Parent Institute for Quality Education Inc

PIQE is dedicated to achieving economic and social equity by providing low-income families, immigrants and English Language Learners, with the tools and skills necessary to support their children's academic achievement and be prepared for postsecondary education. We are committed to continuing our focus to strengthen family engagement and improving educational equity as well as maintain its ultimate goal, to "Create a College-Going Culture" in communities where access to educational opportunities is limited.

To achieve our mission, our strategic approach is guided by our core values. We aim to give parents the tools and knowledge to effectively impact their children's education. By giving parents the power of knowledge, they can partner with the school to improve their children's future. We believe that student's success is everyone's job and parents and schools need to partner together to promote high performing schools and students. Respect for the family is part of the foundation of our work and we must honor and value parental participation and perspective.

PIQE partners with more than 200 schools throughout California each year that support our work in the form of contractual services. PIQE regional offices also have numerous individual partnerships locally with organizations such as the United Way, the County Offices of Education, other nonprofits who support families in the community and organizations that increase the impact of our work. For the past ten plus years, PIQE has also maintained a partnership with the federally funded "California Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs" (GEAR UP).

PIQE's staff is 90% Latino and female. PIQE's regional staff are representatives of rural and urban communities in California; some were born in this country, and others emigrated in their youth; most are bilingual, if not trilingual. They have college degrees, often more than once, either from this country or their home countries; their areas of expertise include early childhood education, K-12 education, law, sciences, business, medicine, dentistry as well as other areas of interest.

PIQE has provided its classes in sixteen different languages, some that are spoken but have no written alphabet. Facilitators who teach all PIQE courses are from the very communities they will be serving. They mirror the families that are served in the program, establishing a sense of shared values and culture from the very beginning of the process.

During the recruitment process, PIQE hires parent graduates to reach out to other parents, inviting them to attend the classes. These parents are best equipped to explain the value of the knowledge and skills they received and the impact it has had on their families. This parent-to-parent connection builds the first bridge between home and school.

PIQE is a national organization with evidence-based programs that engage, empower and transform parents to actively participate in their children's education and strengthen parent-school collaboration. PIQE provides empowering information, skills development and support systems for low-income families, communities of color, English Language Learners and immigrant families benefiting approximately 1.7 million children throughout its history. A longitudinal study shows that these children graduate high school and attend college at higher rates than their peers due to PIQE's success in empowering parents to be successful advocates for their children's education.

PIQE continues to grow statewide in 36 of California's 58 counties and nationally spanning 13 states.

We have been at the forefront of a family empowerment movement that has transformed the lives of hundreds of thousands of families by helping them become agents of change on issues related to educational equity. For these families, PIQE has been and continues to be, the only way to access information about key policies that directly impact their children's access to equitable educational opportunities.

Our parent surveys indicate that at least:
a. 75% of parents will know how to navigate the school system and will identify the signs of academic progress in their child's schoolwork.
b. 70% of parents will initiate a parent-teacher or counselor conference to discuss their child's academic progress.
c. 80% of parents will understand their child's GPA.
d. 75% of parents will know the requirements needed for their child to go to college.
e. 80% of parents will encourage their children to pursue a college education.