Education--Parent participation

Charles Cheng Papers

dgolodner — Wed, 20 Dec 2017 11:36:18 -0500

Charles Cheng was an activist for education and the civil rights movement whose life was cut short when he died on May 25, 1979 when American Airlines flight 191 crashed after takeoff from O’Hare Airport. He was 42 years old.

He was born on February 23, 1937 raised on the east side of Detroit. After graduating from Eastern Michigan University, Cheng became a teacher in Pontiac, Michigan. He left teaching to become an organizer for the Michigan Federation of Teachers and soon became the assistant to the president of the Washington Teachers Union Local 6 in Washington DC.

Charles attended Antioch Graduate School of Education earning his masters degree in Education, then he attended Harvard Graduate School for Education to receive his Ed.D in 1975. While in Boston, Mr. Cheng was a research associate at the Center for Urban Studies at Harvard as well as Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University Joint Center for Urban Studies. Mr. Cheng ended up at the University of California, Los Angeles as an assistant professor in the Department of Education where he became a leading authority on community participation in collective bargaining in public education.

Cheng wrote and spoke constantly about the idea that the community should be involved with the collective bargaining in public education. Cheng was very active as well with desegregation, starting in the 1960s when he attempted to desegregate the Pontiac, MI public schools, he was on a task force in Boston, consulted in Pasadena and was a citizen member for the Los Angeles Unified School District Desegregation Plan. Cheng’s interests also included racial justice, the teaching of the history of Asian-American and Native-Americans.

Merrill-Palmer Institute: Edna Noble White Records

drice — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 13:34:05 -0500

Edna Noble White, a pioneer in family life education, served as first director of the Merrill-Palmer Institute from her appointment in 1920 until her retirement in 1947. Under Edna Noble White’s leadership, the Institute expanded its services to include a student program of college level courses in child development, family life, parenting skills, and nursery education as well as the Merrill-Palmer Nursery School, Camps, Farm, Infant Services, and Recreational Clubs.
Ms. White was also very active professionally on a national level and engaged with Detroit youth services agencies.

The records of Edna Noble White contain personal and professional correspondence; minutes from various national, state, and local organizations as well as Merrill-Palmer committees; literature regarding child and parental education; research studies relating to child development, family relations, and immigrant acculturation; and correspondence and literature from a number of federal agencies concerned with child and family welfare.

Schools of the 21st Century Records

dgolodner — Wed, 18 May 2011 10:51:00 -0400

The Schools of the 21st Century Corporation governed The Detroit Annenberg Challenge. The Annenberg Challenge provided $500 million in grants to organizations across the United States for the improvement of public schools. Schools for the 21st Century received a $20 million grant and set out to address the goals of increased student achievement, community and parent involvement, and collaboration with outside organizations. The Initiative's mission was to “Institutionalize bold, comprehensive and systemic reform at the local school level, to ensure high levels of student performance and healthy growth and development for all students.” The plan focused on 42 schools divided into 10 clusters, which used various school reform models in their approaches.

Materials in the collection include reports on the phases of the plan, individual clusters, outside vendor reports, external reviews, Board of Directors meeting minutes, and newsletters and other promotional material.

[Podcast] Para Power: How Paraprofessional Labor Changed Education

teller — Thu, 07 Aug 2025 07:18:53 -0400

Dr. Nick Juravich discusses the experiences of the first-generation of paraprofessional educators in New York City in the 1960s-1980s and their impact on the city’s educational system, community relations, and public sector unions. read more »