State PIRC Board:

Dr. Thomas Barlow, President & CEO, PREL
Fr. James P. Croghan, S.J., Director of Catholic Schools Systems, Diocese of the Caroline Islands (Board Chairman)
Ms. Patricia Hamamoto, Superintendent, Hawai’i State Department of Education
Dr. David M. Borja, Commissioner of Education, CNMI PSS5. Mr. Mario Katosang, Minister of Education, Republic of Palau
Mr. Wilfred I. Kendall, Minister of Education, RMI
Sr. Margaret M. Margou, Director of Education, Yap Department of Education, FSM<
Mr. Nena Nena, Secretary of Health, Education & Social Affairs – FSM National Government
Mr. Sanfio Sony, Director of Education, Chuuk State School System, FSM
Mr. Casiano Shoniber, Director of Education, Pohnpei Department of Education, FSM
Mr. Henry Robert, Director of Education, Kosrae Department of Education, FSM
Ms. Eloise Sanches, Associate Superintendent, Guam PSS
Ms. Claire Poumele, Director of Education, American Samoa Dept. of Education
Ms. Andrea Oakland, Teacher, Hawai’i Department of Education
Ms. Zita Pangelinan, President & CEO, Pacific Human Resources Services, Inc., Guam
Ms. Kiorong Sam, Principal, Jabro Coop School, Ebeye, Kwajalein, RMI
Mr. Laurence Vogel, Preident & CEO, Y. Hata & Co. Ltd. 18. Mr. Suragel Whipps, Jr., President & CEO, Surangel & Sons, Co.

Special Advisory Committees:

Republic of the Marshall Islands Inter-Agency Council (RMI-IAC)

Pacific Resources for Education and Learning operates the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) Parent Information Resource Center (PIRC) program. The ECE component of the RMI PIRC is carried out through a contract with a national Women United Together Marshall Islands (WUTMI) non-profit organization using the PAT “Born to Learn” curriculum.

RMI PIRC Project Goals and Objectives:
Goal 1: Develop and strengthen partnerships between parents and schools to improve educational outcomes for students at risk of educational failure.

Objective 1.1: Establish a school reform model at RMI schools.
Objective 1.2: Increase parents’ roles and responsibilities as partners in children’s education. Objective 1.3: Increase parents’ school-based participation in meeting the educational needs of children.

Goal 2: Ensure that the children of families assisted by the RMI PIRC are ready for school.

Objective 2.1: Improve parents’ understanding of early childhood development.
Objective 2.2: Increase parents’ exposure to early literacy materials.

Parental Engagement Model
The RMI PIRC is implementing the Cluster Model of school reform, parents demonstrate increased role in their children’s education, schools’ learning environments improves, children’s development improves, reading skills readiness improves among participating children. (The Cluster Model adopts effective school reform practices that are relevant to the culture of the island people). Many models of school reform have been introduced but have had no success or little impact on school reform and student achievement. Dr. Joyce Epstein’s Six Keys served as the guide to the locally developed measures used by the Cluster Model to strengthen parental involvement and engagement with children’s learning at school, at home and in the community.

The Cluster Model is designed around areas where effective practices in the culture could play a part in nurturing growth and development of learning both at school and at home, and the key element is parent active and meaningful engagement.

Early Childhood Model
Parents As Teachers early childhood parent education model. This is the only form of prenatal to K parent education being provided in the nation. It is very well received and in high demand. RMI PIRC is constantly seeking local, national, regional and global partners and collaborators to expand this much needed service of RMI PIRC. The PAT Program is a research-based ECPE program established by the PATNC of St. Louis Missouri.

Alignment of Work to Statewide PIRC Efforts
The project will contribute to research policy and practice by evaluating the effectiveness of the “Cluster Model” of school reform, a model that was originally developed in the Republic of the Marshall Islands and has had initial success in stimulating parent-school partnerships and improving the achievement of at risk students and by evaluating the ‘school readiness skills’ of children served by the PIRC Program in the transition process from PAT to Kindergarten.