Families & Communities

Learn More about IDRA’s Education CAFE Model

IDRA’s Education CAFE model is an innovation for school-family-community collaboration. Below are some resources about the model and its growth over the years. (Note: Some resources refer to PTA Comunitario, which was renamed Education CAFE in 2017)

Resources

Education CAFE – Community Action Forums for Excellence (webpage)

Steps on How to Start an Education CAFE

This IDRA EAC-South‘s Family Engagement Online Technical Assistance Package includes five chapters, each with a video and supporting resources.

Video: Education CAFE Families Convince School District to Keep Biliteracy Program 

IDRA’s Family Leadership Principles, by Aurelio M. Montemayor, M.Ed., September 2007

Background: Family Leadership in the Field- Lasting Community Leadership in Education, by Aurelio M. Montemayor, M.Ed., June-July 2011

Liderazgo Familiar Intergeneracional: Intergenerational Family Leadership as a New Paradigm of Family Engagement – Comunitario projects in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley offer a community-based alternative to the traditional PTA model, fostering the participation and collective leadership of youth, by Aurelio M. Montemayor and Nancy Chavkin


Articles

Family Leadership in Education Projects… and the Data that Drives Them, by Aurelio M. Montemayor, M.Ed., IDRA Newsletter, January 2019

Texas Graduation Requirements and Opportunities – IDRA’s New Parent Involvement Tool for School Districts, by Aurelio M. Montemayor, M.Ed., IDRA Newsletter, April 2018

Latest IDRA Parent Involvement Tool Focuses on Keeping Public Money in Public Schools, by Aurelio M. Montemayor, M.Ed., IDRA Newsletter, March 2018

Second Installment of IDRA’s New Parent Involvement Tools for School Districts, by Aurelio M. Montemayor, M.Ed., IDRA Newsletter, February 2018

ESSA Requirements for Schools and Parent Involvement – New Tool for School Districts, by Aurelio M. Montemayor, M.Ed., IDRA Newsletter, January 2018

IDRA Education CAFE – A Structure for Families Transforming Schools in their Communities, by Aurelio M. Montemayor, M.Ed., May 2017

Co-Leading and Co-Transforming Schools – School Administrators and Family Leaders in Education, by Aurelio M. Montemayor, M.Ed., September 2016

Our Mesa Comunitaria – One Year Later, 2016

¿Y Ahora Qué? And Now What? – Community Groups in South Texas Work Together to Improve Education, by Josie D. Cortez, June-July 2015

Armed with Data, PTA Comunitarios Work with Schools for College Preparation – An IDRA OurSchool Portal Story, by Hector Bojorquez and Aurelio M. Montemayor, M.Ed., June-July 2014

Hosting Superintendents, Quizzing Candidates and Marking Maps – A Fully Engaged PTA Comunitario, by Aurelio M. Montemayor, M.Ed., February 2012

Community Leaders Discuss How PTA Comunitarios Give Voice to Parents in their Children’s Education, June-July 2011

ARISE South Tower PTA Comunitario – A New Model of Parent Engagement, by Aurelio M. Montemayor, M.Ed., April 2010


Videos

IDRA EAC-South‘s Family Engagement Online Technical Assistance Package

Education CAFE Families Convince School District to Keep Biliteracy Program

Community Advocacy Training on School Funding in Texas (Español), March 2022


Podcast Episodes

Stronger Parent Involvement through Family Leadership in Education Projects – Podcast Episode 185

Authentic Family Engagement through Education CAFEs – Podcast Episode 174

Intergenerational Family Leadership for Schools – Podcast Episode 167

Community Expects College Prep for All – Podcast Episode 156

PTA Comunitarios Focus on Strengthening their Schools – Podcast Episode 148

Building Parent Voice for Action – Episode 146

PTA Comunitarios are Born in their Communities – Podcast Episode 144

How to Start a PTA Comunitario – Podcast Episode 131

Promotora Model for Family Leadership in Education – Podcast Episode 118

Community PTAs Growing in South Texas – Podcast Episode 99

A New Model for Community Engagement in Education – Podcast Episode 91

Parent Leaders in Education – Podcast Episode 72

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  • Resources

  • Education CAFE Brochure
    PDF

  • 5 Steps on How to Start an Education CAFE
    Infographics