This award-winning self-assessment system is a guide for improving supports and outcomes for students who are raising children. It is intended for those in higher education—staff, faculty, and students—who want to improve outcomes and conditions for student parents and others. The Toolkit offers a flexible process and set of tools designed to be used in any institution.
To access the Toolkit, you will need to complete a free registration form. This is separate from your SPARK membership, though you can register for both the Toolkit and SPARK to access all the resources on this site.
Sign Up for Full Access
The Toolkit can be used to:
The Toolkit is flexible:
➤ Despite being framed for colleges, other types of institutions, including universities, nonprofit organizations, or workforce organizations may use this resource and adapt it to their needs and settings.
➤ You may choose if the Toolkit references "parenting students" or "caregiving students."
➤ You can go at your own pace and complete the sections that work for you!
Toolkit Modules
1. Get Started
Lay the foundation: clarify your purpose, connect the work to college and state priorities, and build a team with parenting students as co-leaders from the start.
2. Understand Your Landscape
Build a shared picture of what your college already offers. Knowing what exists helps you coordinate efforts, raise visibility, and strengthen support for parenting students.
3. Gather Data
Learn from your students through a survey, focus groups, and improved strategies for collecting student record data.
4. Engage Your College Community
Share what you've learned with your college community to gather new insights and ideas—and to raise the profile of the work.
5. Plan for Action
Review what you’ve learned and map out your action plan
6. Make Change
Put your action plan into motion, make it sustainable, and spread the word.
7. Library
Access your notes, data that has been filled in forms, and links to many resources and examples of other colleges doing this work