School, Family, and Community Partnerships

1. What difference might a program of school, family, and community partnerships make to parents? In the chart in Figure 7.1, list two ways in which a typical parent might be differently informed or involved by a school with and without a comprehensive partnership program. Consider, as examples, a parent whose child is (a) entering kindergarten and (b) progressing from middle to high school.

2. Think of four hypothetical students represented in sections A, B, C, and D of Figure 7.1.

a. Give each student a name.

b. Explain how each student may be affected by the kinds of family-school connections that you listed.

FIGURE 7.1 Parent Expectations

Understanding Action Teams for Partnerships (ATP)

Many schools have school councils, school improvement teams, or other site-based advisory committees that oversee progress on all school improvement plans and goals. School councils usually identify changes that are needed in the curriculum, instruction, staffing, management, family involvement, community connections, and other areas of school and classroom organization. These decision-making or advisory bodies often set ambitious goals and write broad plans for school improvement, but do not often organize clear structures, processes, schedules, and responsibilities for turning plans into action.

In working with schools over many years, my colleagues and I have found that school councils, improvement teams, or other planning and advisory committees need an “action arm” (i.e., an official committee) to ensure that activities to involve all families and the community in students’ education are planned, implemented, and improved from year to year. The team of teachers, parents, administrators, and others focus explicitly and exclusively on implementing partnership activities that contribute to the major goals in a school improvement agenda. For example, if teachers are working to help students improve their reading and math skills and scores, then the Action Team for Partnerships will involve families and the community with students on reading and math activities. Action teams are needed to turn plans into actions that will create a welcoming partnership climate and help all students reach major school improvement goals.

QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS

1. Give two reasons why a school improvement team needs an “action arm” or committee to take responsibility for implementing specific family and community involvement activities that support the goals of a school improvement plan.

2. Why must an ATP include both educators and parents, not only teachers and administrators?

3. List and explain three activities that are, typically, the responsibility of a school improvement team or council but should not be conducted by the action arm or committee that focuses on school, family, and community partnerships.

ATP Organization and Committee Structure

There are two main ways to organize the work of an ATP. The goal-oriented approach organizes plans and committees to conduct and improve involvement activities that are directly linked to school improvement goals. The process-oriented approach organizes plans and committees to conduct activities for the six types of involvement.

Focus on School Improvement Goals

The goal-oriented approach to school, family, and community partnerships creates ATPs dedicated to understanding, organizing, and conducting involvement activities that are directly linked to school improvement goals. In this approach, each member of the ATP becomes a chair, co-chair, or expert member in linking family and community involvement to one major school improvement goal for student success. This ensures that the school’s partnership program will focus each year on involving families and the community in improving the school climate and in improving students’ math, reading, writing, attendance, behavior, or other major goals in the school improvement plan.

Each ATP member may select whether they will lead, delegate, and oversee family and community involvement activities that help create a positive school climate or that improve students’ reading skills, attendance, the school climate for partnerships, or another goal from the school improvement plan that is detailed in the One-Year Action Plan for Partnerships.

For example, some members of the ATP may form a subcommittee to engage families and the community in helping students improve attendance. The school’s written Action Plan for Partnerships would include activities for some or all six types of involvement to reduce unexcused absences or improve on-time arrivals. Activities could guide families to conduct positive actions that get children to school on time every day, clarify report card statistics on attendance, train volunteers to telephone absent students’ families, and help families pick up homework for students who are absent.

In the goal-oriented approach, the ATP will establish subcommittees to oversee plans and progress toward specific goals and will implement or coordinate activities that involve families and the community in all six types of involvement. The school’s improvement goals are the basis for the action plan for partnerships, and the program is evaluated on whether progress is made toward those goals.

Focus on the Six Types of Involvement

The process-oriented approach to school, family, and community partnerships creates ATPs dedicated to understanding, organizing, and enacting the framework of six types of involvement (parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision making, and collaborating with the community). In this approach, each member of the ATP becomes a chair, co-chair, or expert member for one of the six types of involvement.

For example, in a well-functioning, process-oriented ATP, one or two members will be the school’s experts in Type 1—Parenting. These Type 1 co-chairs will plan, organize, or delegate leadership for parent workshops on child development, parent-to-parent connections, activities for families to inform the school about their children’s needs or family goals, and other Type 1 activities. Other members of the ATP will become experts in Type 2—Communicating. The Type 2 co-chairs will plan, organize, monitor, or delegate leadership for activities that improve the clarity of communications, create two-way channels of communication, secure translators needed at parent-teacher conferences, develop new technologies for communicating, and other Type 2 activities. Still other ATP members will become the experts in organizing and assisting volunteers (Type 3 co-chairs), teachers’ designs of interactive homework and curriculum-related involvement activities (Type 4 co-chairs), training parent representatives for committees and councils (Type 5 co-chairs), and identifying resources in the community (Type 6 co-chairs).

The process-oriented ATP evaluates its progress based on whether and how well activities for the six types of involvement effectively involve all families; whether the program is balanced with activities that are conducted at home, at school, and in the community; and whether various activities contribute to student success and other school goals.

In the process-oriented approach, the ATP will have subcommittees for each of the six types of involvement and implement or coordinate activities that involve families and the community in ways to contribute to school goals for student success. As the chairs or co-chairs for each type of involvement build their competencies, they will be better able to select and implement activities that link to school improvement goals. The types of involvement are the basis for the action plan for partnerships, and the program is evaluated on whether and how progress is made so that activities for all six types of involvement contribute to student success in school.

The Two Organizational Structures

The two approaches for organizing the work of ATPs are not mutually exclusive. A goal-oriented ATP that focuses on family and community involvement linked to school improvement goals still will select activities that cover the six types of involvement. A process-oriented ATP that focuses on the six types of involvement still will choose activities that help students reach important school goals. The main differences between the two approaches are in how the ATP’s plans are written and evaluated each year and how the ATP members select their areas of expertise and describe how their work is linked to the overall school improvement plan. Tools for implementing the two approaches are included in an implementation guidebook (Epstein et al., 2009).

How Family and Community Involvement Helps Reach School Improvement Goals

Whether a school uses a goal-oriented approach or process-oriented approach, the activities to involve families and the community should contribute to the attainment of important school goals.

Suppose a school is working to meet the following goals:

• Improve attendance.

• Improve math skills.

• Improve attitudes toward science.

• Improve student behavior.

• Improve the school climate for partnerships.

• Add one common, important goal: _____________________

In the chart below:

a. List one family or community involvement activity that you think would directly contribute to reaching these goals.

b. Note the major type of involvement that the activity addresses.

c. Tell how the activity directly affects the listed goal.

Action Team Members and Leaders

Effective partnership programs cannot be developed by just one person or by an elite group. Every year, some school principals and teachers move, are promoted, or retire. Many active parents move or “graduate” with their children to new schools. Programs and practices that depend on just one leader may disappear completely if that person leaves the school. A small group of a few active parents may be viewed as a clique that makes other parents or teachers feel unwelcome, uncomfortable, and unlikely to participate in school activities. Sometimes programs that depend on one person or the same few leaders are viewed as somebody’s program and not as the school’s program of partnerships.

Action Team Members

An ATP should have a minimum of six members. Members include at least two teachers, at least two parents, an administrator, and other school and family leaders who have important connections with families and students (e.g., the nurse, social worker, Title I parent liaison, a PTA/PTO officer or representative, special education leader, or others). The ATP also may include representatives from the community. High school ATPs must include two students. The diverse members contribute many points of view to plans and activities for school, family, and community partnerships.

Many schools have larger teams, as parents or teachers elect to join the Action Team for Partnerships. Some schools have one parent and one teacher from each grade level on the team. Some add other key representatives to the ATP, including a teacher of students receiving special education services, or parents from major neighborhoods or language groups.

Very small schools may adapt these guidelines to create smaller ATPs. Very large middle and high schools may adapt these guidelines to create multiple ATPs for schools-within-the-school, grade levels, houses, career academies, or other large subdivisions. Indeed, other appropriate structural and procedural adaptations will be needed to accommodate the characteristics and constraints in diverse schools.

The ATP provides a stable structure that should endure even if some team members leave each year. New team members are selected to replace those who leave and then are oriented to the work of the ATP. Thus, teachers who leave the team are replaced by teachers, parents by parents, and so on.

Action Team Leaders

Many people play important leadership roles in organizing an ATP, implementing plans, conducting activities, and evaluating results of partnership programs.

The principal plays an essential role in supporting and maintaining the work of an ATP and in guiding the ATP’s connections to the school improvement team or council. Ideally, the principal should not be the chair of the ATP but should be an active member and strong supporter of the action team. Principals should call all teachers’ attention to the importance of planning and conducting school, family, and community partnerships with their students’ families. Principals also should stress the importance of the participation of educators and families in schoolwide activities that help develop a welcoming school climate. The principal should evaluate each teacher’s activities to involve families as part of the teacher’s annual or periodic professional reviews of work and progress. Principals and other administrators also should recognize the various leaders, participants, and successful involvement activities that are conducted throughout the school year (Sanders and Sheldon, 2009).

Guidance counselors, school psychologists, school social workers, assistant principals , and other social service professionals may be members of an ATP and may serve as team chairs or co-chairs. Guidance counselors and assistant principals are particularly helpful team leaders or co-leaders in middle and high schools because their professional agendas link directly to students, families, and communities (Epstein and Van Voorhis, in press). These school professionals have time, training, and experience to plan and conduct meetings and to guide teachers, parents, students, and community members to work effectively together. Even if other administrators and counselors are on the ATP, the principal’s leadership and support still are essential.

Master teachers, lead teachers, department chairs, or classroom teachers must be members of an ATP and may serve as team chairs or co-chairs. At least two or three teachers should be members of the ATP. The teachers on the ATP will work with all teachers in the school to reinforce the importance of their connections with students’ families at all grade levels and to encourage teachers’ participation in schoolwide partnership activities and events. In some schools, one teacher from each grade level serves on the ATP to ensure that family involvement activities are planned, implemented, and shared across the grades.

Paraprofessionals. Parent liaisons (also called parent coordinators, parent leaders, or family liaisons) are paid aides who help educators connect and communicate with parents and other family members. Parent liaisons must be members of the ATP. They may serve, with educators, as co-chairs of the ATP or as leaders of ATP committees (Sanders, 2008). They may have particular strengths for leading workshops or activities that directly assist families. Other paraprofessionals (e.g., instructional aides, assistants in school libraries, computer labs) and other school staff (e.g., secretarial, cafeteria, custodial, and transportation staff) also may serve as members of the ATP.

Parents, family members, and community partners must be members of the ATP and may serve as co-chairs of the team, along with an educator. They also may serve as chairs or co-chairs of ATP committees on the six types of involvement or specific school goals. Some schools match the number of educators and parents on an ATP, some include one parent from each grade level on the team, and some make sure that at least one parent has a child with special needs to ensure that an Action Plan for Partnerships includes the interests of and outreach to parents of children receiving special education services.

Parents on the ATP should come from different neighborhoods or groups served by the school. If the school has a PTA or PTO, one representative should be on the Action Team for Partnerships. With diverse representation, all parents in the school should see that they have a voice on the ATP and a contact with whom to share ideas and questions.

Business and other community partners may serve on an ATP. Some ATPs include a business partner, librarian, police officer, city council official, scientist, medical expert, and faith-based leader as team members. Community partners bring expert knowledge, useful connections, and various resources to ATP committees. Community members may take appropriate leadership roles, such as co-chairing an ATP committee or leading an involvement activity. If community partners are on the ATP, they, too, experience the one-day team training workshop as “professional development” to build their expertise on partnerships.

Students must serve on the ATP in high schools. Although they may not serve as ATP chairs or co-chairs, they may share leadership with an educator, parent, or community partner for specific activities in the One-Year Action Plan for Partnerships. Student members of the ATP communicate with other high school students in various ways to gather ideas about which school, family, and community partnerships are important and acceptable to students and their families. Only with student involvement and support will programs of school, family, and community partnerships succeed.

All members of a school’s ATP receive “team training,” help write the One-Year Action Plan for Partnerships, and share responsibilities for leading the activities that are scheduled in the annual plan for partnerships. This approach changes definitions of professional development and shared leadership to recognize and ensure parents’ contributions to partnership programs.

District leaders play important roles in providing professional development and ongoing support for the work of schools’ ATPs. Superintendents and school boards may officially evaluate progress on school, family, and community partnerships as part of principals’ and teachers’ annual or periodic professional reviews. This policy links the district’s mission statements about the importance of partnerships with a high-stakes evaluation and encourages school leaders to work diligently on improving and maintaining their partnership programs.

In large school districts, district-level facilitators for school, family, and community partnerships are needed to guide from 15 to 30 elementary, middle, and high schools to organize their ATPs and partnership programs. The facilitators provide ongoing facilitation activities that enable all ATPs to develop their capacities in planning, implementing, and maintaining comprehensive programs of partnership. They also help all schools in the district share ideas with each other, evaluate their work, and continue to improve their programs from year to year. In small districts, part-time facilitators may work with fewer than 15 schools to help them develop and maintain their programs of school, family, and community partnerships.

State leaders also have important leadership roles in encouraging successful partnership programs in districts and in schools. State superintendents, state boards of education, and leaders of many departments, divisions, and programs that concern families and communities need to conduct activities that support schools and districts in understanding and developing partnership programs.

At the district and state levels, leaders for partnerships develop and implement policies and activities that support and advance school, family, and community connections. This includes two types of actions. Leaders conduct and coordinate state-level or district-level policies and programs that affect all schools, such as staff development workshops; state, regional, or district conferences; competitions for small grants to support partnership practices; dissemination of best practices; and other activities. District leaders also must facilitate individual schools’ Action Teams for Partnerships on program development. (See Chapter 4 on state and district leadership and activities.)

Other organizations also have roles to play in leading and participating in school, family, and community partnership programs. For example, professional development providers, state and local PTAs, community organizations, teacher or administrator unions, chambers of commerce, business and labor leaders, and others may be part of leadership and action teams at the state, district, and school levels to improve programs of school, family, and community partnerships.

Chair or Co-Chairs of the Action Team for Partnerships

At the school level, there must be a chair or, better, co-chairs of the ATP. The chair must be someone whose leadership is recognized and accepted by all members and who communicates well with educators, parents, and community members. Most often, this is a teacher, counselor, or assistant principal who understands the importance of family involvement in children’s education.

Some schools select an educator and a parent to serve as co-chairs of the ATP. Chairs and co-chairs also must be selected to lead the various ATP committees that conduct specific activities that are written in the One-Year Action Plan for Partnerships. Having educators and parents as co-chairs or co-leaders of the ATP and its committees sends an important message to everyone in the school community about teamwork. The co-chair structure also gives greater stability to the ATP in the event that one leader leaves the school. The chair or co-chairs of the ATP also may serve as “linking members” on the school council or school improvement team.

Linking ATP Members with the School Improvement Team

A common question about organizing partnerships is whether the school improvement team (sometimes called the SIT) should also be the ATP. If the school improvement team or council is very large or if its mission is unclear, it may be subdivided into “action teams,”“work groups,” or committees dedicated to particular topics, with one committee dedicated to school, family, and community partnerships.

In most schools, however, the school improvement team has a clear mission to oversee all areas of the school’s program and progress and to serve as an advisor to the principal. Because educators and parents who serve on the school improvement team have limited time for meetings, it is best to recruit other teachers, parents, and community members to serve on the ATP—to meet, plan, implement, oversee, evaluate, and continually improve programs of family and community involvement.

With different people on the policy-advisory and action teams, a school will ensure that the same leaders are not trying to do too many things and that leadership skills are developed by many teachers, administrators, parents, and community partners. One “linking” member in addition to the principal may serve on both the school improvement team and the Action Team for Partnerships to ensure an ongoing exchange of information between the policy group and its “action arm.”

QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS

1. Select a policy level that interests you (i.e., school, district, or state level).

2. Identify two job titles at the level you selected that you believe are typically represented by people who could take leadership roles for improving school, family, and community partnerships.

3. Next to each job title that you listed, note (a) the professional training, (b) goals, and (c) one other characteristic that people in these positions typically have that would help them facilitate and support the work of teachers, parents, and administrators in developing programs of school, family, and community partnerships.

Ideal Members of an Action Team for Partnerships

Suppose that you are in a school that wants to create an ATP whose members will work together on all types of family and community involvement. Let us say that you are one member of a six- to twelve-person team. Who else would you want on an ideal ATP? How might the ATP divide responsibilities to develop expertise in partnerships among its teachers, parents, and administrator?

a. Select the level of schooling that interests you (preschool or elementary, middle, or high school).

b. Give your hypothetical school a name.

c. Give the ATP a name. You may call it “ATP” or a name of your choice that sends a message of partnerships.

FIGURE 7.2 ATP Member Chart

d. In Figure 7.2, identify:

1. Your own position on the ATP (e.g., teacher, principal, counselor, parent, or some other position).

2. The other members of the ATP. Include at least two or three teachers, two or three parents, and an administrator. Give all members hypothetical names, and list their positions.

3. For each team member, note one of his or her special talents or interests that may contribute to the work of the ATP.

e. Note: You may extend the table to include more than six members of your ideal ATP.

f. List three challenges that could prevent these team members from working well together to write and implement plans and activities for school, family, and community partnerships. For each challenge, provide one solution that might help the team succeed with its work on partnerships.

Action Team Responsibilities

In elementary, middle, and high schools, the ATP plans, implements, coordinates, and oversees action; monitors progress; solves problems; presents reports; and designs new directions for positive connections with families and communities to increase student success. Members of the ATP do not work alone on the planned activities; they work with other faculty, parents, community members, and the school council or improvement team (if one exists). The ATP gathers input from and presents ideas to the full faculty, school improvement team, and parent association for the school’s one-year action plan. The ATP also recruits other teachers, parents, students, administrators, and community members, or delegates leadership to help design, conduct, and evaluate family and community activities for each type of involvement or for each major school goal.

Whether it uses the goal-oriented approach or the process-oriented approach to organize involvement activities, the ATP will do the following:

• Document present and new practices of partnership so that everyone knows how individual teachers and the school as a whole communicate and work with families.

• Develop a detailed One-Year Action Plan for Partnerships linked to school improvement plans, including activities for all six types of involvement that involve families in ways that help students reach school goals.

• Identify the budget(s) and resources that will support the activities in the One-Year Action Plan for Partnerships.

• Meet monthly as a whole team to ensure continuous progress in plans and activities and to evaluate activities that were implemented in the past month.

• Meet in smaller committees, as needed, to implement activities in the One-Year Action Plan for Partnerships.

• Publicize the partnership plans and practices to parents, students, and teachers, and, as appropriate, the broader community. All teachers, parents, school staff, community members, and students should know how they can help select, design, conduct, enjoy, benefit from, and evaluate partnership activities.

• Report its work and progress semiannually (or on a regular schedule) to the school improvement team (or council), parent organization, faculty, and broader community.

• Recognize and celebrate excellent participation from parents, other family members, students, and others in the community who contribute to the success of the planned partnership activities.

• Evaluate progress in improving the quality of implemented activities and the results of various involvement activities. This includes results for the school and teachers, results for parents and other family members, and results for students.

• Solve problems that impede progress on partnership activities.

• Gather ideas for new activities and solves problems that impede progress.

• Write a new One-Year Action Plan for Partnerships each year to ensure an ongoing program of partnerships in the life and work of the school.

• Replace teachers, parents, administrators, or other members who leave the ATP with new members so that a full team is always ready to conduct a planned program of partnerships at the school.

• Integrate new projects, grants, and activities for home, school, and community connections into a unified program of partnerships. Many activities that enrich and extend partnerships of home, school, and community come and go each year. These activities should be viewed as part of, not separate from, the school’s ongoing, dynamic, comprehensive program of partnerships.

The ATP recognizes all of the family and community involvement activities that are conducted by individual teachers and other groups (e.g., PTA/PTO, after-school program, and business partners). The school’s partnership program includes all family and community involvement activities that are conducted for the school as a whole, in specific grade levels, and by individual teachers each year.

If the ATP conducts its leadership activities well, then everyone in the school should know that the school has an active program of school, family, and community partnerships. All teachers, parents, school staff, community members, and students should know how they are contributing to the design, conduct, and evaluation of partnership activities. From year to year, the number and quality of activities in each One-Year Action Plan for Partnerships should improve, along with positive results of the activities. Details on organizing an effective ATP are in Epstein et al. (2009).

QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS

1. Which of the ATP actions listed above do you think is: a. easiest to accomplish, and why? b. most difficult to accomplish, and why?

2. Select three of the leadership actions of the ATP listed above that you believe are most important for a high-quality program of partnerships. Explain how each of the actions you selected would help make a school’s program of school, family, and community partnerships permanent and a regular part of school life.

Using Tools to Take Action

To fulfill the responsibilities listed above and to develop and strengthen its program of partnerships from year to year, an ATP must address the following questions:

1. Where is this school starting from in its present practices at each grade level on each of the six major types of involvement? What do teachers do individually, and what does the school do as a whole, to involve families and communities?

2. What are this school’s major goals for improving or maintaining student success?

3. What will be different about this school’s program of family, school, and community partnerships three years from now?

4. Which partnership practices that are currently being conducted should be maintained or improved?

5. Which new practices should be added to involve families and the community in ways that help students attain specific learning goals? To activate all six types of involvement? To reach more families?

6. How is this school progressing? What indicators are used to measure the quality of partnerships and progress toward goals for student success? What activities should be monitored, documented, and formally evaluated to learn about the effects of school, family, and community partnerships?

7. How will the results of the assessments and evaluations be used to improve the next One-Year Action Plan for Partnerships?

Educators and researchers working together have developed several tools to help ATPs address these basic questions. The following tools are discussed in the implementation guidebook School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action (Epstein et al., 2009).

a. Starting Points. An inventory of present practices for the six types of involvement, accounting for the grade levels in which activities are presently implemented.

b. One-Year Action Plan for Partnerships. An annual, detailed plan that outlines activities, dates, and specific responsibilities for members of the ATP and others to implement the planned practices. Options include a goal-oriented or process-oriented action plan.

c. Annual Evaluation of Activities. A reflective assessment of quality of each activity that is implemented throughout the school year. The format matches the goal-oriented or process-oriented action plan so that plans and evaluations are parallel.

d. Measure of School, Family, and Community Partnerships. An inventory and rating system that extends Starting Points to assess how well the school is implementing partnership practices for the six types of involvement and how well the program is meeting key challenges for involving all families in their children’s education.

e. Annual Review of Team Processes. Assess the quality of teamwork at the end of each year by rating 18 team processes to help an ATP become even more effective in the future.

FIGURE 7.3 Matching Tools to Tasks

Matching Tools to Tasks

a. Use the chart in Figure 7.3. Tell which of the above tools (A, B, C, D, or E) would help an ATP address the seven major questions listed above. (Tools may be used more than once.)

b. Fill in other school information that might be needed or helpful, whether the tools listed above are used or not.

Scheduling Meetings˿Not Too Many, Not Too Few

In its One-Year Action Plan for Partnerships, an ATP must create a realistic schedule for full-team meetings, committee meetings, and periodic reports to other school groups so that all teachers, parents, students, and members of the community will know about the school’s plans and activities for partnerships. A recommended schedule includes the following team meetings and reports:

• Team Meetings. The full ATP should meet on a regular, realistic schedule (at least monthly for at least one hour) to plan and schedule activities, coordinate actions, conduct events, evaluate results, identify problems, and celebrate progress. The meetings should be designed and conducted to keep the planned program moving forward.

• Committee Meetings. ATP committees should meet as needed to implement specific activities in the one-year action plan for which they are responsible. For teams using the process-oriented approach, six ATP committees on the six types of involvement will meet, as needed, throughout the year to implement their planned activities. For teams using the goal-oriented approach, ATP committees will meet to implement the activities planned on their specific goals.

• Reports or Presentations on Partnerships. The chair, co-chairs, or designated members of the ATP should report regularly (at least twice a year) to the school improvement team (school council), the full faculty, and the parent association on plans for and progress on school, family, and community partnerships. These also are occasions to gather information and ideas for needed changes and improvements and to recruit leaders and participants for various activities.

• Reports or Presentations on Partnerships. The chair, co-chairs, or designated members also should report the ATP’s plans, activities, and progress to all families, students, and the community in school or community newsletters and in other forums where the work, plans, and goals of the school are discussed.

How Many Meetings?

a. Interview a teacher or administrator to discuss some of the challenges educators and parents might face in finding time to meet and work together on an ATP and some workable options. This activity may be conducted individually or invite an educator to discuss these issues with the class. First set the stage or scenario:

Suppose that the teachers, administrators, and parents in your school formed an Action Team for Partnerships—a committee that works together to improve the plans and practices of family and community involvement. The ATP wrote a One-Year Action Plan for Partnerships so that involvement activities, conducted throughout the school year, would contribute to goals for student success. Now the team is meeting to determine a reasonable schedule for team and committee meetings. They want to have just enough meetings—not too many, but not too few—to ensure that their work is well organized and that planned activities are well implemented.

Given the realities of school life in your school, what are your recommendations on the following?

1. Team Meetings: If your school had an ATP that included teachers, parents, and an administrator, how often should the whole team meet to plan, conduct, and monitor their work and progress? What might be a reasonable schedule, time, and place for whole-team meetings?

2. Committee Meetings: If your ATP had committees to conduct involvement activities to contribute to specific school goals (e.g., helping students improve attendance, math achievement, etc.), how often should each committee meet to plan, conduct, and monitor their specific activities? What might be a reasonable schedule, time, and place for committee meetings?

3. Reports on Partnerships: If your school had an ATP, how often should reports about partnership plans and progress be made to the following groups? What form should those reports take: oral report, computerized phone message, written summary, detailed written report, or some other form?

Action Team for Partner- ships should report to:	How often?	In what form?
1. School improvement team or council
2. PTA/PTO or parent organization
3. All parents in the school
4. All teachers in the school
5. Students
6. Community members
7. Local media
8. Any others?

4. Assessments and New Plans: If your school had an ATP, how much time should be spent evaluating its work and writing new one-year action plans for the next school year? What might be a reasonable schedule, time, and place for these activities?

b. Summarize the questions and the interviewee’s responses.

c. From the responses to the interview questions and from your readings in this chapter on the ATP, create and label a realistic meeting schedule over one school year (12 months) for ATP meetings and reports. Include in the calendar time for the ATP to:

• orient new members of the team

• write a one-year action plan

• meet as a whole team

• meet as committees on activities linked to school goals for student success

• report their work and progress to major stakeholder groups

• evaluate their work and progress

• write plans for the next school year

• conduct other meetings or responsibilities that you identify.

COMMENT

Establishing Permanent Partnership Programs˿ As Regular as Reading!

A school’s partnership program should be organized to operate as efficiently, effectively, and predictably as a school’s reading, math, science, and other curricula and testing programs. For example, a school’s reading program accounts for all of the reading and literacy activities that are conducted with students at all grade levels. Reading skills are planned, taught, tested, reported, and continually improved. Every principal, teacher, student, and parent knows that the school has a reading program that students experience daily. If new reading activities or opportunities come along (such as a grant for improving reading instruction, for purchasing new books, or for teachers’ professional development in linking reading and writing), the additions are woven into the fabric of the school’s reading program.

Similarly, a well-organized, comprehensive program of school, family, and community partnerships accounts for all home-school-community connections that are planned and conducted with students and families. Some activities are conducted by classroom teachers, some activities are grade-level events, and other activities are schoolwide. Some are individual connections between a parent and teacher, administrator, or counselor; others are group activities; and still others involve all students, families, educators, and the community.

Like reading, partnership programs and practices must be planned, reviewed, and improved each year. If new partnership projects, grants, and activities are initiated, they should be integrated into the school’s ongoing partnership program. This simple analogy—partnership programs must be planned and conducted “like reading”—is key to sustaining school, family, and community partnerships that inform and involve all families in their children’s education every year.

ACTIVITY

How Are Partnerships Like and Unlike Reading?

a. Invite a school principal, or teacher, or school district or state education leader to discuss how one “regular” or “permanent” program (such as reading, math, science, other subject, or testing program) is organized to ensure that it continues and improves from year to year. Fill in the chart on page 597 to summarize the information about the selected, permanent program. Ask:

1. What is one program in your school(s) that is permanent, regular, and expected from year to year?

2. How do the following organizational features help make the selected program permanent? (Fill in column 1.)

3. Do the same organizational features contribute to the development of a program of school, family, and community partnerships in your school(s)? If yes, how does each feature apply? If no, why not? (Fill in column 2.)

b. From what you learned in the interview, how permanent do you think the selected program is, and how permanent do you think the school, family, and community partnership program is in this educator’s school(s)? Explain.

COMMENT

What’s in a Name?

A school may call its team the (School Name) Action Team for Partnerships; or the (School Name) School, Family, and Community Partnership Team; or the Home, School, Community Partnership Team. Or a school may choose a unique name for its team, such as the Parent-Educator Network (PEN), Teachers Getting Involved with Families (TGIF), Partners in Education (PIE), Partners for Student Success (PASS), or Teachers and Parents for Students (TAPS).

Sometimes districts name their partnership initiatives to link all of the schools in their own local “network.” For example, districts have called their initiatives the (District Name) School, Family, and Community Partnership Program; (District Name) Network of Partnership Schools; and Building Educational Success Together (BEST).

QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS

1. Give two reasons why a school or district might want to give its ATP or partnership program a unique name.

2. Why are the above names for school teams and district programs better than names that focus only on parents (such as Parent Network, Family Focus Group, or Parents Involved in Education), and better than names that focus only on community connections (such as Community

Education Committee)? Give two reasons why names of ATPs or district initiatives should have a “partnership” focus.

ACTIVITY

How Effective Are School Improvement Committees?

a. Select a school level that interests you (i.e., preschool or elementary, middle, or high school).

b. Interview a teacher or administrator about the current and ideal committee structures in that person’s school. Ask:

1. About how many students are in this school?

2. About how many teachers and administrators are in this school?

3. What are four major goals or objectives that this school has for improving or maintaining the quality of the school’s program and students’ success?

Goal 1: ________________________________________

Goal 2: ________________________________________

Goal 3: ________________________________________

Goal 4: ________________________________________

c. Create a chart like the one below that outlines the interviewee’s responses to the questions in this chart.

School conditions and committee structure	What is the current situation?	What is ideal for this school?
1. What advisory or grade level committees meet regularly with the principal?
a. Who serves on these committees?
2. What action-oriented committees are there that plan and implement activities?
a. Who serves on these committees?
3. How well do these committees link their work to the four goals or objectives listed in question B3, above?
4. Add a question of your own:

d. Look over the information from the interview. How would you describe the school’s current committee structure? Is there evidence of teamwork?

Is there broad representation of teachers, parents, other staff, and community members on the various committees?

e. Do you agree with the interviewee’s ideas for the ideal committee structure for the school? Explain.

f. List two actions that you would recommend to help this school improve its committee structure and representation. Give one reason for each of your recommendations.

CENTRAL THEMES

The readings and discussions in this volume provide an understanding of the theory, research, policies, and implementation of programs and practices of school, family, and community partnerships. The next sections review the central themes and major conclusions that crosscut the readings and activities across chapters.

Central Theme Number 1: Building Mutual Trust and Respect of Teachers and Parents

Everyone agrees that mutual trust and mutual respect between parents and teachers are basic and required qualities of good partnerships. Programs of school, family, and community partnerships will not be sustained unless teachers, administrators, parents, and others who share an interest in children understand each other; respect the hard work they each do for children; convey their mutual respect to each other; and demonstrate their mutual trust in the way that they design and conduct programs of school, family, and community partnerships.

Trust and respect are not just words; it takes concerted action to establish these underlying qualities for successful partnerships. Trust and respect cannot be legislated or mandated but must be developed over time within school communities.

QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS

1. Discuss one way in which mutual respect and trust between parents and teachers are prerequisites for some practices of partnership.

2. Discuss one way that mutual respect and trust between parents and teachers facilitate good partnerships.

3. Discuss one way that mutual respect and trust between parents and teachers are the result of good practices of partnership.

4. Suppose that a school or district wanted to make sure that its work on school, family, and community partnerships increased parents’ and teachers’ mutual trust and respect for each other.

a. Select a level of schooling that interests you (e.g., preschool or elementary, middle, or high school).

b. Select one type of involvement that interests you.

c. Describe one activity for the type of involvement you selected that you think would help build mutual respect and trust between parents and teachers at the school level you selected.

d. Explain why you think this activity would produce trust and mutual respect between teachers and parents.

e. Analyze the following features of the activity you described at the school level you selected:

1. Would all families benefit from this activity—even parents who work during the school day or cannot come to the school building for other reasons?

If yes, describe how the activity involves all parents.

If no, add one idea about how to inform and include families, even if they were not able to participate.

2. What is one way that the activity you described might involve or affect students, in addition to parents?

COMMENT

Resolving Conflicts and Concerns

Activities to inform and involve families in children’s education at school and at home are not always successful on the first try. Some teachers and principals need practice in relating to and cooperating with parents. Some parents may not see eye-to-eye with their children’s teachers. Sometimes good partners have honest disagreements and must work out their differences.

Parents may have different opinions from teachers and from each other about homework (e.g., too much or too little), student placements (e.g., the group or special program in which the child should be placed), improvements needed in school subjects and programs, and other topics. Some differences in opinions occur when educators are not aware of parents’ views or when teachers or administrators are inflexible about responding to requests from families. Differences in opinions may occur if parents are not well informed and included in decisions about their children’s education from preschool on. Without information and involvement every year that children are in school, gaps are created in parents’ and educators’ knowledge of and comfort with each other. Such gaps, if not addressed, become increasingly hard to bridge.

Even when parents and teachers share mutual respect and trust each other, problems may arise, but solutions should be easier to achieve. For example, by knowing and respecting the families of their students, many schools have redesigned winter holiday concerts and celebrations to prevent offending or excluding students of different cultures or religions. Some schools have “detracked” courses to offer challenging programs to all students, not just to a few who are labeled “gifted.” One school in a large urban area served many families who, because of their religious beliefs, objected to some curricular topics. Instead of ignoring or criticizing the parents, teachers created alternative learning activities for students to select to develop the same important skills in reading, writing, or social studies. Schools in many communities now give parents and students choices of whether or not to attend classes or activities that counter family beliefs.

A well-functioning action team will design ways to review and discuss parents’ concerns and opinions. Indeed, good communications help build an important base of trust and respect needed to address questions and resolve differences.

QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS

1. How might an ATP respond to the following parental concerns? Give one possible solution to each of the following issues:

Parental Concern	One Strategy That May Address This Concern
a. Parent complains that the family’s religious beliefs are contradicted by the school program or policy (a Type 1 challenge).
b. Parent wants to meet with the child’s teacher but does not speak English (a Type 2 challenge).
c. Parent feels unwelcome by other volun teers (a Type 3 challenge).
d. Parent says that the child is being given too little homework (a Type 4 challenge).
e. Parent thinks that children in the after noon kindergarten class have fewer hours of school than in the morning class (a Type 5 challenge).
f. Parent is worried that children are unsafe walking to and from school (a Type 6 challenge).

2. Not all strategies will fully address parental concerns. Some actions may help a concerned parent understand and accept the school’s point of view and some may help the school understand and accept the parent’s point of view. Discuss the suggested strategies in class: Are the actions realistic? What is the likely result if the suggested strategy were enacted? Will the exchange build trust or distrust between parents and educators?

Central Theme Number 2: Recognizing the Diversity of Families

1. The diversity of family cultures and languages will continue in the nation’s schools. Students come to school from families with diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, religions, customs, talents, and experiences. Cultural and linguistic diversity will increase as the nation welcomes new groups of immigrants and as generations of immigrant children and families not only assimilate but also maintain pride in their heritage.

2. The diversity of family structures will continue in the nation’s schools. Students come to school each day from one-parent and two-parent homes, blended families, extended families, foster families, same-sex parents, and other family arrangements. Some children are from large families, others from small families. Some have grandparents nearby; others do not. Families have diverse forms and members.

3. The diversity of family work experiences will continue in the nation’s schools. In most families, one or both parents work full-time or part-time outside the home. Some parents are or may become unemployed, are in training for new jobs, have a disability, receive federal or state assistance, or are moving to a new location. Families have diverse work schedules and experiences.

4. The diversity of family economic situations will continue in the nation’s schools. Some parents are wealthy, many are middle class, others are working hard and getting by, and still others are poor. Some children have economic advantages that facilitate educational experiences. Other children and their families need various kinds of assistance to participate fully in educational programs at school and in the community. Families have diverse resources even in seemingly homogeneous communities.

5. Diverse families are similar in many ways. Despite important cultural, structural, and economic differences, families are similar in profound ways. All families care about their children and want them to succeed in schools with excellent educational programs. All families want to feel welcome at their children’s schools, respected by their children’s teachers, and safe in their communities. All students are eager to succeed, want their families to be appreciated by their schools, and want their families as knowledgeable partners in their education.

QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS

1. Add to the list above one more way in which you believe families within a school are different from one another, and explain.

2. Add to the list above one more way in which you believe families within a school are similar to one another, and explain.

3. Identify one of the features of diversity from the list that interests you.

a. Identify one type of family involvement and one grade level that interest you.

b. Describe one activity for school, family, and community partnerships for the type of involvement and grade level you selected that you believe would:

• help diverse families and students appreciate their differences;

• help diverse families and students appreciate their similarities; and

• help teachers or principals learn more about the strengths, interests, needs, or goals of diverse families.

FIELD EXPERIENCE

How Do Communities Address Diversity?

a. Identify a community that interests you.

b. Select a parent, educator, or other individual in that community to interview about whether and how the community recognizes similarities and differences of families and students. Ask:

1. How diverse is this community’s population, and in what ways?

2. Are the students in the local schools more or less diverse than people in the surrounding community, or about the same? Explain.

3. Are similarities, common goals, and interests of families in this community discussed and celebrated? If so, give one example of how this is done. If not, give one reason why this is not done.

4. Are differences in the goals and interests of families in the community discussed and celebrated? If so, give one example of how this is done. If not, give one reason why this is not done.

c. Write one more question to ask the parent, educator, or other individual about similarities or differences in the community.

d. Summarize the questions and your interviewee’s responses. From this interview, how would you describe the “sense of community” in this location? Provide one idea that you think would strengthen this community’s understanding of its families.

ACTIVITY

Appreciating Family Diversity

Family histories, cultures, talents, values, and religions are rarely discussed in school. These topics are important, however, for increasing students’ understanding and appreciation of others who are different from themselves. Comprehensive partnership programs include activities that illuminate family backgrounds and strengths to help students, families, and educators understand and appreciate each other’s similarities and differences.

a. Identify a grade level that interests you.

b. Design a bulletin board for a classroom, school hallway, or community location for the grade level you selected that focuses attention on the strengths, similarities, or diversities of families. For example, consider displaying student drawings, stories, or photographs about aspects of family life that students may enjoy sharing (e.g., favorite foods, sports, holidays, sayings, histories, hopes and dreams, talents, hobbies and interests, stories of coming to America, or other topics of interest).

1. Show a diagram of how you think the display will look.

2. Explain the purpose and content of your design.

3. Design one classroom or homework activity for students to plan, create, or react to the bulletin board.

c. “Bulletin boards may celebrate the diversity of families in a school, but they are not enough to help students develop an understanding and appreciation of their similarities and differences.”

1. Do you agree or disagree with the above statement?

2. Write or discuss at least two arguments to support or refute this statement for the grade level you selected.

3. In addition to a bulletin board, what is one activity that might strengthen a school’s focus on the similarities and differences of its students and families?

Website Exploration Diversity of Students and Families

Explore the annual collections of Promising Partnership Practices at www.partnershipschools.org in the section “Success Stories.”

a. Select one year’s book, and click on “Multicultural Awareness.”

b. Select one activity reported by a school, district, state, or organization and critique it.

1. What were two positive features of the activity that increased awareness of and interactions by diverse students and families in a school?

2. What were two weaknesses or limitations to the activity that could be corrected for even greater success? Tell how.

Central Theme Number 3: Equity in School, Family, and Community Partnerships

Can family involvement at home ever be equal for all children and families?

• Some parents have more formal schooling than other parents.

• Families have different skills to share, such as music, sports, arts, cooking, carpentry, car repair, sewing, and child care.

• Some parents have more time to spend with their children than others.

• Some families have more money to spend on tutoring, lessons, and summer experiences.

• Some communities have more free activities for families and for children than do other communities.

• Some families have older children who can help the younger ones with schoolwork.

• Some families have only one child, who receives all of the parents’ attention.

• Add one or two other inevitable inequalities that exist for children and families at home that you believe have an impact on student success in school: ________________________

The inequalities listed above are not all associated with wealth or formal education. For example, some parents, though economically strapped, may spend more time with children than do other families. Some communities in distressed neighborhoods help students and families participate in enriching activities. All families, regardless of socioeconomic status, have useful skills and knowledge to share with children.

QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS

Almost all families want to do the best they can for and with their children, but many conditions and resources are different and unequal. What do these inequalities mean for producing greater equity in school, family, and community partnerships?

1. Select one of the inequalities in the list above.

2. Discuss the importance of the factor you selected for children’s success in school.

3. Describe one activity in a program of school, family, and community partnerships that might help to increase equality on the factor you selected.

COMMENT

Choices That Respond to Diverse Students’ Needs

From preschool on, decisions are made for, about, and with students and their families that affect students’ experiences in school. Some states, districts, and schools offer families and students options in their education, including choice of:

• schools

• courses

• teachers

• special programs in schools

• activities in programs

• after-school activities

• summer school or enrichment programs

• ways to make up a failing grade

• add one more choice that may be made: ____________

To make wise choices, families and students need good information in useful forms and understandable language. For example, some families prefer information in print form, while others prefer to talk with other parents, educators, or others in the community. Or a combination of verbal and written exchanges might be needed.

QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS

1. Identify one of the choices that interests you from the bulleted list above.

2. For the choice you selected:

a. What do parents need to know to make an informed choice?

b. Discuss at least one equity issue associated with this choice that determines whether all families or some families exercise their options.

c. Describe two strategies that schools might use to provide the kinds of information that all families need to make good decisions for this choice. Describe each strategy and the results you anticipate.

COMMENT

Luck Versus Equity in Partnerships

Parents speak of involvement in their children’s education in terms of “luck.” A parent may say: “I’m really lucky this year. Paul’s teacher is so open and encouraging. I can call with my questions, and I know she will return the call.” Or “We are so lucky. Adrienn’s teacher is so helpful. He keeps us informed about how she is doing and how to help at home.” These parents may not feel so lucky the next school year.

Families also talk about their children’s schools in the same way. Parents may say: “We are so lucky that our school welcomes ideas from parents. In the last school our children attended, the principal was not interested in what we had to say.” Families feel lucky if they are welcomed, informed, and involved.

Teachers also speak of luck. A teacher says: “I am so lucky this year. My students’ parents are so easy to reach. They are eager to help me and my class at school, and they work with their children at home.” Teachers appreciate parents’ help. They talk about being lucky if they have good relationships with their students and families.

This volume suggests that it is possible to take school, family, and community partnerships out of the realm of luck and put them into regular teaching practice. This can be done by planning and implementing a comprehensive, permanent program of partnerships that involves all teachers, all families, and the community every year that students are in school.

FIELD EXPERIENCE

Do Parents Feel Lucky or Confident about Partnerships?

a. Select a parent whose child has been in the same school for more than one year. Identify the child’s grade level and whether the school is public or private. Ask:

1. This year, how do your child’s school and teacher(s) inform and involve you in your child’s education?

2. How do you feel about the information and opportunities you receive?

3. How did you feel last year about the information and opportunities for involvement that you received from the school or your child’s teacher(s)?

b. Add one question of your own.

c. Record the questions and responses.

d. Summarize the parent’s reports about contacts with the school to tell:

1. Were the parent’s experiences consistent or different from one year to the next?

2. Were parents expecting information and opportunities for involvement, or did they feel “lucky” this year or last year?

e. Add other reflections.

f. Optional class activity. Compare responses with others in class for an overview of parents’ reports of consistency of information from year to year.

COMMENT

Real or Imagined Families

We need to design and implement family involvement activities that meet the needs of today’s families, not real or imagined families of the past. This means understanding families’ conditions and constraints. Not all families can come to all workshops, meetings, or events on the school’s schedule. Not all who are employed can leave work to come to parent-teacher conferences. Not all parents can volunteer at school during the day. Not all parents can help with homework on a specific evening. Not all parents want to serve on school committees. Not all parents can work in their communities at specifically scheduled times.

These are not new problems. There always were diverse situations and constraints on time that restricted family involvement. There always were one-parent and two-parent homes where parents were employed during the school day, or in one, two, or more jobs, who could not come often or easily to the school building. There always were immigrant parents and others who did not feel welcome at school. In the past, most parents had very limited knowledge of their children’s schooling across the grades, and most had limited information about how to work with their children’s schools to maximize student success.

The imagined “golden years” of parent involvement never existed in all or most schools for all or most families. Most parents have always needed more and better information than they were given, and more and different opportunities for involvement at school and at home. Because of advances in research, policy, and practice, we know more now than in the past about the organization of programs and practices that enable all families to be involved in their children’s education across the grades.

ACTIVITY

Meeting the Needs of Twenty-first-Century Families

a. Figure 7.4 shows six of many crucial challenges to excellent progress on the six types of involvement. Give one example of an activity that would help meet each of the following challenges so that more of today’s families might become more involved in their children’s education.

b. Discuss ideas about the challenges and suggested solutions in class. How would each suggestion address the simultaneous challenges of equity in partnerships to involve all families and meeting the needs of diverse families?

FIGURE 7.4 Challenges to Partnerships

COMMENT

Conclusions and Looking Ahead

This volume takes readers on a journey from theory to research, to policy, and to the development of school, family, and community partnership programs in practice. From the collection of readings, activities, and other research, we draw eight conclusions to help you think about, talk about, and take action on school, family, and community partnerships as you proceed to use and build on what you have learned.

1. School, family, and community partnerships are about children and their success as students in school. In the past, parental involvement was, too often, about the parents. Because schools are responsible and accountable for students’ success, it is necessary to redirect programs of family and community involvement to focus on helping all students succeed in school.

Teachers, parents, administrators, and community members care about their children and want them to succeed in school and in life. Indeed, children are the reason these partners communicate and work together. Research suggests that children who have multiple sources of support at home, at school, and in the community are more likely to succeed in school, graduate from high school, and make postsecondary plans for the future. Well-designed partnership programs and practices should help all of the people who care about children organize their interactions and mobilize their resources in ways that help youngsters define themselves and work as students. Some partnership activities also will benefit parents, educators, and others, but these results are the means to the main goal of promoting students’ learning, development, and success.

2. School, family, and community partnerships are for all families. Partnerships are not just for families who are formally educated, easy to reach, or able to come often to school. They are not just for families whose children are doing well in school and not just for those whose children are in trouble, not just for families who live close to the school or only those who have telephones and computers with Internet access, not just for those who speak English or read it well, not just for those with two parents at home, and not just for families who always agree with school policies. Comprehensive programs of school, family, and community partnerships are designed to inform and involve families of all races, cultures, family structures, and educational backgrounds. Schools with excellent partnership programs reach out to mothers and fathers, foster parents and guardians, grandparents, and others who are raising children in all families.

When comprehensive programs of partnership are conducted, schools send powerful messages to students:

Your school respects all families. Your school will communicate and collaborate with your family to help you succeed.

Partnership programs say to teachers:

Involving families in children’s education is part of educators’ professional work. This school does not stereotype or dismiss any families as irrelevant to their children’s learning and development.

Crucial messages also are sent to families:

All students and all families are important in this school. We communicate with families, and we encourage families to communicate with educators to help students succeed.

3. School, family, and community partnerships are important at all grade levels, from preschool through high school. Families are important in their children’s lives every year, not just in infancy, preschool, and the primary grades. Community services and programs assist families and their children from infancy on, not just in the upper grades.

Of course, practices of partnership change each year as children mature and assume more responsibilities for their own learning; school programs become more complex; and families accumulate information about their children’s education, talents, and interests. Partnerships are particularly important at times of transition, when children and their families move to new schools or are promoted from one grade level to the next. To do their best for their children, families need good information about their children’s development, school programs, community services, and how to help at home at every grade level.

4. Students are key to the success of school, family, and community partnerships. Not only are students the reason for partnerships, they also are essential partners. Students are important couriers, messengers, interpreters, negotiators, interviewers, decision makers, and discussants in school, family, and community partnership activities for all six types of involvement. Students help teachers, counselors, and administrators reach their families, and they help their families communicate with their schools. They often are the main source of information for families about school and community programs. Without students’ participation in communications between school and home, there will be few successful partnerships of any type at any grade level. Most important, students are the main actors in their own education and, ultimately, in charge of their own success in school. Still, teachers, parents, and others in the community must work with students and with each other to help students succeed.

5. The community is important for the success of partnership programs. Community includes the family and the school, and it extends to the neighborhood, the city or township, and all of society. The vastness of the term means that every school, district, or state must identify its community and design productive connections that will strengthen the school programs, assist families and students, and advance the interests of the community.

Community resources include people, programs, policies, facilities, finances, and other less tangible norms, beliefs, and attitudes that can be targeted to help students succeed. Business partners; cultural, civic, religious, and educational groups; the media; and others in the community may contribute to comprehensive partnership programs in ways that help prevent students’ academic and behavioral problems and that promote student success. All communities, not just wealthy ones, have traditions, talents, and opportunities that can be organized to enrich the lives of children.

Connections with the community do not take the place of connections with all students’ families. Even when schools organize and use community programs, people, and resources well (e.g., mentors, tutors, educational programs, recreational opportunities), students’ families need to be informed and involved. They must know about their children’s opportunities, work, and progress. From year to year, families remain students’ main support system.

Community is an attitude and feeling of connectedness. When educators, parents, other citizens, and organizations work together to help students succeed, they strengthen the sense of community in and beyond the school.

6. Developing and implementing programs and practices of school, family, and community partnerships are processes, not events. Programs of partnership are developed over time, not overnight. It takes time to plan, implement, evaluate, and improve school-level partnership programs. It takes time to develop insightful and facilitative district and state policies, organize staff, implement inservice education, award grants, and conduct conferences and other leadership activities that support and assist all schools. Planned programs make the difference in whether, which, and how families and communities become involved in children’s education. At least three years are needed for schools, districts, and states to establish strong leadership for and effective processes and practices of school, family, and community partnerships. After that, annual plans, thoughtful evaluations, and continuous improvements are needed to sustain excellent programs of partnership.

7. School, family, and community partnerships focus on results to help students succeed in school. After establishing a welcoming school environment that sends messages of trust, respect, and welcome to all families, schools’ programs of partnership must focus on results for student success in school. Annual plans for school, family, and community partnerships must include activities that involve families and communities in productive ways to help promote, improve, or maintain school goals and high standards for student success. Involvement activities must be balanced to include some conducted at school, at home through homework, and in community settings. It is no longer enough to count “bodies in the school building” to measure family involvement.

Involvement activities may be designed to help students increase skills in reading, math, writing, or other subjects. And productive partnerships may focus on improving student attendance, behavior, or attitudes toward school and learning so that students are in school, on time, and motivated to learn and do their best.

A focus on results requires schools, districts, and state departments of education to monitor the quality of partnership programs and to measure the impact of family and community involvement on student success. Clear measures are needed, first, of the quality of involvement activities to learn whether planned activities are implemented, who is involved and who is excluded, and how well the activities are conducted. Next, clear measures of results are needed to learn whether there are added benefits for all or some students or others as a result of participating in the activities that are implemented. This two-step approach to evaluation ensures that results cannot be expected unless involvement activities are effectively implemented. A focus on results affirms that school programs of family and community involvement must be periodically reviewed and continually improved.

8. School, family, and community partnerships do not substitute for other school improvements and innovations that are needed to increase student learning and success. The best way to ensure student success and high achievement is for all students to have excellent teachers every day, every year, in every subject. Schools must provide all students with talented teachers; challenging curriculum; effective instruction; up-to-date technology; equal opportunities to learn; responsive assessments; enriching educational resources and activities; and excellent school, family, and community partnerships.

In sum, school, family, and community partnerships are about children, include all families, at all grade levels, give key roles to students, involve the community, are planned and ongoing, and are evaluated for their quality and results. Along with all other aspects of excellent schools and excellent teaching, school, family, and community partnerships are necessary for increasing students’ test scores, reducing dropout rates, improving attendance, or increasing other indicators of student success. The eight conclusions lead, full circle, back to the first chapter’s list of facts and call for action for better professional preparation of educators about school, family, and community partnerships.

QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS

1. Based on the eight conclusions listed above and your other readings, in the chart below list one reason why each of the following is important in a comprehensive program of partnership. Then, list one reason why each focus is not enough for ensuring trust, respect, equity, and diversity in programs of partnership.

Focus	Why is this important?	Why is this not enough for a comprehensive partner ship program?
A. Involve parents of young children.
B. Involve families in work- shops on parenting.
C. Involve families with many years of formal ed ucation who understand schools.
D. Involve families when students are in trouble.
E. Involve families and the community in one big event at school each year.
F. Have an active PTA/PTO or other parent organization.

2. Discuss classmates’ ideas of why each focus is necessary but not sufficient in excellent programs of partnership.

COMMENT

20/20 Vision of School, Family, and Community Partnerships

Today’s students are tomorrow’s parents. They are witnessing and experiencing how their schools treat their families and how their families treat the schools. They are learning by example how parents are involved at school and at home in their children’s education.

In 10 years, some elementary school students (now 6-10 years old), more middle-grade students (now 11-14 years old), and many high school students (now 15-18 years old) will be parents. By 2020, many of their children will be in day care, pre-school, and elementary school. Will tomorrow’s parents be good partners with their children’s schools? Will the schools be good partners with tomorrow’s parents?

QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS

Based on the articles you read and the discussions and activities you conducted, how do you think school, family, and community partnerships should be conducted in the future?

1. Identify a school level that interests you (i.e., preschool or elementary, middle, or high).

2. For the school level you selected, write an essay on your vision of ideal school, family, and community partnerships in 2020.

a. Address these questions:

• In the year 2020, how should schools connect with families and communities?

• How should parents connect with their children’s schools, interact with educators, and influence their children’s education?

b. Include ideas about the policies and actions that will be needed to realize your vision. These may include school, district, state, and/or federal policies; educators’ preparation; family factors and approaches; and other requirements.

c. How likely is it that your vision of school, family, and community partnerships will be fulfilled by 2020? Explain.

COMMENT

Shaping the Future

We cannot change past patterns of school, family, and community partnerships, but we can shape the future. This includes improving preservice, advanced, and inservice education so that all teachers and administrators understand school, family, and community partnerships and can apply what they know.

From all of the studies, fieldwork, discussions, and activities discussed in this volume, one thing is very clear. It is unreasonable to expect parents, on their own, to create the knowledge needed every year to interact productively with their children as students or to connect with their children’s schools and teachers. By contrast, it is reasonable to expect all schools, districts, and state departments of education to organize ongoing programs of school, family, and community partnerships so that all parents are well informed and productively involved every year with their children and schools.

This volume for preparing educators to understand school, family, and community partnerships takes readers one step toward improving policies and practices of involvement. When well-prepared teachers, administrators, counselors, and other professionals take positions in schools, districts, and state departments of education, the real work to organize, implement, and sustain programs of partnership begins.

REFERENCES

Epstein, J. L., and F. L. Van Voorhis. (In press). School counselors’ roles in developing partnerships with families and communities for student success. Professional School Counseling.

Epstein, J. L., et al. (2009). School, family, and community partnerships: Your handbook for action (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Sanders, M. (2008). How parent liaisons can help bridge home and school. Journal of Educational Research 101: 287-297.

Sanders, M. G., and S. B. Sheldon. (2009). Principals Matter: A Guide to School, Family, and Community Partnerships. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

DISCUSSION AND ACTIVITIES

REFERENCES