates, in 2021 it was important to add an element related to how well states responded in the crisis. While PPI no longer measures state’s COVID-era responses, it was left on PPI for guidance, and perhaps as a cautionary tale, so that parents can make sure their states are prepared for anything the future holds.

In fall 2022, recognizing the growing number of 21st century learning approaches that ensure education is tailored to the needs of individual students, the renamed category of “Innovation” took on even greater significance. It not only includes how states handle or encourage digital and persnalized learning, but also mastery and competency-based approaches. The extent to which states reduce barriers to and promote innovation merits 15% of a state’s overall score.

In recognition of the growing role of legal challenges by opponents to education opportunity measures, PPI also evaluates whether states have constitutional issues that impact a parent’s ability to possess power, primarily focussed on state Blaine Amendments.

PPI also includes a regularly updated, curated list of state and national resources to help parents find more local groups that are ready, able and willing to support them.

Following is more detail about how PPI is organized and what it means. Please read, learn and share, and get going to your state to find out what you can do to ensure that all parents, our children’s first teachers, are driving their education.