Last month, the Springdale School District in Arkansas won a major grant to expand parent involvement programs. Unfortunately, they’ve received the monies through the federal Race To The Top program.

Here’s how the National Center For Families Learning described the grant:

half the $26 million RTT-D award will go toward family engagement programs — strategies first introduced to SPS by Toyota Family Literacy Program (TFLP) funding and guidance from NCFL. This is a significant investment in family engagement….

Spingdale’s RTT-D award will help fund the following:

* five new comprehensive family literacy sites
* the implementation of student-led conferencing
* expansion of parent information nights
* additional parent leadership opportunities
* college and career readiness seminars for families

“The Springdale School District’s family literacy program has provided the essential link between the district’s ELL parents and our schools through the creation of meaningful partnerships focused on improved learning opportunities for both students and family members,” said Jim Rollins, superintendent of Springdale Public Schools.

All that sounds great. I wonder, though, once they start implementing the parent involvement programs, how they’ll feel about the price students have to pay with dramatically increased emphasis on standardized testing and the tremendous pressure placed on teachers by evaluating them on those results?