School, Family, and Community Partnerships

By Joyce L. Epstein. Originally published in K. Hurrelmann, F. Kaufmann, and F. Losel, eds., Social Intervention: Potential and Constraints (New York: de Gruyter, 1987), 121-136. Reprinted with permission.

By Joyce L. Epstein and Steven B. Sheldon. Originally published in C. F. Conrad and R. Serlin, eds., SAGE Handbook for Research in Education: Engaging Ideas and Enriching Inquiry (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2006), 117-137. Reprinted with permission.

By Henry Jay Becker and Joyce L. Epstein. We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of the teachers and administrators in Maryland for their time and interest in this study. The research was supported by the National Institute of Education, Grant NIE-G-80-0113. No official endorsement of the authors’ opinions by the NIE should be inferred. Reprinted with permission from Elementary School Journal 83 (1982): 85-102.

By Joyce L. Epstein and Henry Jay Becker. We gratefully acknowledge the efforts of the teachers who contributed comments to the survey. Research was conducted at the Johns Hopkins R and D Center for Social Organization of Schools and was supported by the National Institute of Education, Grant NIE-G-80-0113. No official endorsement of the authors’ opinions by the NIE should be inferred. Reprinted with permission from Elementary School Journal 83 (1982): 103-113.

By Joyce L. Epstein and Susan L. Dauber. This research was supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), and by a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship awarded to the second author. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the OERI or the NSF, and no official endorsement should be inferred. We are very grateful to the teachers who participated in the survey and to the principals who supported the survey as the first step in a school improvement process. An earlier version of this reading was presented at the 1988 annual meeting of the American Sociological Association and in a technical report at the Center for Research on Elementary and Middle Schools, Johns Hopkins University. Reprinted with permission from Elementary School Journal 91 (1991): 289-303.

By Joyce L. Epstein. Many thanks go to the teachers, principals, and families who participated in this survey. I am indebted to my colleague Henry Jay Becker, who shared responsibility for the design and data collection of the study and offered suggestions on earlier drafts of this reading. Thanks, too, go to John H. Hollifield and two anonymous reviewers for helpful suggestions. This research was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Education. The results and opinions of the author do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the NIE, and no endorsement by the NIE should be inferred. Reprinted with permission from Elementary School Journal 86 (1986): 277-294.

By Joyce L. Epstein. This research was supported by Grant NIE-G-83-0002 from the National Institute of Education (now the Office of Educational Research and Improvement) of the U.S. Department of Education. The opinions expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the OERI, and no official endorsement by the agency should be inferred. An earlier version of the paper was presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association in 1984. The author is grateful to Henry Jay Becker, John Hollifield, Linda Gottfredson, and Gary Natriello for their helpful comments on earlier drafts. Originally published in M. T. Hallinan, D. M. Klein, and J. Glass, eds., Change in Societal Institutions (New York: Plenum, 1990), 91-121. Reprinted with permission.

By Susan L. Dauber and Joyce L. Epstein. The research was supported by grants from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), and by a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship awarded to the first author. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the OERI or the NSF, and no official endorsements should be inferred. The authors, listed alphabetically, shared responsibility for this chapter. We are grateful to the parents who participated in the survey and to the teachers and principals who conducted the survey as the first step in a school improvement process. Reprinted with permission. From N. Chavkin, ed., Families and Schools in a Pluralistic Society (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993), 53-71.

By Joyce L. Epstein. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 1984 annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association. The author is grateful to Henry Jay Becker and Doris Entwisle for their helpful comments and suggestions and to others who reviewed or reacted to earlier drafts. Many thanks to the teachers, principals, families, and students who contributed to this study. This research was supported by grants from the Department of Education Office of Educational Research and Improvement. The results and improvements do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the OERI. Originally published in S. Silvern, ed., Advances in Reading/Language Research, vol. 5: Literacy Through Family, Community, and School Interaction (Greenwich, CT: JAI, 1991), 261-276. Reprinted with permission.

By Joyce L. Epstein. This work was supported by grants from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement. The opinions are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the policies or positions of OERI. Earlier versions of this paper were included in ERS Information Folio: Homework (Arlington, VA: Educational Research Service, 1987, 1990) and in the first edition of this volume, 2001.

By Joyce L. Epstein. (2001). This research was supported by grants from the U.S. Department of Education/OERI. The results and opinions do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of OERI.

The term parent refers to any caregiver who assumes responsibility for nurturing and caring for children, including parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, foster parents, stepparents, guardians, etc. Some educators and researchers use the terms parent involvement, family involvement, family engagement, and related terms. In my view, these terms focused on parents’ behaviors are embedded in the overarching goal of developing excellent programs of school, family, and community partnerships that increase student learning and success in school.

By Joyce Epstein. (2010). This work was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Grant R01 HD0471. A shorter version of this chapter was published in A. R. Sadovnik, J. O’Day, G. Bohrnstedt, and K. Borman, eds., No Child Left Behind and the Reduction of the Achievement Gap: Sociological Perspectives on Federal Educational Policy (New York: Routledge, 2008), pp. 267-279.

The U.S. districts providing data were in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin.

By Joyce L. Epstein. Originally published in Phi Delta Kappan 76 (1995): 701-712. Updated as Chapter 1.1 in J. L. Epstein et al., School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action, 3rd ed. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, 2009).

An exploratory study with one high school showed that teachers in all departments (math, science, social studies, English, and family life) were able to develop interactive assignments that students enjoyed conducting with a family partner. TIPS materials have not been developed for full courses at the high school level. Teachers and curriculum leaders may use the guidelines for developing TIPS provided in this chapter, or contact the author to conduct a TIPS development project in specific subjects in high school.

For more information, guidelines, and examples, see the TIPS Social studies and art manual and prototype presentations (Epstein and Salinas, 1991) and examples at www.partnershipschools.org (follow the links to “TIPS Social Studies and Art Volunteers”).