California State University, Fresno and the Parent Institute for Quality Education (PIQE) have entered into an historic collaboration to provide a parent involvement program to 15 schools over a three-year period in Fresno County, to improve the college admission rate of underserved students.

The CSU partnership with PIQE is significant since it adds to many other efforts to help improve the public school system, said CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed. Improving the state s public K-12 schools is critical to the future of California and quality of the Cal State system, since we expect that many of those students ultimately enroll at a CSU campus.

This spring, five schools are participating in the program. They include Malaga Elementary, Heaton Elementary, Storey Elementary, Fort Miller Middle School and McLane High School.

PIQE provides a nine-week parent involvement program that teaches parents of Pre-K and K-12 students how to navigate the school system, assess their children s grade-level academic progress, and know what A thru G classes and the tests that are required for admission to a four-year university. Since 1987, PIQE has graduated more than 350,000 parents in California from 15 language groups.

Fresno State President John D. Welty enthusiastically endorses this partnership. We have been looking for additional methods to encourage underrepresented students to pursue college. Parents play a major role in a student s decision to attend college. PIQE has a proven track record.

Reed has pledged $75,000 to PIQE over a three year-period to serve 15 schools in the Fresno State campus service area. PIQE will match his pledge and leveraged private contributions to meet the program cost. The project agreement provides that each child of a PIQE graduate will receive a college ID that reserves them a space at the university, if they meet the minimum admission requirements when they graduate from high school.

David Valladolid, President and CEO of PIQE, says that, PIQE is committed to expand its outreach to parents throughout California. The special offer by CSU of a college identification card for all the children of PIQE graduates will greatly enhance the success of our recruitment of parents. It will send families the profound message that a spot awaits their children in college if they study hard and meet the admission requirements.

Fresno State has a growing reputation as one of the West Coast s premier universities. With an enrollment of more than 21,000, Fresno State is Central California s leading university, boasting a rich ethnic and cultural mix of students and faculty. The university offers 59 undergraduate degree programs and 44 master degree programs in the liberal arts and sciences as well as in a variety of professional disciplines emphasizing agriculture, business, engineering and technology, health and human services, and education. Fresno State offers a joint doctorate with the University of California and as a result of Legislative approval in 2005, is moving to independently award an Ed.D. degree.

The Parent Institute for Quality Education is a statewide research-based and comprehensive parent involvement program in California. PIQE offers a nine-week series of classes on parent involvement, a four-month coaches follow-up program and a six-hour teacher workshop on parent involvement.

Since its founding in 1987, PIQE has graduated more than 350,000 from its nine-week classes, 75,000 from the follow-up program and more than 750 teachers from the six-hour workshops.

PIQE s goal is to graduate 1,000,000 parents by 2015 and this historic partnership with the CSU will expedite the program s expansion in California and beyond.

For more information contained in this release, please go to the following Web site:

www.piqe.org.