Community
Mobilization

The Conversations

C4K 1
June 2002
The Expect Success Project: Strategies for Parent Engagement and Improving School Climate.

NEW
C4K 2
August 2002
Problems or Possibilities? Policy Implications of the Ask the Children Youth and Violence Study.

Your support of positive youth development is the key to strengthening the lives of young people in our communities. Become an ACY Partner and help youth statewide.

Contact ACY for membership info.

Data referenced from Henderson and Berla: The Evidence Grows (1981); The Evidence Continues to Grow (1987); and A New Generation of Evidence: The Family Is Critical to Student Achievement (1995).

What is Conversations for Kids?

Studies have shown that schools with low levels of violent behavior are distinguished from those with high levels by a positive school climate where nurturance, inclusiveness, and community feeling are evident. Students who feel recognized and appreciated by at least one adult at school will be less likely to act out against the school ethos of nonviolence (H. Walker).

When parents are involved, students achieve more, regardless of socio-economic status, ethnic/racial background, or the parents' education level.

40% of Colorado school principals report that serious violent incidents have occurred at their schools.

When parents are involved, students exhibit more positive attitudes and behavior. Student behaviors, such as alcohol use, violence, and antisocial behavior decrease as parent involvement increases.

Students whose parents are involved in their lives have higher graduation rates and greater enrollment rates in post-secondary education.

The most accurate predictor of a student's achievement in school is not income or social status, but the extent to which that student's family is able to (1) create a home environment that encourages learning; (2) communicate high, yet reasonable, expectations for their children's achievement and future careers; and (3) become involved in their children's education at school and in the community.

46% of young people have been hit, shoved, kicked or tripped in the past month.

Conversations for Kids is a series of community forums designed to address issues such as these faced by Colorado's communities. The forums convene policy level community leaders, state and local government, research and grantmaking organizations and community action organizations to develop actionable ideas and move dialog from theory to application and mobilization.

Topics are selected that reflect current social and civic issues being faced by communities and families statewide.

It is our intent to inform, energize and mobilize Colorado's resources to find solutions to the challenges faced by our young people every day.