A Cord of Three Strands: A New Approach to Parent Engagement in Schools

This book takes a deep look at a remarkable local organization in Chicago, the Logan Square Neighborhood Association. In something that is almost unique across the country, LSNA has successfully organized public school parents (mostly Mexican-American women who speak English as a second language) to see themselves as leaders who can take (and have taken!) successful action to improve their children's schools. They have won campaigns around facilities, curriculum, hiring, and out of school time programming.Professor Hong tells the story of LSNA in a way that is compelling, exciting, and instructive. This book has become a manual for the community organizing work in which I am involved. We have consulted the story of LSNA, made connections with leaders there, and are striving to apply some of the lessons from their success. This is all because our organization was first exposed to this work thanks to Prof. Hong's book.Too often, academic research seems removed from the real world. This book is the opposite. It is written specifically so other organizations and practitioners can learn from and apply the example of LSNA to their own community-building work.This book is a great read for anyone who cares about public education: community organizers focused on education, teachers and principals who want to engage parents, and parents who want to mobilize their fellow-parents to make positive changes in public schools.

Dr. Soo Hong's book, A Cord of Three Strands is the foundation for the Parent Mentor Program I'm working on implementing at Devonshire and Madison schools in Niles Township. Her book explains not only the importance of parent involvement but what it looks like and how to go about making it happen. Through my work as Director of the Niles Township Schools' ELL Parent Center, I partnered with Open Communities and we're 1 of 13 organizations building on the outstanding program that the Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA) started in the mid 90's as documented through Dr.Hong's book. I highly recommend A Cord of Three Strands to educators, parents and school stakeholders who want to make a meaningful impact on their community and the education of its students.