Connecting
schools,
families,
and
communities
for youth
success
partnerships
by design
Cultivating Effective
and Meaningful
School-Family-Community
Partnerships
Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory
This resource and training manual is part of a series from NWREL to assist in school improvement.
Publications are available in five areas:
Re-Engineering—Assists schools, districts, and communities in reshaping rules, roles, structures, and
relationships to build capacity for long-term improvement
Quality Teaching and Learning—Provides resources and strategies for teachers to improve curriculum,
instruction, and assessment by promoting professional learning through reflective, collegial inquiry
School, Family, and Community Partnerships—Promotes child and youth success by working with
schools to build culturally responsive partnerships with families and communities
Language and Literacy—Assists educators in understanding the complex nature of literacy development
and identifying multiple ways to engage students in literacy learning that result in highly proficient readers, writers, and speakers
Assessment—Helps schools identify, interpret, and use data to guide planning and accountability
This project has been funded at least in part with federal funds from the U.S. Department of Education
under contract number ED-01-CO-0013. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the
views or policies of the U.S. Department of Education nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. government.
These materials are in the public domain and may be reproduced without permission. The following
acknowledgment is requested on materials that are reproduced: Developed by the Northwest Regional
Educational Laboratory, Portland, Oregon.
Connecting schools, families, and
communities for youth success
partnerships
by design
Cultivating Effective
and Meaningful
School-Family-Community
Partnerships
October 2002
By Debbie Ellis and Kendra Hughes
Child and Family Program
Dr. Steffen Saifer, Director
School-Family-Community Partnerships Team
Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory
101 SW Main, Suite 500
Portland, OR 97204
Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory
Acknowledgments
Partnerships by Design was a collaborative effort made possible by the assistance of many individuals within
the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. The authors would like to thank the following individuals
for their invaluable contributions: Lucy Barnett, Diane Dorfman, Randi Douglas, Keisha Edwards, Amy
Fisher, Rafael Gomez, Richard Greenough, Lena Ko, Steffen Saifer, and Sharon St. Claire.
Special thanks to Suzie Boss, Linda Fitch, Eugenia Cooper Potter, Cathy Swoverland, and Patti Tucci for
editing and technical assistance, and Denise Crabtree for design and layout.
The authors owe thanks to the following schools and contact individuals for setting up the student focus
groups that provided rich information for the “What will it look like when we get there?” section:
P Humboldt Elementary School, Judy Bryant
P Tubman-Whitaker Middle School, S.U.N. School Summer Program, Cynthia Irving
P Multnomah Youth Advisory Committee, Leela Yellesetty
Finally, we would like to acknowledge the School-Family-Community Partnership Team’s advisory committee members for their continued advice regarding the needs of students, parents, schools, and community
members in the area of education:
P Peggy Ames Nerud, North Side Elementary School, Wolf Point, Montana
P Terry Bostick, Wallace School District, Wallace, Idaho
P Liz Flynn, Pasco School District, Pasco, Washington
P Mary Lou Kinney, Boise, Idaho
P Betty Klattenhoff, White Pass School District, Randle, Washington
P Lily Martinez, North Franklin School District, Othello, Washington
P Anita McClanahan, Oregon Department of Education, Salem, Oregon
P Steve Olczak, Reynolds High School, Troutdale, Oregon
P Barbara Riley, Family BASICS, Missoula, Montana
P Paul Sugar, Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, Juneau, Alaska
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Contents
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Meaningful Involvement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Where Are You Now? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
What Will It Look Like When We Get There? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
The Partnerships by Design Action Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
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Introduction
Why Was This Booklet Written?
Partnerships by Design: Cultivating Effective and Meaningful School-Family-Community Partnerships was written
as a complement to the resource and training manual, Planning for Youth Success (Dorfman, et al, 2001),
which outlines how family and community members can work with school staff and students to set standards for youth success that are unique to the community and create a project around a shared goal. Working through the manual together, representatives of the school community:
P Identify characteristics that are most important for youth to be successful in their community
P Consider ways to determine that students are developing these characteristics
P Identify resources and assets in the community that will help youth develop the desired characteristics
P Plan and implement a project to promote the characteristics, then evaluate the effectiveness of the project, and communicate findings to the public
Partnerships by Design lays a foundation for partnership building that can help facilitate this process.
Partnerships by Design is based on the assumption that many educators have been actively seeking to involve
families, but are not getting the results they desire. It is designed to help educators move beyond relying
on typical family involvement activities toward building more effective and meaningful school-family-community partnerships within their classrooms, programs, or schools.
How Is This Booklet Unique?
Partnerships by Design is a practical, realistic tool, focused on working with families and the community, that
provides easy-to-read information and an efficient planning process. It contains simple forms, worksheets,
and activities that will help you write your own school-family-community partnership plan, including:
P Assessing the current state of your collaboration with families and community members
P Forming a vision of what you want your partnerships to look like in the future
P Setting up a plan of action that includes defining simple goals and objectives, outlining options for new
partnership activities, and creating a process for regularly evaluating and revising the partnership plan
Partnerships by Design also includes “Ideas for Action”—hints, tips, and practical suggestions for putting your
plans into action. Although this booklet is quite comprehensive, the activities can be completed quickly. In
just one evening, you can come away with a plan of action that, if followed, can build a foundation for creating, building, and sustaining meaningful school-family-community partnerships.
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How To Use This Booklet
Partnerships by Design is written to assist a partnership development team in creating its school (or program)
partnership plan. The team should include three to four members from each of the following groups: students, family members, community members, and school staff. If possible, there should be equal numbers
of people representing each of these four groups. All four are essential to the process, and each has unique
contributions to make and distinctive benefits to receive.
When choosing team participants, the goal is to create a diverse team that will represent all members of
your school community. Include, among others, principals, teachers, district personnel, school board members, front office staff, teacher’s aides, bus drivers, lunchroom staff, and playground monitors as possible
members to represent school staff. Consider parents, stepparents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, foster
parents and guardians, siblings, and even close family friends when including family members. When
recruiting team members, actively seek those who don’t typically volunteer, attend school functions, or hold
leadership roles in the school community. Choose team members who have regular and consistent contact
with those they represent so they can accurately present the views of their peers, speak knowledgeably on
their behalf, and take issues and action items back to them.
Because the partnership development team represents the entire school community, the team can build a
sense of community, address the strengths of their practices, identify needed changes and expectations, and
link activities to their school improvement goals.
Another unique aspect of Partnerships by Design is that it has been written so that anyone can lead the partnership development team through the process—the responsibility to provide leadership does not lie only
with the school. The process can be owned by all concerned community members, and the role of leader
can be facilitated by anyone who has the time, energy, and desire to handle the task. For instance, many
schools work with National Service (AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and Learn and Serve) volunteers. These
volunteers, trained in leadership and capacity building, would be well-suited to lead the process and spearhead many of the school’s partnership activities.
Partnerships by Design can also be used as a self-directed study guide. Educators can modify the forms and
activities to fit their individual needs, and use the information gained to improve their own practices and
increase partnerships.
What You Will Need To Get Started
Have the following items available to help answer questions and provide information when working on
your partnership plan:
P Your school improvement plan
P Demographic information about your school and district
P Artifacts (such as school newsletters)
P Specific learning goals for students
P Curriculum plans
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Background
Family involvement in education has long been considered an essential component of children’s academic
success. Parents, teachers, school administrators, and policymakers all agree that family involvement makes
a significant difference, and research has shown that increased family involvement boosts student attendance
and attitudes toward school, decreases student discipline problems, and increases student achievement and
aspirations (Caplan, Choy, & Whitmore, 1992; Henderson & Berla, 1994).
In a 2002 educational needs assessment survey, “fostering a high level of parent involvement in their children’s learning” was a very high priority for Northwest teachers, principals, superintendents, and board
chairs. It was the number-one issue for teachers and principals in high-poverty schools: more than 90 percent of teachers and 85 percent of principals in such schools rated it as needing more or much more effort
(Barnett & Greenough, 2002). These regional findings mirror the national findings that most teachers
(83 percent) would like to see the level of parental involvement in their schools increase, with nearly all
inner-city educators (95 percent) wanting parents more involved (Binns, Steinberg, & Amorosi, 1997).
While so many see the value in partnerships and want to know more about how to foster high levels of
family involvement in their children’s learning and in their schools, many educators struggle to get family
members involved. They face questions, such as:
P How can we produce meaningful family involvement in our school?
P How can we create effective school-family-community partnerships that include a wide variety
of participants?
P How can we involve more family and community members, in addition to the same small core group
who regularly come to events and volunteer for activities?
P How can we show that our partnership activities have a positive impact on student achievement?
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 2001
In the 2001 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, No Child Left Behind, there
was a notable shift in the expected role of parental involvement in schools and an increase in the responsibilities of teachers and administrators. The act includes new provisions increasing parental notification
requirements, parental selection of educational options, and parental involvement in school governance.
The new law envisions parents as informed and empowered decisionmakers in their children’s education
(Gomez & Greenough, 2002).
Much of the information communicated by the media related to the new law focuses on informing parents
of the failures of some schools and providing parents with information regarding their option to transfer
their child from a “failing” school to another public school. Instead of focusing only on the negatives,
educators can also view the new legislation as creating opportunities and prompting them to ask:
P How can we work more closely with parents as partners in the success of our school?
P How can we use the provisions for increased parental notification as a way to advertise our successes?
P How can we widen the design of the provision of parental choice to include families in the school
processes that lead to greater academic achievement and youth success?
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Introduction to the Partnerships by Design Process
All the above questions and the new legislation beg for an effective partnership plan. Today, two out of
three new business ventures fail—mostly due to a lack of a clearly spelled-out business plan. For those who
create a solid, well-thought-out plan, success nearly doubles. The same can be said for school-family-community partnerships. If schools fail to plan for effective partnerships, their involvement efforts may not
bring about the desired results.
Why have a written partnership plan? Formulating a plan will force you to think about where you want
your partnership to go and how you are going to get there. It will become a road map to follow as your
partnerships grow and develop—providing a definite direction and a much clearer, focused idea of what
can be expected from your partnerships, thus increasing your odds for success. A written plan will help
form the guidelines for developing meaningful, well-planned, and long-lasting partnerships.
A partnership plan is a document you create when you take an
idea and work through all the factors that will have an impact
on the successful start-up, operation, and management of your
school-family-community partnerships. The Partnerships by Design
plan should:
P Define the goals and outcomes for this effort, including both
immediate and future directions, and describe the means you
will use to attain those goals
Planning is all
about taking
your vision and
turning it into
a reality.
P Outline the details of the roles each partner will play in helping
reach the overall educational goals
P Anticipate potential barriers along the way and formulate responses to them
P Identify strategies to evaluate the success of the partnerships in meeting the planned goals, and formulate
a process to advertise findings and regularly revise the plan
The planning process should answer many questions you may not have thought about as well as prompt
questions that may turn into opportunities in the future. Because there is no one formula for success in creating school-family-community partnerships, your plan should be based on your local needs and circumstances. Although creating a plan may take a great deal of time and energy, it will be well worth the effort.
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Meaningful Involvement
Being meaningfully involved in education is important not only to family members, but to all stakeholders.
Faced with the growing demands to satisfy federal mandates, state requirements, and school policies while
ensuring that students make adequate yearly progress, educators want family and community members to
be involved in ways that add to student achievement, but do not detract from their teaching nor add additional duties to their overwhelming workload. Stressed out and overloaded from juggling jobs, household
responsibilities, and their children’s activities, family members want to help their children succeed in education and in life without adding irrelevant activities to their already busy schedules.
Thus, all partners need to know there will be a bottom-line benefit before committing themselves to being
involved in school-family-community partnerships. To them, meaningful involvement is participating in a
broad, academically significant array of activities that allow partners to help children learn, have a direct
impact on student achievement, and help solve real school problems.
Characteristics of meaningful involvement include:
P Parents and staff taking an active interest in the well-being of each child, and school staff members taking
an interest in the well-being of each child’s family as an extension of the child
P Respecting and valuing families’ diverse contributions, and integrating them into the life of the school
P Encouraging parents to assume multiple roles as supporters, ambassadors, teachers, monitors, advocates,
and decisionmakers
P Not confining “meaningful family involvement” to activities that take place in the school building
(The Tellin’ Stories Project Action Research Group, 2000)
Family Involvement Activities
When educators hear the term “family involvement,” they often think of the activities that can be done
to get parents involved in the school. This usually includes such things as serving as volunteers; acting as
chaperones; working on fund-raising drives; attending athletic, music, and drama events at the school; and
participating in PTO/PTA meetings, open houses, and parent/teacher conferences.
Educators often acknowledge that these activities do not reach all families. They may not see how the activities can increase student achievement or how the activities are connected to the overall school improvement
goals. The family involvement activities are often seen as add-ons to their regular classroom duties and are
only done so they can “check off a box on their family involvement to-do list.” Because of this, the activities can be (and are often) done in a way that does not build relationships between the families and the
school staff.
For family members, the typical family involvement activities can seem trivial, lack meaning, and provide
little connection between the activities they do and the academic success of their children. The activities are
often viewed as one-sided, with resources flowing into the school to help support the school’s budget or
extracurricular programs and activities. The family and community members provide the time, resources
(money), and expertise to help children by being involved in the school and in school-sanctioned activities.
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Family and Community Members as Consumers
To help family members feel more invested in their child’s education, many who are critical of current family involvement strategies advocate for schools to follow the business community’s example by adopting a
customer service philosophy.
For educators, this customer service philosophy is not about specific activities, but about the way they are
educating the children, working with the families, and fulfilling their obligations to the community. This
approach is designed to ensure that family and community members feel welcome at school, front office
staff are courteous and helpful, and educators and administrators treat parents and students with respect.
The customer service approach asks family and community members for input on issues and for feedback
regarding how the school is doing. Public engagement expert Richard Harwood, president of the Harwood
Institute, a Maryland-based organization that helps communities learn to work and live together more
effectively, disagrees with this approach. In an online article for the Alabama School Board Association, he
states that asking family and community members “How are we doing?” has turned them into customers—
sending them a signal about where they fit within the school system. He believes the customer service
approach in education allows people to think if they pay their tax bill they should get good service and
have no obligation beyond that. Further, he believes that community members feel they only need to present their demands to the school, and if they’re not met, they can go elsewhere. Why should they “jump
over the counter and help in a pinch?”
“In short, approaching the design of and vision for public schools as if serving consumers lets the public
avoid its responsibility to those schools as citizens,” Harwood argues. “This consumer mentality takes us
all off the hook” (Salter, 2001).
Family and Community Members in Partnership With Schools
Partnerships, by definition, are different from the preceding approaches. Partnerships are about building
“relationships between individuals or groups that are characterized by mutual cooperation and responsibility,
as for the achievement of a specified goal” (American Heritage® Dictionary, 2000). Thus, a school-familycommunity partnership is a collaborative relationship among the family, school, and community designed
primarily to produce positive educational and social outcomes for children and youth, while being mutually
beneficial to all parties involved.
Partnerships assume mutual responsibility and mutual respect. All partners share in the responsibilities and
receive rewards based on the work they do together to enhance the academic and social growth of children.
The resources of the various stakeholders are aligned so everyone is making a contribution to the common
goal of learning. Partnerships recognize the importance and potential influence of all members who work
with and invest in the education of the children—whose future, in turn, will affect the quality of life in the
entire community.
While “family involvement” often has individuals thinking of a specific set of activities performed by a certain set of participants, “partnerships” open up the possibilities. Partnerships allow for a wider set of activities to be performed by a larger set of partners. Within partnerships, planners and organizers create rich,
rewarding experiences instead of resorting to a typical set of activities. All partners leave behind the attitude
that says “we have to do it, so let’s just get it done” and take on the attitude of working together for the
success of the students.
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For partnership activities to be effective, they have to be meaningful to all parties and should be connected
to broader school improvement goals. For example, if increasing the reading levels of all students is the
number-one goal of your school, most activities need to be planned with reading achievement in mind.
School-family-community partnership activities need to be an integral part of this effort, and should include
sending communications home and conducting training sessions on how to help children learn to read.
Family volunteering should focus on individualized reading tutoring. Evaluations need to include the
amount of time family and community members read to (and talk with) children (at home, in the school,
at the library, etc.) in English or in their home language.
When To Include Family and Community Members
No one would start a business or financial partnership without knowing all the partners, coming to an
agreement on how the partnership would develop, and defining the responsibilities of all parties. Most people would never give their money to someone they did not know, or let that person make decisions about
how their money would be used or for what purpose, without forming an agreement first. Most of us
would not give our money or financial security to others, then expect to hear from them only when there
is a major problem.
But parents are asked to do this every day. Parents send those who are most precious to them to school and
leave their child’s success in the hands of educators and administrators they may never meet. Often, parents’
advice is not actively sought when planning how the children will be educated, with what programs the
children will be involved, or how problems will be handled. Parents and school staff seldom know each
other before the first concern arises when they often meet under less than ideal circumstances.
Ideas for Action
In order to ensure success of your school-family-community partnerships, family and community members
should be involved with school staff and students from the beginning. Several ways that schools in the
Northwest have included all parents and community members from the beginning, and included them
in positive ways are provided below.
Welcome Conference: One school, committed to several parent/teacher/student conferences per year,
created a policy in which the first conference is held before school starts. This conference is used to welcome
the student and parents to the school/classroom, and is all about the child and planning his or her education. The teacher asks the parents to talk about their child (including the things they like best about the
child), the strengths of their child (even if they don’t seem to relate to education), the ways their child
learns best, and what their child needs from the teacher in order to have a successful year. The teacher also
asks the parents to talk about themselves in order to find out how the parents would like the teacher to
work with them and the best ways the teacher and parents can communicate with each other. Finally, the
teacher tells the parents and student about the classroom and teaching philosophies, and lets the parents
know simple ways they can assist the teacher and work with their child to boost their educational success.
Communicate Early and Often: Another school included parents by establishing a routine of making
phone calls to parents or sending personal notes home within the first month of school—before any issues
arise. The teachers let the parents know what is happening in the class, and tell parents something positive
about their child. By the second or third phone call or note, most parents welcome hearing from the teacher,
and are convinced the teacher is sincerely interested in their child. By this time, most of the parents have
willingly become the teacher’s partner.
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Home Visiting: One school uses home visits as a powerful strategy to understanding its students and
connecting with students’ families. Many children act differently at home than at school, and it helps to see
children in their own homes to really get to know them well—to know their personalities, learning styles,
interests, and strengths. Teachers have used children’s interests that were discovered on home visits as the
basis of curriculum topics through which to integrate content areas, and/or for selecting books to read.
For successful home visits, family members need to know that the visit is purely optional and must know the
exact purpose of the visit. This school found solutions for the challenge of finding enough time for teachers
to do home visits by conducting parent conferences during visits, and using staff development or faculty
meeting time for visits. Most of the teachers doing these home visits are enthusiastic about the hugely positive impact on all aspects of teaching and learning in the classroom, and at home.
Help With Transitions: A fourth school formed partnerships by working with preschool educators and
meeting the parents of incoming students. The school realized that entering a new environment was stressful for both the children and their parents. These transition times offered a good chance to inform parents
about the changes taking place in their child’s education and show parents how to help their child succeed
during these potentially difficult times. (The same partnerships could be formed during other transition
times: for instance, when a child changes schools, between elementary school and middle school, or
between middle school and high school.)
School as Community Center: This last suggestion focuses on ways schools in the Northwest are
more inclusive of community members and have become wonderful resources during out-of-school hours.
Diverse areas within the schools (library, computer lab, gym, classrooms, etc.) are used to host public meetings and adult enrichment courses such as computers, arts and crafts, or fitness. For instance, one school
partnered with health educators to host wellness classes for interested community members—right in their
neighborhood.
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Where Are You Now?
The first step in writing a partnership plan is to do a thorough study of the many issues that will affect the
eventual success or failure of the partnership. Many hours should be invested in assessing these issues before
any time, money, or effort is invested in actual activities. The partnership development team should start by:
P Reflecting on the attitudes and assumptions that school staff, students, family members, and community
members hold about each other
P Realistically assessing who all the members of the school community are and what assets they bring to
the table
P Physically walking through the school to determine what the environment says about what the school
values and what the school climate is like
P Assessing current involvement activities and the results obtained from them
Attitudes and Assumptions
Research has shown that the extent to which schools encourage and facilitate families’ participation in their
children’s education is a greater predictor of family involvement than family characteristics (U.S. Department
of Education, 1997; Thorkildsen & Stein, 1998).
Beyond the vast demands on staff and teacher time to satisfy federal and state educational requirements,
reaching out to families is made increasingly complex by the growing number and variety of families’ ethnic, language, religious, economic, and social backgrounds. Thus, it is important to look at the attitudes
and assumptions held by staff members when it comes to creating involvement programs or building partnerships. Educators who think only in terms of traditional families are likely to have a particularly hard
time dealing with today’s wide variety of family types and structures.
Attitudes often play a large part in the quality of and responses to family involvement and school-familycommunity partnership activities. Educators who have low expectations for “at-risk” children, or who believe
that their parents don’t care about them and don’t want to be involved in their education, may contribute
directly to a lack of parental involvement and to children’s failure (Liontos, 1991). One study found that
many educators believe that parents with low incomes do not value education highly and have little to
contribute to the education of their children (National School Public Relations Association, 1988). Other
research has found that some educators fail to give “at-risk” children work to take home, based on the
assumption that their parents will be unable or unwilling to help (Hafner, Ingels, Schneider, Stevenson,
& Owings, 1990).
When creating family involvement programs or building school-family-community partnerships, one of the
major, unresolved issues is how to reach the families considered “hard to reach.” Educators often label the
parents of “at-risk” students as hard to reach and cite social or economic conditions as the cause. But what
is meant by “hard to reach?” Often, when educators speak of disadvantaged or “hard-to-reach” families,
they are referring to the families that are seldom seen by the school staff, but many have in mind such
characteristics as:
P Minority background
P Low socioeconomic status
P Public housing occupancy
P Little formal education
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P Single-parent households
P English language learners (ELL)
Family members who reflect such characteristics often state that one of the biggest problems they have in
interactions with school staff is the assumptions made about their families and children. They would like
school staff to ask before assuming, or at least to assume strengths rather than dysfunction. They would like
to view the school staff as supportive and helpful rather than critical or antagonistic.
The following four activities give all team members a chance to look at their own assumptions, find ways
to dispel preconceived notions and change attitudes, and figure out who the families really are.
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Personal Reflection on Assumptions
Instructions: This is a private activity, meant to be completed individually, and not shared with the group.
Team members should take about five minutes to thoughtfully and honestly consider the following questions to learn more about their personal assumptions and to reflect on the assumptions they feel are held by
others. No writing of answers is required—just a thoughtful consideration of the assumptions held. At the
end of the exercise, each person should move on to the Personal Action Steps/Statements (on the next
page) and write out three to four statements of how he or she could change his or her own assumptions
and have a positive impact on partnerships.
P When families are discussed at the school, what is said? Do people say “those families” don’t care about
their children or their education? Or are terms like resourceful and supportive used in conjunction with
affirmation of the families’ strengths and dedication to their children?
P When school staff members are discussed at home or in the community are they viewed individually
(each with strengths and weaknesses) or lumped into a group? Is their work seen in the context of federal,
state, and local mandates; or school and district policies and politics? Or are staff members held individually responsible for everything that happens?
P When you start planning family involvement/partnership activities what does the staff say? Do you hear
more complaints (i.e., they don’t come to conferences, don’t check homework, or don’t answer notes)?
Or more compliments (i.e., they can always be counted on, or are a great resource)?
P When families discuss involvement in school activities and student learning, are easy excuses given for
not being more involved (i.e., “I’m too busy,” or “I’m not available during the day”)? Or do they say
things like, “I am involved … at home,” or “I would be able to help if I knew where my skills and
talents could best be used?”
P When a student has a problem, what is the assumed cause? Is it attributed to family situations like illness,
or other issues at home? Is it attributed to school situations—the student is bored or the teaching and
learning style do not match?
P When working with a student who has a problem, where and how are solutions sought? Is it assumed
that the partners will be easy or difficult to work with? Do school staff, family members, and students
start with a positive, problem-solving, solution-oriented approach, and enter into a partnership to
develop a plan to solve the problem?
Partnerships by Design © Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, Oregon. Permission is granted to reproduce.
11
Personal Reflection on Assumptions
Instructions: This is a private activity, meant to be completed individually. Share with the group only as you are
comfortable. Based on your reflections on the previous page, write out three to four Personal Action Steps/
Statements to help in your process of working more effectively with students, school staff, and family and
community members. Start your statement with a phrase such as: “I will ….”
Based on my Reflections … Personal Action Steps/Statements:
Examples:
P I will check myself before I make assumptions in regards to ________________.
P I will call my child’s math teacher tomorrow to make an appointment. I will ask questions rather than
blame either the teacher or my child.
P I will send notes home weekly and in Spanish on Rosa’s progress at school. They will contain more
positive statements than negative ones. I will make suggestions for helping her at home.
1.
2.
3.
4.
When everyone has had a chance to write their Personal Action Steps/Statements, ask if anyone would like
to volunteer to share one.
Partnerships by Design © Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, Oregon. Permission is granted to reproduce.
12
Group Activity on Assumptions
Instructions: Read each statement in the left column and check whether you feel this is or is not an
assumption that hinders partnerships at your school. When done, discuss the assumptions the group considers most troublesome. Together, identify positive statements (as in the example in the first box on the
right) that will dispel preconceived notions, change attitudes, and help facilitate partnerships. (If you identified an assumption you would like to address that is not listed, write it on a piece of chart pack paper to
discuss when finished with the table below.)
Assumptions That Hinder
Partnerships
School-Based
Assumption?
Parents who don’t attend school
events don’t care about their
children’s success in school.
■
■
Yes
No
Parents who are illiterate or do
not speak English can’t help
their children.
■
■
Yes
No
Parents from different ethnic and
racial groups don’t understand
the role they play in their
children’s education.
■
■
Yes
No
It is up to parents to find out
what is going on at school.
■
■
Yes
No
Getting families involved takes a
lot of time and energy, with the
results not often corresponding
to the effort.
■
■
Yes
No
Children who are troublemakers
often come from families that do
not value education.
■
■
Yes
No
It is all right for school staff to
contact families only when a
child is in trouble.
■
■
Yes
No
The problems of “hard-to-reach”
families and “at-risk” students
are the fault of the families
themselves.
■
■
Yes
No
Teachers are expected to play the
roles of parents too much in
their jobs.
■
■
Yes
No
What May Be the Reality?
Example: Even when unable to attend school
events, most parents care a great deal about their
child’s success in school. Many parents find ways
to support their child’s education at home.
Partnerships by Design © Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, Oregon. Permission is granted to reproduce.
13
Who Are the Members of Your School Community?
Now that you have addressed assumptions held by you and others, it is time to get to know the members
of your school community. More important than just getting cursory knowledge, during this activity you
will get a chance to know who they are as well as what they bring to the table (their assets and strengths).
With an accurate picture of family and community members, you will be better able to plan activities as
well as identify barriers you may come across.
Use your school improvement plan and district/school demographic information to find out the general
make-up of your school community, including such aspects as:
P Percentage of single-parent homes
P Number of ESL/ELL families and what languages are spoken at home
P Rate of mobility
P Percentage of latchkey children
Instructions: Write the following statements on pieces of chart pack paper and post them around the
room. Ask the team members to go to the chart pack paper with their role (family, school, youth, community) highlighted. Have the individuals discuss the statement and write the things they want the people in
the room to know about their group. When finished with their poster, have them continue to another
poster, read the things written by that group, and add any additional comments.
P A few things that the school should know about families in this community are:
P A few things that families and community members should know about the school are:
P A few things that families, the community, and school should know about the youth in this community are:
P A few things we should know about the community are:
After they have had a chance at each of the above posters, have them continue to the rest of the posters.
Encourage discussion. Remind groups to proceed to the next poster when they have finished with the one
where they are. When each of the poster statements have been answered, ask the group members to return
to their seats and ask one person to read aloud the answers from one sheet … using the answers as discussion starters to increase understanding among team members and the groups they represent.
P If I only had access to ___________, I could be a much better teacher (parent, administrator, student,
etc.). (Fill in the blank)
P If only this community had ___________, my job as a teacher (parent, administrator, student, etc.)
would be much easier. (Fill in the blank)
P What are some the challenges facing families and school staff on a daily basis?
NOTE: For an additional activity to help you discover who the members of your school community are
and what assets they could bring to the table, see Topic 4 of Planning for Youth Success, Mapping Community Assets for Youth Success (www.nwrel.org/partnerships/cloak/14-4-act.pdf).
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School Climate and Environmental Considerations
Family and community members have prior experiences with schools that will have a positive or negative
impact on the amount and type of involvement they wish to have. Educators must take this into consideration when planning and implementing partnerships in schools. Research suggests a connection between the
school climate and the extent to which family and community members are involved (Comer & Haynes,
1992; Dauber & Epstein, 1993). They may only become involved if the school climate—the social and
educational atmosphere of a school—is one that makes them feel welcomed, respected, trusted, heard, and
needed.
When schools create a positive climate by reaching out to family and community members and providing
structure for them to become involved, the result is effective partnerships that connect schools, families,
and community members to help children succeed in school and in their future.
Just as you can learn about an individual by observing where he works or lives, you can learn much about a
school’s climate by looking at the school environment. You can learn many things about what is important
and valued in the school by such things as the wording on signs, what is (and is not) displayed on the walls,
the way the rooms are decorated, how people are greeted and helped, and whether or not individuals feel
they are noticed.
Gretchen McKay, a staff writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette News, observed that: “There’s a saying among
school administrators that, if you want to feel the pulse of a particular building, one of the first things you
should do is stick your head into the restroom.” If you find clean floors and walls and adequate supplies,
there’s probably a high degree of school pride and a sense of involvement. But if you discover old graffiti
scribbled on the walls and general uncleanliness, it shows how disconnected students (and staff) may feel
from their school, how they regard their surroundings, and tells students and those who visit much about
the climate and attitudes of the school (McKay, 2000).
Even though our environment can say a lot about us, it is often difficult for individuals to take a critical
look at their own environment. They see the same things day in and day out, and can become immune
to the statements their surroundings make. If possible, ask team members to take a critical look at another
school—visiting their child’s school or another school within the district during hours of operation to see
what it would be like to walk into that school for the first time and try to find their way around. Have
them consider the following questions:
P What are their impressions of this school?
P What does the condition of the school (both inside and out) say about how much people care about
the school?
P Does the school seem to reflect what school staff feel about students and visitors?
P Based on what they have seen, what do they feel is important to the school?
This experience can be used to help team members look more objectively at their own school when they do
the following activity.
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Instructions for Environmental Checklist and Physical Walk-Through
Environmental Checklist Instructions: Take one to two minutes to answer the questions on the
Environmental Checklist on Page 17. For all questions that you cannot answer, leave the line blank. Think
about these questions when you are doing your physical walk-through and, during the walk-through, fill in
any answers you may have missed.
Physical Walk-Through Instructions: Divide the partnership development team into smaller groups
of two to three individuals. Each small team should contain no more than one family member, community
member, school staff, or student so each team has a chance to view the school from multiple perspectives.
Assign teams to examine two to three specific areas of the school, which may include the parking lot,
entrances, main office, halls, classrooms, rooms specifically set up for family/ community members, restrooms, cafeteria, library, playground/recreation area/playing fields, and principal/ administrator’s offices.
Use the Record Sheet for Physical Walk-Through on Page 18 to make comments regarding the areas
you have been assigned. Questions on the top of the form will assist your critical observation, but make
any additional comments you feel are important.
Take 15 minutes to complete the walk-through. Then have team members reconvene in the meeting room
to share their experiences. Use the guiding questions below to assist with your discussion.
Guiding Questions Instructions: After your walk-through, have team members discuss the things
that really stood out to them and the things that they may not have noticed before. Were there any surprises?
After a general discussion of findings, have the large group answer the following questions.
Based on your findings,
P How welcoming is the school?
P What is different between what children see and what adults see?
P What do the displays say about what is important to the school or what the school values?
P Is this a place where parents want to send their children and where children want to come? Do they feel
at home?
P What environmental changes would you make to your school to create a place where family and community members want to form a partnership?
NOTE: You may want to use some of what you found during the team’s walk-through to prompt ideas for
partnership activities during the action planning stage.
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Environmental Checklist
Yes No
Are there parking spaces reserved for family and community members?
Are these spaces located near the front entrance of the school?
Is the playground material and equipment safe and in good repair?
Are fields maintained?
Are tracks useful and in good repair?
Does the exterior of the building look good?
From wherever a person enters the building, can they easily find the main office?
Is the tone of the signs in the school welcoming and inviting?
Are signs written in the home languages of the students present in the school?
Is student’s work displayed on the walls within the hallways and in the classrooms?
Are people greeted warmly when they entered the main office? (for instance, do staff seem
pleased to see them? Do staff smile and use a pleasant tone of voice?)
Are people greeted individually when they arrived? (for instance, do staff members say “hello”
and introduce themselves? Do staff members call visitors by name? Do staff members use the
primary language spoken at the home to say “hello”?)
Do staff members assist in a timely manner?
Can students and family members see themselves represented in the books, pictures, and
materials used in the classrooms?
Are the school and the classrooms accessible to all students and family members (even those with
disabilities)?
Are restrooms clean and well lighted?
Are soap dispensers filled and paper supplies adequate?
Are there doors on the stalls in the restrooms?
Are the tables and benches in the cafeteria clean and in good repair?
Are floors in the cafeteria kept clean?
Is the library well-stocked with reading materials?
Is the library an inviting place that makes students want to come in and read?
Are family and community members allowed to access resources within the library (check out
books, use computers)?
Is there a table for meetings in the principal’s office?
Are the main office and the principal’s office all “business” or are they student/family friendly?
Does the principal’s office reveal a personal side of the principal?
Does the school environment reflect how the staff feel about the students?
Is there a room set up specifically for family and community members?
Are there adult tables and chairs in the family room?
Is there a telephone in the family room?
Is there a place to store valuables and personal items in the family room?
Does the family room reflect how the school feels about parents?
Do family and community members feel welcome at the school?
Partnerships by Design © Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, Oregon. Permission is granted to reproduce.
17
Record Sheet for Physical Walk-Through
Instructions: On the line provided, write in the area(s) of the school you have been assigned. In the
space provided, write your observations of the area and use the following questions to help direct your
thoughts.
P What is the first thing you see when you enter this area?
P What is the condition of the things you see?
P Are written items in the home languages of the student body?
P Does the area reflect positively on how school staff feel about students and their families?
P What does this area say about what is important to the school or what the school values?
Area of the School: __________________
Area of the School: __________________
Area of the School: __________________
Partnerships by Design © Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, Oregon. Permission is granted to reproduce.
18
Assessment of Current Activities
Before moving on to create your new plan, it is good to look at what you have been doing and what results you are receiving from these activities.
Instructions: In the first row, list current family involvement or partnership activities that the school is doing. In the boxes below the activity,
answer the questions on the left to show how the school has been affected by the identified activity (as in the example).
Current family involvement Example: Families volunor partnership activities
teering in the classrooms
Does this activity
connect to student
learning goals or the
school improvement
goals/outcomes?
How?
19
Impact Indicators
1.
2.
By itself, this activity does
not, but it gives the teachers more time to work on
school improvement goals.
How do you measure We count the number of
volunteers and the hours
the success of this
volunteered.
activity?
What have been the
benefits and outcomes
of this activity? How
have you measured
these?
We always have a few parents who do a lot of volunteering. They are very
helpful.
What have been the
challenges/weaknesses
of this activity?
What’s not working
as you would like?
What would you
change?
The same parents volunteer
to do the work all the
time. I would like to see
more and varied parents
(dads, minority parents,
single parents) in our
school. Number of volunteer hours is decreasing.
Partnerships by Design © Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, Oregon. Permission is granted to reproduce.
3.
4.
What Will It Look Like When We Get There?
School-family-community partnerships look different at different schools and at different grade levels
because the needs and wants of students change dramatically over time. As the children grow and develop
and the school structure and family dynamics change, the methods and expectations of partnerships change
and evolve.
During the preschool and elementary school years, the structures of the schools and families and the needs
of the children generally support the typical family involvement activities with fairly good results. As students enter middle school and high school, patterns of communication between the families and the school
change. Reasons are complex, including accommodating multiple teachers and recognizing the increased
need among young people to develop a sense of self that is separate from their families. Other issues that
make partnerships different as youth make the transition to higher grades include larger school buildings
located farther from home and more complicated schedules.
Middle and high school years are difficult for young people. This is a stage filled with growing peer pressure, dramatic physical changes, and an awakening need for more independence. The youth begin to weigh
choices and consequences, make more decisions on their own, learn from their mistakes, and establish their
own set of values to guide their decisions and actions. They begin seeking help from peers rather than their
parents. Teens sometimes feel embarrassed when parents are at their school, and may resent their parents’
presence at school when the students are with friends.
Parents’ roles also change. They try to find a balance between “letting go” and “being there” for their children. Parents continue to offer support and love, but they begin stepping back a little in their children’s lives
in order to allow their children to develop their self-identity and to show respect for their growing independence. Parents begin to let adolescents make their own choices and take responsibility for their actions
and decisions.
Attitudes and expectations of school staff about acceptable forms of family involvement may also change.
Many parent-student activities that were acceptable in elementary school, such as registering for classes,
attending school events, or walking to and from school, may be seen as student-only events by the time
students reach middle and high school. Teachers and administrators often encourage parents and students
to let the youth advocate for themselves and find solutions to their own problems.
Voices of Students
Student focus groups were conducted during spring 2002 to gather the thoughts and opinions of a few
young people in regards to family involvement. Participants represented a diverse group of elementary,
middle, and high school students from the Portland metropolitan area.
Students at all grade levels expressed interest in having their families involved in their education, often
reflecting the developmental information given in the preceding paragraphs. Elementary school students
wanted their parents directly involved with them in the classroom, school, or at school-sanctioned activities.
High school students said they wanted parents involved and realized that their schools would be greatly
lacking if not for parent support and participation, but the youth wanted their parents involved apart from
the student’s daily activities. Middle school students were the “fuzzy, in-between group” with some wanting
direct involvement while others were searching for independence.
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Being embarrassed by parents was a main issue for all age levels, and students were embarrassed by similar
things. Boys especially did not want to be called by pet names or kissed in front of their peers. Girls were
extremely sensitive if their mothers came to school in unacceptable fashions or with inappropriate hair or
makeup. All groups said they did not want their parents sharing the student’s funny baby stories with their
teachers or peers.
One very important issue for students that has major implications for educators at all grade levels: Students
don’t want their parents involved in school only when there is a problem. Students want parents and teachers to
tell each other about the good things done at home and at school. Students in all focus groups said they
wanted their parents to enlighten teachers about what their child is like outside the classroom and wanted
teachers to tell their parents about the strengths and success students demonstrate in the classroom.
One middle school student summed up the challenges and expectations of middle and high school students
very well. She said, “No, I don’t want my parents to come and see me at my school. When they are here, I
can’t do what I want or kick it with who I want to be with. If they are not here, I can be my own person.
When they are here, they embarrass me. But at the same time, I am grateful and thankful when my parents
do come to the school because some kids don’t have parents that are there and show that they are concerned.
When my parents are at the school it shows that it [education] really matters and they get to know my
teachers and what I am doing. I guess it is OK if my parents are there … to a point.”
The following are summaries of the thoughts and opinions of the majority of the students who participated
in the focus groups. Based on the content of the question, not all questions were directed to each focus
group.
1. How are your parents involved in your education?
P Elementary school students responded that their parents drop them off and pick them up at school.
They added that their parents make them do their homework and limit the amount of TV they watch.
P Middle school students responded that parents are involved by making sure they get their homework done.
P High school students reported that their parents are pretty hands-off and act more as a resource for them.
Many added that their parents provide financial assistance and chaperone school events when necessary.
2. When I say “family involvement,” what does that mean to you? How would you
explain it?
P Elementary school students thought that family involvement means doing things at school, such as participating in school activities, making donations, being a member of the PTA, helping with book sales,
and chaperoning field trips.
P Middle school students thought that involvement means communicating with their parents about classes
and things that are happening at school, chaperoning field trips, talking to teachers when the students
are “good” or “bad,” and doing stuff with their family.
P High school students responded that parent involvement means many different things, because everyone
has a different style of parenting. But the bottom line is that parents should be aware of what’s happening in their child’s life.
3. Do you want your parent/guardian to come to your school?
P Elementary school students were mixed in their responses. When they are behaving well they want their
parents to visit, and when they are misbehaving, they don’t!
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P Middle school students reported that they do not want their parents to come to their school because
their parents will embarrass them. They further said that they couldn’t do what they wanted or “kick it”
when their parents were around. They said, “If they are not here, I can be my own person.”
P High school students reported that their parents do many things around their schools. They didn’t really
mind if their parents came to their schools, but didn’t want them to do things directly with them.
4. What would you like your parent/guardian to do at your school?
P Elementary school students want their parents to eat lunch with them, bring treats to their class, and
help them learn. When asked how they feel when parents visit their school, the majority felt happy and
excited. Many wanted their dads to come to their school.
P Middle school students reported that they would not like it if their parents were at their school, and definitely not doing anything directly with them. They suggested parents could volunteer in the office, talk
to teachers, help with classwork, and attend school performances or games.
P High school students reported that they did not want their parents doing anything directly with them
at their school. The majority didn’t want them around their friends and checking up on them.
5. What might keep you from wanting your parents at your school?
P Elementary school students did not want their parents coming to school, embarrassing them by using
their nicknames, yelling at them, disciplining them, or making fun of them. All were very specific that
they did not want these things to happen in front of friends.
P Middle school students reported that they did not want their parents coming to school looking silly.
They wanted their moms to come looking their best. Students also reported that they did not want
to embarrass their parents by misbehaving when their parents were at their school.
6. Is there anything that a parent could share with your teacher that would make
school better for you?
P Elementary school students said their parents could tell them they were good kids and that they liked
school.
P Middle school students responded that a parent could report that they work better alone. Others agreed,
adding that they talked too much when working in groups and were able to concentrate better when
they worked alone.
P High school students’ comments varied, with the majority stating that their parents could tell their
teachers things that could help them learn.
7. What things do your parents do at home that encourage you and help you learn?
P Elementary school students commented that they like their parents to help them with their schoolwork.
P Middle school students reported that their parents make them turn off the TV and study. The students
liked the amount of support they received at home.
8. How do you think teachers/administrators feel about your parents/family being
involved in your education?
P Middle school students reported they thought educators liked it.
P High school students think some educators do not like it when parents volunteer. They said there were a
lot of people at their schools who were not very friendly or helpful.
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In summary, students who participated in the focus groups were very vocal about what they wanted and
needed from their parents. Elementary school children wanted parents to come to school to do more fun
things. They identified that it was important for their parents to drop them off and pick them up at school
as well as help them with their schoolwork. One thing that really stood out among the elementary students
was their desire to have their fathers involved. Many students expressed a desire to have their “Dads” coming to their school more often.
Middle school students had a different opinion about family involvement. When asked if they wanted their
parents to come to their school, they responded with a resounding NO! Their greatest concern was that
they didn’t want to be embarrassed by their parents nor did they want their parents to do “things” with
or around their friends. But after answering a few more questions, they agreed that having their parents
involved was important and beneficial to them.
High school students spoke very matter-of-factly about what they needed and wanted from their parents—
speaking as if the relationship were more like a business arrangement. They knew that their parents were
there for them, but indicated that it was time for them to stand on their own two feet and navigate their
own academic and personal success. Students were not dependent on the approval of their parents like the
students in the lower grades, but rather asked for guidance and direction only when necessary.
The answers received during the focus groups only represent a small group of students from the Northwest,
but from the information obtained you can tell that much can be gained from students. Many educators
have expressed concerns about what involvement should look like at their school. Listening to the voices
of students can help answer that question. Consider developing and administering a similar survey to determine the needs and desires of your students in relation to family involvement.
In addition to listening to student voices, the next activity can help you look at your own needs and circumstances and help you form a vision of what school-family-community partnerships should look like
within your school.
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Developing Your Own Clear Vision
Part of every great plan is to have a vision of what it will look like when the job is done.
P Cookbooks include pictures of the prepared dishes
P Architects create plans, then make scale models
P Clothing designers draw sketches
Likewise, there needs to be a clear vision of what it will look like when effective school-family-community
partnerships are formed within your classroom, school, or program.
A vision statement answers the questions, “What will success look like?” and “What would you like to
accomplish in the future?” It is a description in words that conjures up a similar picture for each team
member of the results of their work together. A vision statement is a guiding image that is consistent with
the partnership’s values. It should be realistic and credible, well
articulated and easily understood, appropriate, ambitious, and
responsive to change.
The vision statement should require the members of the partnership team to stretch their expectations, aspirations, and performance. It should orient the team’s energies and serve as a guide
to action. In short, a vision should challenge and inspire the team
to achieve its mission. It is the pursuit of this shared image of
success that really motivates people to work together.
You will never
be greater than
the vision that
guides you.
Members of a partnership team may work hard but, without having a vision statement formally in place,
they may not be as creative and focused in finding new and better ways to work together. Partnership teams,
with their members actively looking for ways to achieve their vision, have a powerful advantage over teams
that operate without a vision. It’s the schools with a clear vision and plans to develop that vision that build
effective, meaningful partnerships. The following activity was designed to assist your partnership team in
defining its own vision.
Instructions: Individually … envision the resources, time, and dedicated partners planning with you on
developing school-family-community partnerships!
P What is happening as a result of positive school-family-community partnerships?
P How has your school changed?
P What impact is your partnership having on academic achievement?
P What does success look like?
Be creative—stretch your minds and experiment with different ways of thinking about what success means
to you.
Partnerships by Design © Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, Oregon. Permission is granted to reproduce.
24
In the space provided, draw or write your vision (a picture of success) of what you would like to accomplish
in your school in the future.
b
After members have had ample time to complete their vision, have all the members share their pictures of
success with each other. One person should facilitate the discussion and help the others discuss what they
mean and what they hope for. Look for areas of agreement, as well as different ideas that emerge. The goal
is to find language and imagery that your team members can relate to as their vision for success.
Talk about and write down the values that are shared in pursuing that vision. Different ideas need not create problems. People can spur each other on to more daring and valuable dreams and visions. Try to draft
a vision statement based on the group’s discussion and revise it until you have something that members can
agree on and that everyone can share with enthusiasm.
Example: We, the staff, students, parents, and community members of Central Valley High School join together to
form a partnership committed to high standards and dedicated to continuous improvement. We act as one—planning and implementing a comprehensive school-family-community partnership aimed at improving the academic
achievement and social success of all our children.
When complete, write your partnership’s vision statement in section three of the action plan on Page 31.
Partnerships by Design © Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, Oregon. Permission is granted to reproduce.
25
The Partnerships by Design Action Plan
In the background section of this booklet, seven questions regarding school-family-community partnerships
were outlined. These questions included goals of:
P Producing meaningful involvement
P Creating effective school-family-community partnerships
P Including a wide variety of participants
P Showing how activities affect student achievement
P Working more closely with partners in the success of the school
P Advertising successes
P Including partners in the problem-solving and decisionmaking processes of the school
In order to help partnership activities fulfill these great expectations, the Partnerships by Design Action Plan
draws upon the “backward design” concept presented by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe in their 1998
book Understanding by Design. Their plan has three major steps:
1. Identify desired results
2. Determine acceptable evidence
3. Plan activities
For partnership activities to be most effective, consider following these steps in this order. Planning activities, without careful consideration of the goals and outcomes, may or may not involve more family and
community members, enhance the school-family-community partnership, and help reach the school
improvement goal of increasing student achievement. By designing your evaluation tools to measure attainment of goals and aligning your activities to target specific outcomes, you increase your chances for success.
Other components of the Partnerships by Design action plan include:
4. Barrier identification and removal
5. Partners’ roles and responsibilities
Where Do You Want To Go?
Goals and Outcomes
Family involvement programs and/or school-family-community partnerships are sometimes not successful
in achieving the outcomes they want because they neglect to define—from the beginning—what goals they
want to meet. They don’t set realistic, measurable goals from the outset. They just dive into planning activities in the hopes of increasing their family involvement, without setting up any goals other than increasing
the numbers of family members involved.
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Step one in the Partnerships By Design action plan is to identify desired results. The partnership development
team needs to set goals for what the partnership hopes to do. A goal is an optimistic view of what could be
and shows “where you want to go.” Goals are statements of expected results that are specified in general
measurable terms. Goals should be broad enough to encompass the need, problem, or concern, but specific
enough to focus on the issue. A good goal statement is clearly
written and contains a demand for action and planning that is
easily measured. Goals should be simple statements that are
both short- and long-term. Details on how to reach these goals
can be included.
Goals need to be realistic and do-able, and the resulting objectives need to be specific and easily measured. They need to
answer the following questions:
P What will change as a result of your partnerships?
P The changes will happen for whom?
P By how much?
P By when?
P By what method will the goal be measured?
If you don’t set
goals and then try
to reach them, it’s
guaranteed that
your partnership
activities will stay
right where they
are today.
Without establishing goals, the partnerships could:
P Lack the time and resources needed to turn goals into reality
P Lack the ability to respond to the changing needs of the school community
P Lack a definite direction and the ability to stay on course.
How Are You Going To Know When You Are There?
Research strongly supports family involvement in the education of their children and indicates that it
is a key factor in children’s success at school. Children whose families are more involved do better in
terms of grades (grade point average and test scores), attendance, attitudes toward school and learning,
behavior (increased motivation and self-esteem), and graduation rates (Clark, 1993; Griffith, 1996;
Thorkildsen & Stein, 1998).
Evaluation of Partnership Efforts
Just as students are regularly evaluated to determine what they have learned and adjustments made accordingly, so too must school staff evaluate the impact of their partnership efforts. Schools and programs understand that family involvement increases student achievement, but they are often unable to establish the link
between their partnership efforts and the impact these efforts have on teaching and learning and on student
achievement. Schools are also unable to establish a connection between activities and overall school
improvement goals or to show how the success of an event contributed to increased student achievement.
Step two is to determine acceptable evidence. You need to be able to answer the questions: How are you
going to know you have achieved your goals? How are the goals going to be measured? How will you
share and promote your success?
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27
Determining acceptable evidence includes:
P Describing the evidence you will need to show
that you are reaching your goals
P Planning the types of tools you will use along the
way to evaluate the effectiveness of the activities
and see if you are meeting your goals, and improve
your plans and activities
P Describing how all partners will participate
in these assessments
P Formulating a process to continuously improve
“Traditionally, educators
count the number of
parents at PTA meetings
and dollars earned at
bake sales and come up
with an equation for
parent involvement.”
—Tellin’ Stories Project Action Research Group, 2000, p. 10
practices
P Creating plans for advertising your successes
to family and community members
Usually, partnership efforts are only evaluated by the number of volunteer hours that family and community members provide or the number of family members who attend school events (such as parent-teacher
conferences, back-to-school nights, and other school-sanctioned events). Accurate reporting does include
these numbers, but it should also show how partnership efforts are linked to overall school improvement
goals as well as assess the strengths and weaknesses of your efforts.
All partners should be involved in the evaluation process so everyone is clear on what is working, what is
not working, and how to improve on the plan.
In order to evaluate effectiveness in terms of partnerships you will need to survey a random sample of the
stakeholders. Send a few surveys or questions to family members, teachers, students, community members,
and other partners. Be prepared to ask the hard questions, such as: “Are you happy?” “Do you feel welcome?” “What else would you like to see happen?” Use the information gathered from the random sample
when planning future family involvement activities. Surveys should be done after each activity in order to
gather and utilize the feedback from participants to create future activities that will enrich the school and
community.
For an evaluation exercise, you can create a survey/evaluation tool. On Page 32 is a sample survey and on
Page 33 are sample questions that you may want to include in a survey you develop. The results of a survey
like this can be used to show how partnership efforts are connected to school improvement goals and to
make changes and improve plans for years to come.
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28
How Are You Going To Get There?
Plan Activities
A partnership plan should identify actions to help the partnership meet its planned goals. Step three is planning activities. What activities are you going to plan to get you there? What are you willing to do to get
there? How are you going to go about getting what you want and need? How do you move forward?
How does the activity link to goals? How will the activity provide evidence of meeting goals?
Activity plans include:
P The roles and responsibilities of school staff and family and community members. List the things they
need to do in order to reach goals and fulfill the vision.
P A list of resources you will need.
P A timeline to plan the sequence of events and activities. Consider planning for multiple years, including
detailed descriptions of current year activities, with outlines for subsequent years.
The six National Standards for School-Family-Community Partnerships outlined in the table below might
suggest areas for activities. These National Standards (entitled the National Standards for Parent/Family
Involvement Programs), developed by the National PTA in cooperation with the National Coalition for
Parent Involvement in Education (NCPIE), were built upon the six types of parent involvement identified
by the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships at Johns Hopkins University (National
PTA, 1998).
National Standards for School-Family-Community Partnerships
Standard I: Communicating
Communication between home and school is regular, two-way, and meaningful.
Standard II: Parenting
Parenting skills are promoted and supported.
Standard III: Student Learning
Parents play an integral role in assisting student learning.
Standard IV: Volunteering
Parents are welcome in the school, and their support and assistance are sought.
Standard V: School Decisionmaking and Advocacy
Parents are full partners in the decisions that affect children and families.
Standard VI: Collaborating with Community
Community resources are used to strengthen schools, families, and student learning.
Activities can always be undertaken in a way that is not effective and does not affect any program goals.
When planning activities for your partnership, remember to align them with your partnership goals, include
many opportunities for family members to see that what they are already doing has direct impact on their
children’s success, and contain many options for showing the reciprocal nature of partnerships.
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29
Action Plan Instructions:
Step 1. Locate your school’s mission and goals in your School Improvement Plan, and write them in the
space provided.
Step 2.
Answer the question: “Did your school engage family and community members in writing this
mission and setting these goals?”
Step 3.
If you have not already done so, write in the vision statement for your school-family-community
partnership from the activity on Pages 24–25.
Step 4.
Recording on a chart pack piece of paper, brainstorm goals and outcomes until the team decides
on two or three specific goals for your school-family-community partnership that are most
important to address. Write these in the boxes provided. Refer to Pages 26–27 for things to
consider. Make sure the goals are realistic and measurable, and that the statement addresses the
questions on Page 27.
Step 5.
Recording on a chart pack piece of paper, discuss ways to determine whether your partnership
activities are meeting the specific goals. Write the acceptable evidence in the boxes provided.
Refer to Pages 27–28 for things to consider. On a separate piece of paper (and done at a later
date if more convenient), make sure to include information on the types of tools you will use,
a description of how all partners will participate in the evaluation, a process of using the results
to improve practices, and a plan to advertise your success.
Step 6.
Recording on a chart pack piece of paper, brainstorm optional activities for meeting these goals.
For potential ideas, use information gained during the Physical Walk-through (activity on Pages
15–18) and the Needs Assessment activity (on Pages 34–36) to help determine the activities that
you would prefer to plan at this time. Write the activities in the boxes provided. Refer to Page 29
for things to consider. Make sure to include a list of needed resources and a timeline for events.
Step 7.
Describe the role that partners will play in meeting the specified goal. Define who will participate in developing these partnership activities and how they will implement the action plan. For
thoughts and ideas on potential roles, review the information and worksheets provided on Pages
42–46.
Step 8.
Answer the question: “Are all partners united on the school-family-community partnership vision
and goals?”
NOTE: If you begin to get stuck on barriers when writing your action plan, refer to the information, ideas
for action, and worksheet on Pages 37–41 to plan ways to effectively navigate the barriers you come up
against.
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30
Action Plan
Instructions: See detailed instructions on Page 30.
1. What are your school’s mission and goals?
2. Did your school engage family and community members in writing this mission and setting these goals? ■ Yes ■ No
3. What is your school-family-community partnerships vision statement?
31
4. What are your school-familycommunity partnership goals?
5. What is acceptable evidence
of achieving these goals?
6. What activities will you plan
to reach your goals?
8. Are all partners united on the school-family-community partnership vision and goals? ■ Yes ■ No
Partnerships by Design © Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, Oregon. Permission is granted to reproduce.
7. What role will partners play
in helping meet this goal?
Sample Feedback Survey on School-Family-Community Partnership Activities
Instructions: Please complete the following questions based on your involvement with the school-familycommunity partnership activity that has taken place at our school.
Role Group: (i.e., teachers, administrator, parent, student, community member) ____________________
Activity Attended/Date: ____________________________________________________________________
1. Are you familiar with our “school improvement goals”? ■ Yes ■ No
2. Was this activity beneficial to you and your family? ■ Yes ■ No
3. Do you think this activity has increased or affected family and community partnerships at our school?
■ Yes ■ No
If yes, how? __________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
4. What part of this activity did you enjoy the most? Why?
____________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
5. Were you involved in the planning process? ■ Yes ■ No
If so, how?
__________________________________________________________________________
6. Would you be interested in joining the planning committee to help plan future family involvement
activities? ■ Yes ■ No
If yes, please provide your name and contact information and someone will contact you to help plan
the next event.
____________________________________________________________________________________
7. What other family involvement events/activities would you like to see take place at your school?
____________________________________________________________________________________
8. Overall, how do you feel about your school and the way it is working to form school-family-community
partnerships?
____________________________________________________________________________________
9. In general, do you feel welcome at the school? ■ Yes ■ No
Partnerships by Design © Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, Oregon. Permission is granted to reproduce.
32
Additional Questions To Use When Evaluating Partnerships Efforts
Are the goals and objectives, in terms of involving families and community members in the school
improvement goals, being met?
How are parents and community members contributing to decisions about student learning?
Are school events, workshops, or training sessions well attended by both school staff and families? Why
or why not? (What are we going to do about the “why nots”?)
In what ways have language and culture reflective of the community been integrated into the school,
events, and curriculum?
How are community resources used? How is a parent liaison with strong ties to the community engaged?
Is the school warm and inviting? Is there a family center?
Are written materials provided in the home languages of the students at the school? Are interpreters readily
available?
How are people reacting to communications efforts? Are family and community members asked for ways
to improve communication? How is some or all of their advice incorporated as the school-family-community partnership plan is refined? Are suggestions made by family and community members shared with
school staff?
How are successes and challenges shared with the school community?
Partnerships by Design © Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, Oregon. Permission is granted to reproduce.
33
Needs Assessment
Schools often ask parents to do activities that some parents feel are mundane and a poor use of their time
and skills. These activities include such things as serving as volunteers; making copies and cutting paper;
sending out mailings; acting as chaperones; and working on fund-raising drives. In addition, these activities
are often extraneous to the primary school improvement goal, but nonetheless important. Schools and educators still want and need these things because, with assistance on these items, it is possible for school staff
to concentrate fully on the goals of meeting the students’ educational needs.
When you think only in terms of these activities being “parent involvement” activities and getting parents
to perform them, you are limiting the number of individuals who can do these activities.
Here is where the potential of partnerships really opens things up. When you think of a school-familycommunity partnership as a collaborative relationship between the family, school, and community that is
mutually beneficial to all parties involved, you have more people from which to draw, and a new way to
draw them in!
In this activity, we will be encouraging you to look at other resources for getting these tasks done and providing a tool to help you do this. First, you will create a list of needs. Then you will target your requests
and make potential benefits known. Don’t limit yourself to thinking of parent volunteers. Instead, think
first of the need, then consider the potential partners who may be able to meet this need and see what
benefits these partners could obtain by providing this service to the school.
For instance, if yard care and lawn maintenance is a need of the school, ask family and community members who own or work for a landscaping company if they would donate some time and expertise as an inkind contribution/donation to the school. Remind the landscapers they could use their donation as a tax
write-off! If the school is located in a large city, there may be enough companies within the district to have
the companies only donate time one or two times per year. Another possibility is to get retirees who enjoy
yard work and gardening (and who may no longer have a yard of their own) to donate time to beautifying
the school grounds. One other option would be to partner with local stores that cater to the needs of youth
(clothing stores, department stores, music stores) and ask for donations of gift certificates for the school.
You can trade these certificates (in lieu of cash) to young people (or families) who do yard work to earn
extra money to buy the things they want and need.
Because of the reciprocal nature of partnerships, we have included a form to assess the needs and wants
of the community and family members and how the school may be able to meet these needs. On the back
side of the school’s needs assessment form list the needs of the community and family members, list how
the school can help fulfill these needs, and list who else in the community can help provide resources to
meet this need and how they can help.
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34
Needs Assessment for the School
Instructions: In the column to the left, identify your need. (Include things that you want or hope to
achieve as well.) In the center column, identify who can help you meet this need. In the right column,
identify the benefit for the partner who can help meet this need.
For the School … Need?
Who can you ask?
What is the benefit to them?
Lawn Care/Yard Maintenance
Companies that already do this
work
Tax write-off
For Classroom Teachers … Need?
Who can you ask?
What is the benefit to them?
Make copies, cut shapes, etc.
Students in high school
business classes
Volunteer work on résumé
For Students … Need?
Who can you ask?
What is the benefit to them?
Reading tutors
Retired teachers
Lets them work with students
again
Partnerships by Design © Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, Oregon. Permission is granted to reproduce.
35
Needs Assessment for Community and Family Members
Instructions: In the column to the left, identify the need. (Include things that you want or hope to
achieve as well.) In the center column, identify how the school can help meet this need. In the right column, identify the potential partners (outside the school) who may also be able to assist in meeting this
need and how.
For the Community … Need?
How can the school help meet
this need?
Who else can assist in meeting
this need? How?
A place to hold community
activities in the evening
The school can stay open in the
evenings to host these activities
Individuals within the parks and
recreation department can help
lead activities and provide
resources
For Family Members … Need?
How can the school help meet
this need?
Who else can assist in meeting
this need?
ESL classes held in their
neighborhood
The school can stay open in the
evenings to host these classes
Professors from the community
college can provide instruction
for the classes
Partnerships by Design © Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, Oregon. Permission is granted to reproduce.
36
Barriers to School-Family-Community Partnerships
When talking about school-family-community partnerships, many partners focus on the barriers that have
come up in their path and have blocked the way to creating effective and meaningful partnerships. But,
instead of looking at barriers as obstacles that keep you from reaching your goals, the partnership team
needs to look at them in a new way.
Sprinters take off from the blocks and run straight ahead, trying to reach the finish line before the other
runners. Any obstacle that gets in their way will keep them from reaching their goal in a timely manner
and, at times, may keep them from finishing the race. Hurdlers, on the other hand, know that there will be
several obstacles placed between them and their goal. They look at these obstacles as a way to sharpen their
techniques and increase their skills. They plan ahead as to how to overcome these obstacles in a way that
will enhance their ability to reach their goal.
Part of putting together a workable partnership plan is to forewarn of possible “hurdles” along the way and
formulate responses to them. By doing this, members of the partnership team will become more like hurdlers and will plan how to successfully navigate the obstacles in their path. With just a little foresight and
a plan of action, you will have an organized and effective response that can eliminate many problems and
unforeseen events.
Hurdles and Ideas for Action
Even though some obstacles are family based and some are school based, schools can play a major role in
breaking the practical and psychological barriers that have been keeping family and community members
away. Research has shown that the extent to which schools encourage and facilitate participation is a greater
predictor of involvement than family characteristics such as the parent’s education, socioeconomic, and
marital status (Thorkildsen & Stein, 1998; U.S. Department of Education, 1997). Research also has shown
that involvement is higher when schools welcome parents and make it easy for them to be involved (Nord,
Brimhall, & West, 1997).
Schools can take the first steps toward building strong relationships by creating a welcoming school environment, regularly sharing information in the languages spoken by its families, taking suggestions seriously,
and continuously working toward positive relationships.
The following is a list of some frequently identified barriers to effective partnerships including a few ideas
for action in overcoming these hurdles.
Lack of Time: (Is felt by all partners.) Educators have limited time both at school, and in their personal
life where they may be parents themselves. Families often have scheduling difficulties and conflicting demands
on their time. Schools often organize events for staff convenience, with activities scheduled at times that
may be inconvenient for working parents.
Actions:
P Provide flexible hours to participate or schedule multiple performances
P Videotape school performances and send tapes home with students for parents to view
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37
Transportation: Many parents have transportation issues (no working car of their own, no access to
public transportation, or public transportation is inconvenient) that result in their inability to attend school
functions.
Actions:
P Provide transportation on school bus, or provide access to public transportation
P Help parents set up carpools
P Meet at convenient locations for parents, such as community centers, apartment buildings, places
of worship, or other sites off school grounds
Child care: Lack of any child care or appropriate, affordable child care prevents family and community
members from participating in programs held at school.
Actions:
P Set aside a room in the school in which to provide child care during events
P Recruit staff and student volunteers for child care
P Allow younger children to come to school and provide supervised activities for them
Language Barriers: Non–English speaking families who receive only English communications from
the school may feel that the school does not respect or value their heritage. Written communications are
not always appropriate for all families. When educators and family members do not speak the same language, communications will be hindered, and participation and understanding may be limited.
Actions:
P Have printed materials translated into home languages
P Have interpreters available at all events
P Conduct family meetings in the home languages of the students enrolled in your school, with English
translations available
School practices that do not accommodate or fail to support the cultural diversity
of the families served: Families with non-majority cultural and linguistic backgrounds may feel alienated from schools that do not value diversity. Those who do speak English but have little education may
have difficulty communicating with schools because their life experiences and perspectives are different
from those of teachers.
Actions:
P Work to increase everyone’s awareness of and sensitivity to other cultures’ values, attitudes, manners,
and views of the school community
P Know the holidays and observances of all groups in the school
P Work with a knowledgeable, appropriate representative of the community to get to know the diverse
cultures of the community
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38
Negative experiences with schools: Parents whose own school experiences were unsuccessful or
stressful may be uncomfortable in interactions at their child’s school, and may be reluctant to return to
school as parents. Some parents have a limited education and aren’t sure they have anything of value to
contribute. Other parents feel underutilized, especially in decisions affecting the academic life of the school.
Actions:
P Extend a personal welcome to parents who appear to be withdrawn or uncomfortable
P Learn about their interests and abilities; and actively seek opportunities to use their experiences
and talents for the benefit of the school
Parents don’t know what to do or how to contribute: Many parents are unsure about how to
help their children learn. Parents don’t know what schools need, or don’t understand how the system works.
At times, educators fail to ask parents to help, and sometimes unintentionally discourage participation.
Actions:
P Give parents information or materials they can use at home to support their children’s learning.
P Make needs known. Make direct contact. Personally invite participation.
P Keep community informed about what is happening and provide a variety of opportunities for all
community members to participate.
P Communicate activities and needs in varied ways (direct mail, nonprint media).
The primacy of basic needs and lack of a supportive environment: Many parents without
adequate resources are simply overwhelmed. Some families suffer extreme economic stress; addressing their
own food, clothing, and shelter needs takes precedence over involvement in their children’s school.
Actions:
P Provide information to help parents secure the services they need
P Develop a directory of services such as social service agencies, medical clinics, food pantries, substance
abuse counseling, legal services, literacy courses, and tutoring in English as a second language (ESL)
P Allow organizations to use the school building during out-of-school hours as a hub for providing services
and resources to the community
Lack of educator training: Many educators lack training in how to work with families. Few teacher
preparation programs address techniques for communicating with families, and many educators and other
school staff do not know how to involve parents in children’s learning.
Actions:
P Offer teachers formal training on collaborating with family members, recruiting and working with the
community, and understanding today’s busy lifestyles
P Create inservice training opportunities on subjects such as the benefits of and barriers to school-familycommunity partnerships; techniques for improving communication between home and school, and
between school and the community; and ways schools and teachers can meet families’ social, educational,
and social service needs
P Urge all school staff to attend inservice training on school-family-community partnerships
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Schools are unresponsive or unwelcoming: Parents may feel they are not welcome in the school.
Some parents may have gotten the message that “parents need not interfere.”
Actions:
P Provide tangible evidence that involvement is welcome
P Make sure parents know they are welcome to drop in at school during the day
P Post welcome signs in all languages spoken at the school
P Show an interest and get involved in the community, as well
Use this list of barriers and ideas for action to help you fill in the chart on the next page. List the possible
barriers that are in your community and formulate specific responses to them. Plan how to successfully
navigate the obstacles in your path and come up with an organized and effective response.
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40
Hurdles and Ideas for Action!
Instructions: Identify obstacles that may inhibit partnership development in your school community (or
may keep it from becoming meaningful and effective) and define a plan of action that will help you navigate
the hurdles in your way.
What hurdles may be in
your way?
How will you navigate
them?
Who will help you?
What will they do?
What is their role?
e.g.: transportation
Work with public transportation system to
provide passes/vouchers
so parents can ride public transportation for
free
Julie Smith, parent
Contact local transportation company to
seek bus tickets, free
passes, etc.
NOTE: Use the information gained in the activity on Page 14 (Who Are the Members of your School
Community?) to think accurately about the potential obstacles to school-family-community partnerships.
Remember that many solutions to problems are found by those experiencing the problem. Include all
stakeholders in finding ways to overcome these hurdles. When people take responsibility for solutions,
they often have more buy-in and more ownership of the activity.
Partnerships by Design © Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, Oregon. Permission is granted to reproduce.
41
Roles in Partnership Development
Effective and meaningful school-family-community partnerships are a collaboration of invested individuals
contributing to the academic, social, and personal success of the school community. In order for the collaboration to be successful, each partner’s duties and responsibilities need to be well defined. Moreover, it’s
vitally important that roles are understood by and communicated to all partners.
Each person must know the things they need to
accomplish to contribute to the overall success of the
partnership. The amount and time of contributions to
be made by each partner should be specified. Also,
management and control issues—whether some or all
partners will manage and control the partnership—
need to be identified.
“Successful parent
involvement programs
have clear task expectations, roles, and responsibilities, all of which
are communicated to
the partners.”
Members of the partnership development team will
need to become aware of cultural differences when
looking at roles and responsibilities. In some cultures,
there are different views of schools and the roles peo—Becher, 1984
ple have in children’s education. Educators are often
viewed as authority figures, and parents are less likely to ask questions of them. These parents will rely on
educators to explain their opinions/decisions, and they will be valued and respected by the parents. Educators and team members will need to keep this in mind when planning roles and working with family and
community members from diverse cultures.
The school as a whole has responsibilities. It takes a lot of hard work and a long-term commitment to
partnerships to make it work. Successful schools:
P Strengthen ties to community leaders
P Develop trust and build relationships
P Follow through on commitments
P Know and understand the needs of families, and enlist parents as liaisons
P Provide support and bring varied resources to school
P Gain an understanding of cultural and language barriers, and how culture/race, socioeconomic status,
and other factors influence participation
P Build cultural awareness
In the following four pages are worksheets that examine some of the key players (parents, program administrators, principals, teachers/teachers aides, and support staff) and the roles they can play in the success of
school-family-community partnerships and in increasing student achievement.
The worksheet on the following page regarding Parents’ Roles and Responsibilities can show the various
things parents are already doing to contribute to the educational success of their children. Many schools
have found that, when they acknowledge the ways parents contribute to their children’s academic achievement on a daily basis, parents often become more actively involved. Once you have completed the worksheet, consider examining all the ways your parents and family members are already involved in their
children’s education and finding a way to use any of these numbers in the evaluation of your school-familycommunity partnership.
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42
Parents’ Roles and Responsibilities
Parents play many roles in their children’s education. Think about the parents of the students in your school
or program and mark the answers that describe the roles that these parents play.
M S F N M = Most Parents, S = Some Parents (about ½), F = Few Parents, N = Not Known
Parents as Nurturer. Parents provide an appropriate environment where the child will
flourish physically, psychologically, and emotionally. They maintain positive learning conditions at home and provide for the child’s overall health, shelter, safety, and behavior. Parents
encourage and reward satisfactory achievement, and show interest in the child’s school day.
Parents as Learners. Parents obtain new skills and knowledge that will help directly
and indirectly with the child’s educational and social development as well as help the parents with their own development, growth, and life satisfaction.
Parents as Supporters. Parents enroll their children in school and ensure they are
properly dressed, get to school on time, and attend each day. They purchase necessary supplies and equipment and obtain required vaccinations and medical exams. They enforce
policies about bedtime, television viewing, and homework.
Parents as Communicators. Parents establish and maintain effective two-way communication flow with the child and the school.
Parents as Audience. Parents attend many activities designed to draw them into the
school and provide them with direct, personal information about the school such as open
houses, back-to-school nights, athletic events, concerts, and plays.
Parents as Volunteers. Parents can help in their own child’s classroom or in other
classrooms, work in the library, tutor children, make attendance calls, chaperone school
functions/events, or share their expertise in enrichment programs.
Parents as Teachers. As the child’s first teachers, parents build the child’s foundation
for moral, intellectual, emotional, and social development. Parents can also provide enrichment activities that reinforce school learning, including reading to children, taking them on
trips to the library and museums, and other home and community learning activities.
Parents as Advisers/Advocates. Parents wisely counsel and advise their child concerning his or her personal and educational situations. If needed, they effectively and actively
mediate and negotiate for the child. By parent’s modeling, children can learn to be successful advocates for themselves.
Parents as Collaborators and Problem Solvers. While working with the school
and the community, parents can help study issues, solve problems, make decisions, and
develop policy.
Parents as Advisers and Decisionmakers. Often through parent advisory groups
or parent-educator organizations, parents and educators work together on solutions to various problems and issues facing the school. Real power-sharing opportunities include elected
school governing boards and councils.
Parents as Partners. Parents move from the role of primary educators to a situation in
which they share this role with the schools.
Partnerships by Design © Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, Oregon. Permission is granted to reproduce.
43
The Principal or Program Administrator’s Roles and Responsibilities
Below is a list of responsibilities that are critical in the organization, development, and implementation of
strong and effective school-family-community partnership. Review the list and rank how these are being
done for your program or school. At the end of the prepared list is a place for you to include other responsibilities that you consider important for your program administrator to perform.
O
S
A
O = Do Often, S = Do Some of the Time, A = Do a Little, Almost Never
Provide educational leadership for the other key players—other school personnel, students,
parents and families, other community members.
Set a tone for the school that is positive, friendly, and open, dedicated to serving all children
equally.
Recognize and affirm the fundamental premises of school-family-community partnerships
(that is, all children can learn; parents are a valuable resource; all parents can have a positive
impact; etc.).
Take time to get to know the community served by the school—the history of interactions
with the school, values and customs, local heroes, favorite pastimes, child-rearing practices,
worries, aspirations.
Assess school and community perceptions of needs and resources.
Provide opportunities for staff, parents, and other community members to get to know
each other.
Lead a team of staff, parents, students (when appropriate), and community members in the
design and development of the school-family-community partnerships plan.
Require and encourage staff members to make use of family and community members as a
resource.
Provide staff training in school-family-community partnerships.
Appoint qualified staff to coordinate the school’s partnership efforts.
Provide parent education on topics of interest to parents and family members.
Establish and encourage open, two-way communication between the school and the community, and between the school and the families.
Give family and community members a voice in school management decisions.
Communicate regularly with all key players, soliciting their input formally and informally.
Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of your partnerships activities, revising as necessary.
Acknowledge and reward outstanding efforts by educators, coordinators, outreach workers,
parents, community members, and children.
Other:
Other:
Other:
Partnerships by Design © Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, Oregon. Permission is granted to reproduce.
44
Teachers’/Teacher’s Aides’ Roles and Responsibilities
Below is a list of responsibilities that are critical in increasing student achievement and developing effective
school-family-community partnerships. Review the list and rank how these are being done within your
school. At the end of the prepared list is a place for you to include other responsibilities that you consider
important for teachers/teachers’ aides to perform.
O
S
A
O = Do Often, S = Do Some of the Time, A = Do a Little, Almost Never
Maintain high expectations for every child.
Examine their own assumptions about academic ability and interest based on behavior,
language, physical appearance, or family background.
Take time to get to know the community represented by the children—the history of interactions with the school, values and customs, local heroes, favorite pastimes, child-rearing
practices, worries, aspirations.
Treat all children and their families with respect.
Welcome every family into the classroom and make family members feel comfortable.
Establish and maintain open, two-way communication with parents and other family
members.
Provide a variety of opportunities for parents to collaborate in the teaching of their children,
including homework activities, class projects, classroom volunteer work, field trips, fund
raising, etc.
Participate in staff training about school-family-community partnerships.
Participate in school activities designed to help staff and families get to know each other.
View cultural diversity as a resource and teach children to value it.
Identify and use ways to validate children’s experiences outside the school, incorporating
them into instructional activities.
Collaborate with other professionals and parents to address each child’s learning and
emotional needs.
Assess school-family-community partnership activities regularly with input from other key
players, revising them as necessary.
Never give up on any child.
Other:
Other:
Other:
Partnerships by Design © Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, Oregon. Permission is granted to reproduce.
45
Support Staff Roles and Responsibilities
Much of a school’s support staff is considered the “front-line staff ” when it comes to partnership activities.
The front-office staff are the first ones seen by visitors. The bus drivers pick up students near their homes
and often meet family members. The cafeteria workers, janitors, playground monitors, school social worker,
guidance counselor, nurse, and National Service members (AmeriCorps, VISTA, Senior Corps, and Learn
and Serve) are often familiar with students in ways that the teachers never see.
Below is a list of responsibilities that are critical in increasing student achievement and nurturing effective
school-family-community partnerships. Review the list and rank how these are being done within your
school. At the end of the prepared list is a place for you to include other responsibilities that you feel are
important for support staff to perform.
O
S
A
O = Do Often, S = Do Some of the Time, A = Do a Little, Almost Never
“Front-line staff ” are included in training regarding school-family-community partnerships.
“Front-line staff ” are trained with teachers and administrators to work with family and
community members.
A plan has been developed as to how “front-line staff ” will work with family and community
members.
Front-office staff greet visitors warmly when they enter the main office (for instance, staff
seem pleased to see them, smile, and use a pleasant tone of voice).
Front-office staff greet visitors individually when they arrive (for instance, saying hello,
calling them by name, and introducing themselves).
Office staff have set up a system to get phone messages to teachers including when to send
phone calls to the teacher’s classroom, when to offer to take a message, when to give the
caller information about times to call back and talk to the teacher, etc.
Other:
Other:
Other:
Other:
Other:
Partnerships by Design © Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, Oregon. Permission is granted to reproduce.
46
References
American Heritage® dictionary of the English language (4th ed.). (2000). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.
Barnett, L., & Greenough, R. (2002). Regional needs assessment 2002: Northwest educators’ priorities for
improving low-performing schools [Draft]. Portland, OR: Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory.
Becher, R.M. (1984). Parent involvement: A review of research and principles of successful practice. Urbana, IL:
ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education.
Binns, K., Steinberg, A., & Amorosi, S. (Project Directors). (1997). The Metropolitan Life survey of the
American teacher, 1998. Building family-school partnerships: Views of teachers and students. New York, NY:
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.
Caplan, N., Choy, M.H., & Whitmore, J.K. (1992). Indochinese refugee families and academic achievement.
Scientific American, 266(2), 36–42.
Clark, R.M. (1993). Homework-focused parenting practices that positively affect student achievement. In
N.F. Chavkin (Ed.), Families and schools in a pluralistic society (pp. 85–105). Albany, NY: State University
of New York Press.
Comer, J.P., & Haynes, N.M. (1992). Summary of school development program effects: The family is critical to
student achievement. New Haven, CT: Yale Child Study Center.
Dauber, S.L., & Epstein, J.L. (1993). Parents’ attitudes and practices of involvement in inner-city elementary and middle schools. In N.F. Chavkin (Ed.), Families and schools in a pluralistic society (pp. 53–71).
Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Dorfman, D., Douglas, R., Ellis, D., Fisher, A., Geiger, E., Hughes, K., et al. (2001). Planning for youth
success: Resource and training manual. Portland, OR: Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory.
Gomez, R., & Greenough, R. (2002). Parent involvement under the new Title I and Title III: From compliance
to effective practice. Unpublished manuscript, Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, OR.
Griffith, J. (1996). Relationship of parental involvement, empowerment, and school traits to student
academic performance. Journal of Educational Research, 90(1), 33–41.
Hafner, A., Ingels, S., Schneider, B., Stevenson, D., & Owings, J.A. (1990). A profile of the American eighth
grader. NELS 88: Student descriptive summary. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National
Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved September 5, 2002, from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/
pubsinfo.asp?pubid=90458
Henderson, A.T., & Berla, N. (Eds.). (1994). A new generation of evidence: The family is critical to student
achievement. Columbia, MD: National Committee for Citizens in Education. (ERIC Document
Reproduction Service No. ED375968)
Liontos, L.B. (1991). Involving the families of at-risk youth in the educational process. Eugene, OR: University
of Oregon, ERIC Clearinghouse of Educational Management. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service
No. ED328946)
McKay, G. (2000, February 28). Bathrooms: A reflection of school’s climate. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette News.
Retrieved September 5, 2002, from www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20000228bathrooms2.asp
National PTA. (1998). Reaching out to others: Overcoming barriers to parent/family involvement. Chicago, IL:
Author. Retrieved September 5, 2002, from www.pta.org/programs/education/barriers.htm
National School Public Relations Association. (1988). Helping parents help their kids. Arlington, VA: Author.
Nord, C.W., Brimhall, D., & West, J. (1997). Fathers’ involvement in their children’s schools [Statistical analysis report]. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.
Retrieved September 5, 2002, from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs98/fathers/
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Salter, S.R. (2001). Is treating the public like customers hurting you? Montgomery, AL: Alabama Association
of School Boards. Retrieved September 5, 2002, from www.theaasb.org/asb.cfm?docID=692
Tellin’ Stories Project Action Research Group. (2000). Between families and schools: Creating meaningful
relationships. Washington, DC: Network of Educators on the Americas, Tellin’ Stories Project.
Thorkildsen, R., & Stein, M.R.S. (1998). Is parent involvement related to student achievement? Exploring
the evidence (Research Bulletin No. 22). Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa International, Center for
Evaluation, Development, and Research. Retrieved September 5, 2002, from www.pdkintl.org/edres/
resbul22.htm
U.S. Department of Education. (1997). Achieving the goals. Goal 8: Parent involvement and participation.
Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved September 5, 2002, from www.ed.gov/pubs/AchGoal8/
Wiggins, G.P., & McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision
and Curriculum Development.
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Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory
101 SW Main, Suite 500
Portland, OR 97204
www.nwrel.org/partnerships
Fortress-Partnership School Checklist: Where Does Your School Fall?
Partnership School: All families and
communities have something great to offer -we do whatever it takes to work closely
together to make sure every single student
succeeds.
Open Door School: Parents can be
involved at our school in many ways -- we’re
working hard to get an even bigger turnout for
our activities. When we ask the community to
help, they often respond.
□ Building Relationships:
Family center is always open, full of
interesting learning materials to borrow
Home visits made to every new family
Activities honor families’ contributions
Building is open to community use and
social services are available to families
□ Building Relationships:
Teachers contact families once a year
Parent coordinator is available if families
have questions or need help
Office staff are friendly
Staff contact community agencies and
organizations when help is needed
□ Linking to learning:
All family activities connect to what
students are learning
Parents and teachers look at student
work and test results together
Community groups offer tutoring and
homework programs at the school
Students’ work goes home every week,
with a scoring guide
□ Linking to learning
Teachers explain test scores if asked
Folders of student work go home
occasionally
School holds curriculum nights 3-4 times
a year
Staff let families know about out-of-school
classes in the community
□ Addressing differences
Translators are readily available
Teachers use books and materials about
families’ cultures
PTA includes all families
Local groups help staff reach parents
□ Addressing differences
Office staff will find a translator if parents
ask in advance
Multi-cultural night are held once a year
“Minority” parents have own group
□ Supporting advocacy
There is a clear, open process for
resolving problems
Teachers contact families each month to
discuss student progress
Student-led parent-teacher conferences
are held 3 times a year, for 30 minutes
□ Supporting advocacy
Principal will meet with parents to discuss
a problem
Regular progress reports go to parents,
but test data can be hard to understand
Parent-teacher conferences are held
twice a year
□ Sharing power
Parents and teachers research issues
like prejudice and tracking
Parent group is focused on improving
student achievement
Families are involved in all major
decisions
Parents can use the school’s phone,
copier, fax, and computers
Staff work with local organizers to
improve the school and neighborhood
□ Sharing power
Parents can raise issues at PTA meetings
or see the principal
Parent group sets its own agenda and
raises money for the school
Resource center for low-income families
in portable classroom next to the school
PTA officers can use school office
A community representative sits on
school council
Come-if-we-call School: Parents are
welcome when we ask them, but there’s only
so much they can offer. The most important
thing they can do is help their kids at home.
We know where to get help in the community if
we need it.
Fortress School: Parents belong at home,
not at school. If students don’t do well, it’s
because their families don’t give them enough
support. We’re already doing all we can. Our
school is an oasis in a troubled community.
We want to keep it that way.
□ Building Relationships:
Better-educated parents are more involved
“Many immigrant parents don’t have time
to come or contribute”
Staff are very selective about who comes
into the school
□ Building Relationships:
Families do not “bother” school staff
“Minority families don’t value education”
Parents need security clearances to come
It is important to keep community
influences out of the school
□ Linking to Learning
Parents are told what students will be
learning at the fall open house
“Parents can call the office to get teacherrecorded messages about homework”
Workshops are offered on parenting
□ Linking to Learning
Curriculum and standards are considered
too complex for parents to understand
“If parents want more information, they can
ask for it”
“We’re teachers, not social workers”
□ Addressing Differences
“We can’t deal with 20 different languages”
“Parents can bring a translator with them”
“This school just isn’t the same as it used
to be…”
□ Addressing Differences
“Those parents need to learn English”
We teach about our country – that’s what
those parents need to know about”
“This neighborhood is going downhill…”
□ Supporting Advocacy
School calls families when children have
problems
Families visit school on report card pick-up
day and can see a teacher if they call first
□ Supporting Advocacy
Parents don’t come to conferences
Problems are dealt with by the professional
staff
Teachers don’t feel safe with parents
□ Sharing power
Principal sets agenda for parent meetings
PTA gets the school’s message out
“Parents are not experts in education.”
Community groups can address the school
board if they have concerns
□ Sharing power
Principal picks a small group of
“cooperative parents” to help out
Families are afraid to complain. “They
might take it out on my kid”
“Community groups should mind their own
business; they don’t know about
education”
Where Does Your School Fall? Check the boxes that have the most statements under them
marked or circled. Check only one box in a row.
If three or more of your checked boxes fall in the Fortress School column and none under
Open Door or Partnership, your school is trying to keep parents away rather than work
with them. In standards-based terms, it is below basic.
If three or more of your checked boxes fall under Come-if-we-call and none under
Partnership, your school may want parents to be involved only on its terms. In standardsbased terms, it is at the basic level.
If at least four of your checked boxes fall under Open Door or Partnership, and none are
under Fortress School, your school welcomes families and supports them to be involved
in a number of ways. In standards-based terms, it is proficient.
If at least three of your checked boxes are under Partnership, and the rest are under Open
Door, your school is willing and able to work with all families. We bet the student
achievement level goes up every year. In standards-based terms, it is advanced.
What does it mean to educate?
1. What is good
teaching?
2. Who determines what
high quality teaching
and learning look like?
4. How do you
determine if students
are learning enough?
3. How do you determine
if students are learning?
New
Teacher
W E L C O M E
PA C K E T
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PRA
TIPS
W I S C O N S I N D E PA R T M E N T O F P U B L I C I N S T R U C T I O N
PA R E N T S P L U S O F W I S C O N S I N
The New Teacher Welcome Packet
Ruth Anne Landsverk
Coordinator of Families in Education Program
Published by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
Madison
with support from Parents Plus of Wisconsin
Menasha
Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
Madison
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
1
This publication is available from the
Families in Education Program
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
125 South Webster Street
P.O. Box 7841
Madison, Wisconsin 53707-7841
(608) 266-9757
or
(800) 441-4563
Bulletin No. 02014
©July 2001 Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, religion, age,
national origin, ancestry, creed, pregnancy, marital or parental status, sexual orientation, or physical,
mental, emotional, or learning disability.
Printed on
Recycled Paper
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
Table of Contents
A Welcome Message ............................................................................................................................................... 5
Congratulations, New Teacher! ................................................................................................................................ 7
How to Use This Packet ........................................................................................................................................ 10
GETTING STARTED
An Overview: Family-School-Community Partnerships Improve Student Learning ................................................ 13
What Families Want to Know ................................................................................................................................ 15
Teachers and Families Have Different Perceptions ............................................................................................... 16
Family Involvement in Your Classroom: A Teacher Self Assessment Tool .............................................................. 17
Teacher Tips: Communicating with Families to Help Children Succeed ................................................................. 18
Techniques for Effective Two-Way Communication Between Home and School .................................................. 19
MEETING WITH FAMILIES
Ready, Set, Go! Setting Goals for the School Year With Students and Parents ..................................................... 22
Ready, Set, Go! Goal Setting Plan by Parent, Teacher, and Student ..................................................................... 23
Welcome to a New School Year ............................................................................................................................ 24
Help Me Know Your Child ...................................................................................................................................... 25
How to Have a Great Open House ........................................................................................................................ 26
Ideas for Holding Successful Parent-Teacher Conferences ................................................................................... 27
Getting Ready for Conferences
Letter to Parents/Guardians .............................................................................................................................. 29
Teacher’s Questions for Parents or Guardians ................................................................................................. 30
Questions for Parents/Guardians to Ask Teachers ........................................................................................... 30
LINKING FAMILIES TO LEARNING
Teacher Tips: Using and Keeping School Volunteers ............................................................................................. 33
Survey of Interest for Volunteers ............................................................................................................................ 34
Letter to Parents: A Note from Your Child’s Teacher .............................................................................................. 35
Helping Your Child Learn: A Survey for Parents ..................................................................................................... 36
25 Ideas for Communicating the Curriculum to Families ....................................................................................... 37
Teacher Tips: Helping Families Help with Homework ............................................................................................ 39
Teacher Tips: Working with Families of Children with Special Needs .................................................................... 40
Teacher Tips: Involving Less-Engaged Parents ..................................................................................................... 41
Fifty Ideas to Boost Family-School-Community Partnerships ................................................................................ 42
APPENDIX
The Six Types of Family-School-Community Partnerships .................................................................................... 47
A Checklist for Schools: Making Your Family-Community Partnership Work ......................................................... 48
How Far Has Our School Moved Toward Partnership with Families? .................................................................... 50
Web Resources for Teachers on Family-School-Community Partnerships ............................................................ 52
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
A Welcome Message
from State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster
Dear New Teacher:
I’ve worked in education for 25 wonderful years. And as a third generation
teacher myself, I can say without a doubt, this is the most exciting time of
the year. Paint is fresh, floors are waxed, and bulletin boards are brand new
in preparation for the arrival of thousands of bright-eyed, ready-to-learn
children all over Wisconsin.
As you get ready for the coming school year, please remember to include
parents and families in your preparation. Parents are the first and most
important teachers of our children. I believe that every parent has a right
and responsibility to be involved in their children’s education and I look
forward to working with you as your State Superintendent to increase
parental involvement in our schools
It can no longer be debated—children from loving, involved homes do
better in school, stay in school longer, and participate in fewer risky
behaviors. I am committed to join you in building a strong relationship
between parents, teachers, administrators, elected officials, the business
community and neighborhood groups because I believe we have a shared
responsibility for the success of our children.
As a new teacher, you have been chosen to perform one of the most
valuable services there is. No matter where or what you teach, I want to
thank on behalf of the people of Wisconsin for the commitment you have
made and the contributions you will soon make to the quality of life in your
community.
Have a wonderful year, stay with it, and thank you for teaching the children
of Wisconsin!
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Burmaster
State Superintendent
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
Congratulations, New Teacher!
Parents Plus of Wisconsin extends a hearty welcome to you as you begin your
teaching career. We are happy to be co-sponsors of this packet designed especially to welcome new teachers and hope that you find this packet useful and
informative.
Parents Plus of Wisconsin is a statewide initiative which offers technical assistance and training to school districts, family resource centers and home visiting
programs. Parents Plus strongly encourages parents to become involved in their
child’s education. We also work with school staff so that they can see the benefits
of forming and maintaining partnerships with parents. Technical assistance and
training to school districts is done in collaboration with other statewide entities.
This allows us to reach large numbers of people, as well as work individually with
others if necessary.
Over 30 years of research tells us there are great benefits to children, parents and
teachers when families are involved in the educational process. We encourage
you to include parents in activities in and outside the classroom. When parents
are involved children do better and schools improve.
Partnerships with parents improve school programs by increasing parent leadership and assisting teachers in their work. Some of your greatest allies will be the
families of the children you teach. Partnerships must be viewed as an essential
component of the school organization that influences student academic, social
and emotional development. Our intent is to assist you as you develop strong
parent partnerships within your classroom, school, and community.
If you would like to learn more about family/school/community partnerships or
Parents Plus of Wisconsin, please call us at 1 (877) 384-1769.
Sincerely,
The Staff at Parents Plus of Wisconsin
P. O. Box 452
328 Sixth Street
Menasha, WI 54952
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
Acknowledgments
This publication was produced with the assistance of the following
individuals from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction: Neldine
Nichols, formatter; Jane Grinde, editor; Pat Bober, special education
consultant; Victoria Horn, cover art;
and
with assistance from Susan Werley
of Parents Plus of Wisconsin.
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
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How to Use This Packet
We have tried to design this packet with your convenience
in mind. Each page is easily reproducible on a copier and
three-hole punched to fit in a binder. Please make as
many copies as you need.
How is it Organized?
The Getting Started section includes an overview on
how family-school-community partnerships improve
student learning, and several articles on communicating
with and relating to families.
The Meeting with Families section provides useful
samples of letters, forms, and ideas to help you plan
effective face-to-face sessions with students and families.
These articles have been placed chronologically according
to the events in a normal school year.
The Linking Families to Learning section gives you
tips and forms to engage family and community members
as volunteers, strengthen skills at home, and reach out to
less-engaged parents.
The Appendix contains important material to expand
your knowledge of how effective family-community
partnerships can get started and flourish in your school,
as well as partnership-related web links for teachers.
We hope you turn to this packet for useful, quick
information throughout the year, not only in moments
when you need something immediately, but also in
quieter moments when you have the time and desire to
learn more about how teachers and parents can be real
partners in helping children learn.
We’d be pleased to hear your ideas about how this
packet can be improved. Contact Ruth Anne Landsverk,
DPI Families in Education Coordinator, at 608-266-9757
or by email at ruthanne.landsverk@dpi.state.wi.us or Jane
Grinde, Bright Beginnings/Family-School-Community
Partnerships Director, at 608-266-9356 or via email at
jane.grinde@dpi.state.wi.us.
Happy Teaching!
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
•
•
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
GETTING STARTED
Getting Started
An Overview: Family-School-Community Partnerships Improve Student Learning
What Families Want to Know
Teachers and Families Have Different Perceptions
Family Involvement in Your Classroom: A Teacher
Self Assessment Tool
Teacher Tips: Communicating with Families to Help
Children Succeed
Techniques for Effective Two-Way Communication
Between Home and School
NOTE: Please make as many copies of this booklet as you need.
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New Teacher Welcome Packet
An Overview
Family-School-Community Partnerships Improve Student Learning
parents and teachers and perceive that caring
people in both environments are investing and
coordinating time and resources to help them
succeed.
Conversely, when parents become involved at
school, or with the school, they develop more positive attitudes about school and school personnel,
help build support in the community for the program, become more active in community affairs,
develop increased self-confidence, and enroll in
other educational programs (Becher, 1984).
Parent involvement? The phrase has caused many a
beginning teacher to quake in his or her new school
shoes. Lots of teachers, however, have found some
great ways to leash that parent power and put it to
work helping students learn more and better.
Studies of parent involvement efforts have
documented these benefits for students:
• higher grades and test scores,
• better attendance and more homework done,
• fewer placements in special education,
• more positive attitudes and behavior,
• higher graduation rates,
• greater enrollment in post-secondary education
(Henderson and Berla, 1994).
Teachers, schools, and communities also profit
when schools work well with families. These studies
show that schools have:
• improved teacher morale,
• higher ratings of teachers by parents,
• more support from families,
• higher student achievement,
• better reputations in the community (Henderson
and Berla,1994).
Epstein found that teacher leadership in parent
involvement, especially in guiding parents with
learning activities at home, can significantly increase student reading achievement. Her study
showed that, when teachers help parents to become
involved in student learning, they:
• have improved communication between home
and school,
• better understand and support the child’s instructional program.
Morever, gains in reading achievement came not
only for the parents who made a regular practice of
helping their children, but also for children whose
parents were simply encouraged by teachers to help
their children. Teachers also had higher expectations of students whose parents collaborated with
them; and higher opinions of those parents, themselves (Dauber and Epstein, 1992).
When schools and families work in partnership,
students hear that school is important from their
•
Challenges
Studies have identified a number of barriers that
make it difficult for parents and teachers to work
together. Teachers may:
• feel that parents don’t have the time or interest
to be involved in school or in their child’s learning.
For example, Davies (1989) found that many teachers believe that parents with low incomes do not
value education highly or have little to offer to the
education of their children.
• fear that parents will encroach upon their area of
responsibility and will not follow instructions and
school regulations.
• be very supportive of parent involvement and not
understand why parents aren’t responding to
programs developed by the school.
Parents may:
• distrust schools and be reluctant to get involved
because of bad experiences that they had as students. Some view their child’s performance as a
reflection on themselves and are hesitant to step
forward to address problems.
• feel that they lack the skills to be helpful and
that if they do step forward school personnel will
think that they are interfering.
Perhaps the greatest impediment is that of time.
Parents, many who work outside the home, find it
difficult to participate in school activities. Teachers,
whose days are filled with more and more curricular
and non-curricular experiences, more challenging
behaviors, and larger class sizes, find the idea of
developing parent involvement strategies overwhelming, as do administrators who may spend
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
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New Teacher Welcome Packet
• Learning at home: Involve families with their
most of their time dealing with the immediate crisis
of the day.
Teachers want and need training and support to
work with parents, especially those whose cultural
experience is different from their own. In order to
develop effective partnership programs that teachers and parents can use and support, schools should
have (Wikeland 1990):
• written school and district policies that establish
parent involvement as a legitimate and desirable
activity,
• clear and high expectations that parent involvement is a key to improved schools,
• leadership and encouragement,
• sufficient funding,
• time allocated for staff and parents to plan and
coordinate family-involvement activities,
• staff and parent training,
• space and equipment,
• food, transportation, and child care as needed for
parent meetings.
children in learning activities at home, including
homework and other curriculum-linked activities
and decisions.
• Decision-making: Include families as participants in school decisions, governance, and advocacy
through PTA/PTO, school councils, committees, and
other parent organizations.
• Collaborating with the community: Coordinate resources and services for families, students,
and the school with businesses, agencies, and other
groups, and provide services to the community.
(Also see A Checklist for Schools: Making Your
Family-Community Partnership Work, in the
appendix.)
In addition, be sure to:
• jointly plan partnership efforts with parents
from the very beginning. The most effective partnership efforts are meaningful to parents because they
directly address an expressed need or concern of
parents.
• reach beyond the parents who “always volunteer.” They will be there whether we plan programs
or not. Special efforts must be made to welcome all
parents and appreciate the contributions each
brings to the planning process and beyond.
• emphasize student learning. Epstein emphasizes that while not all partnership practices directly impact student learning, partnership activities must also be linked to the school’s improvement
plan, and parents and community members should
participate in the development of the improvement
plan.
For example, if the school has a goal for improving reading, then the families and the community
should be included in helping to achieve that goal.
Partnerships should be an integral part of the
school’s regular work.
Planning Your Family-School-Community
Partnerships
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
uses a framework for participation, based on Joyce
Epstein’s work, that includes six types of familyschool-community partnerships to create a studentcentered learning environment:
• Parenting: Assist families with parenting and
child-rearing skills, understanding child and adolescent development, and setting home conditions that
support children as students at each age and grade
level. Assist schools in understanding families.
• Communicating: Communicate with families
about school programs and student progress
through effective school-to-home and home-to-school
communications.
• Volunteering: Improve recruitment, training,
work, and schedules to involve families as volunteers and audiences at the school or in other locations to support students and school programs.
•
This article is adapted from a 1999 Wisconsin Education
Association report by Iris Othrow and Katie Schultz Stout
entitled, Involving Families In Order to Improve Student
Achievement. Available on-line at www.weac.org.
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
New Teacher Welcome Packet
What Families Want to Know
Approximately 50 family members from several Wisconsin school districts were asked in an informal
survey what they would like to say to teachers and what information they would find most beneficial in
helping their children learn. Following, is a synopsis of their responses.
• Keep communications clear, brief, and simple,
Families Want to Belong
not overly technical.
•
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•
•
•
•
I want to belong.
Welcome me to the school—don’t shut me out.
Invite me to school—take the initiative.
Ask for my input, but don’t intimidate me.
Tell me how I can participate in school activities.
I would like to be a member of an advisory
council or family involvement committee.
Families Want to Help
• Give me specific ideas about how to complement
what my children are learning in school or to
strengthen their skills.
• I need ideas for enrichment to supplement my
children’s classes.
• What can I do to help with homework?
• I need to know what teachers expect at each
grade level in emotional, social, and cognitive
growth areas.
• If a problem arises with schoolwork, contact me
immediately—don’t wait for weeks.
• What are your expectations of my children?
• I’d like a family attendance day so I can understand my children’s classes better.
Families Want Information
• Tell me the philosophy of the school, the channels
of authority, and the general goals of each subject
studied.
• Tell me the best time to call the teachers, the
names of the staff, and their telephone numbers.
• Send me a weekly or monthly newsletter, which
lists school events, community resources, and
enrichment programs.
• I need to learn strategies I can use with my
children when dealing with alcohol and drug prevention, video games, TV programs, peer pressure,
and study skills.
• I would appreciate family education workshops
or videos to learn about communicating with teens,
how to motivate children to study, social pressures,
curfews and family rules, college applications, and
helping with homework.
Families Want Teachers to Love and
Discipline Their Children
• Do something to make my children feel good
about themselves.
• Make rules clear and don’t put up with inappropriate student behavior.
• Relax when students are acting normally.
• Remind yourselves that you are an important
influence in children’s lives.
• If I complain about something, don’t “take it out”
on my children.
• Avoid stereotyping children.
• Praise students for good efforts.
• Contact me about good news, too, not only about
problems.
Families Want Teacher Contact
• I would like my children’s teachers to let me
know when and where I can call them.
• Because I work, I need school meetings scheduled
during evenings or on weekends.
• Let me know what my children are studying.
• I want to meet the teachers at least once a
month.
•
• Care about my children.
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
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New Teacher Welcome Packet
Teachers and Families Have
Different Perceptions
ers and families. Below is a chart compiled by
Mendoza and Cegelka of Project P-Pact, San Diego
State University.
Most teachers realize how important it is to communicate with families, yet they often feel frustrated in
their efforts to communicate. One reason may be the
differences in perception that exist between teach-
Differences in P erception T hat Can Interfere W ith Home-S chool Communication
The Teacher
The Family
Group—must focus on the whole class or group.
Indiv idual—concerned wi th own chi ld's i ndi vi dual progress,
needs.
Established Skills—has knowledge of what chi ld has
mastered.
Emerging Skills—i s concerned wi th what chi ld i s learni ng.
Present—i s concerned wi th present development of
chi ld.
H istory —has the perspecti ve on how far the chi ld has come.
Futuristic—looks to what chi ld wi ll be able to do i n the
future, career potenti al.
Present—i s concerned wi th here-and-now
Specificity —i s concerned wi th masteri ng speci fi c
ski lls
D iffused—tends to see whole chi ld's ongoi ng development.
C ognitiv e—sees chi ld more abstractly, able to
di stance self from chi ld.
Emotional—has emoti onal i nvolvement wi th chi ld.
Achiev ed/chosen profession—encourages chi ld to
make professi onal career choi ce.
Giv en—accepts the chi ld as she or he i s.
D ominant—has power posi ti on, experti se.
Submissiv e—may feel helpless, uneducated.
U niv ersal—looks for one best method, way to work
wi th all chi ldren.
Indiv idualiz ed—wants to have chi ld approached and taught
as an i ndi vi dual.
Compiled by Mendota and Cogelka of Project P-Pact. San Diego State University. Published in Community Education Journal
(April 1987) p. 12. Adapted and reprinted with permission.
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
New Teacher Welcome Packet
Family Involvement in Your Classroom
A Teacher Self Assessment Tool
What’s happening? What would you like to be happening? For each statement, circle where you are
now, then where you want to be in the future. Remember, you don’t have to do it all!
1 HYHU+D SSHQ V
I a m p le a s e d w ith th e tu rn o u t I h a v e
fo r p a re n t/te a c h e r c o n fe re n c e s .
I re g u la rly s c h e d u le p a re n ts to h e lp
o u t in m y c la s s ro o m .
I s e n d h o m e s tu d e n t w o rk fo r p a re n t
re v ie w a n d c o m m e n t.
I a s k p a re n ts to p ro v id e m a te ria ls ,
s u p p lie s , g a m e s fo r c la s s ro o m u s e .
2 IWHQ + DSS HQV
Now
1
2
3
4
5
F u tu re
1
2
3
4
5
Now
1
2
3
4
5
F u tu re
1
2
3
4
5
Now
1
2
3
4
5
F u tu re
1
2
3
4
5
Now
1
2
3
4
5
F u tu re
1
2
3
4
5
I k e e p p a re n ts w e ll in fo rm e d a b o u t
a n y p ro b le m s th e ir c h ild re n a re
h a v in g in m y c la s s ro o m .
Now
1
2
3
4
5
F u tu re
1
2
3
4
5
I le t p a re n ts k n o w w h e n th e ir c h ild re n
s h o w im p ro v e m e n t o r d o s o m e th in g
w e ll.
Now
1
2
3
4
5
F u tu re
1
2
3
4
5
I g iv e p a re n ts in fo rm a tio n a b o u t h o w
to h e lp th e ir c h ild re n w ith h o m e w o rk
fro m m y c la s s .
Now
1
2
3
4
5
F u tu re
1
2
3
4
5
I le t p a re n ts k n o w h o w re p o rt c a rd
g ra d e s a re e a rn e d in m y c la s s ro o m .
I a s s ig n h o m e w o rk th a t re q u ire s m y
s tu d e n ts to in te ra c t w ith th e ir p a re n ts
o r o th e r fa m ily m e m b e rs .
I m a k e s u re p a re n ts k n o w w h a t th e ir
c h ild re n a re d o in g in m y c la s s ro o m .
I s e n d a c la s s ro o m n e w s le tte r o r
b u lle tin re g u la rly to a ll p a re n ts .
I h o ld p a re n t m e e tin g s /c o ffe e s a t th e
s c h o o l.
I h o ld p a re n t m e e tin g s /c o ffe e s in
n e ig h b o rh o o d s w h e re m y s tu d e n ts
liv e .
I m a k e h o m e v is its .
I s h a re in fo rm a tio n w ith p a re n ts
a b o u t p a re n tin g , c h ild d e v e lo p m e n t.
Now
1
2
3
4
5
F u tu re
1
2
3
4
5
Now
1
2
3
4
5
F u tu re
1
2
3
4
5
5
Now
1
2
3
4
F u tu re
1
2
3
4
5
Now
1
2
3
4
5
F u tu re
1
2
3
4
5
Now
1
2
3
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5
F u tu re
1
2
3
4
5
Now
1
2
3
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5
F u tu re
1
2
3
4
5
5
Now
1
2
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4
F u tu re
1
2
3
4
5
Now
1
2
3
4
5
F u tu re
1
2
3
4
5
In fo rm a tio n a b o u t m y c la s s ro o m is
a v a ila b le o n a c la s s ro o m o r s c h o o l
w e b s ite .
Now
1
2
3
4
5
F u tu re
1
2
3
4
5
H o m e w o rk a s s ig n m e n ts fro m m y
c la s s (e s ) a re p o s te d o n a h o m e w o rk
“ h o tlin e .”
Now
1
2
3
4
5
F u tu re
1
2
3
4
5
I in v ite p a re n ts to te ll m e a b o u t th e ir
c h ild re n ’s s tre n g th s , s p e c ia l ta le n ts ,
in te re s ts a n d n e e d s .
Now
1
2
3
4
5
F u tu re
1
2
3
4
5
Now
1
2
3
4
5
F u tu re
1
2
3
4
5
I a tte n d p a re n t/te a c h e r m e e tin g s a n d
o th e r fa m ily e v e n ts a t m y s c h o o l.
D e ve lo p e d b y T h e F a m ily C o n n e ctio n o f S t. J o s e p h C o u n ty , In c . fo r th e In d ia n a C e n te r fo r F a m ily, S ch o o l & C o m m u n ity P a rtn e rsh ip s u n d e r a g ra n t
fro m th e U S D e p t. o f E d u c atio n .
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
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New Teacher Welcome Packet
Teacher Tips
Communicating with Families
to Help Children Succeed
• Let families know that they are welcome to
Parents want to hear from teachers about how well
children are learning, just as teachers want parents
to be aware and supportive of what’s going on in
school. What’s a good way to get the school year off
to a positive start and continue to build on that
relationship all year? Here are a few ideas.
observe the class frequently, but that teacher and
staff conferences require an appointment.
Work Through Problems
• Listen first. Sometimes parents and family
members just need to talk through their anger. Try
to remember that many parents work long days and
worry a lot about their children.
• Acknowledge that being a parent is a difficult job.
Try to remember that the child’s performance in
school is an important part, but only a part, of his or
her life.
• If you expect trouble, try a team approach.
Include the principal or assistant principal and
counselor to help deal with particularly difficult
situations and people. Make every effort to avoid
putting the parent on the spot. Instead, try to
include the parent and student as partners in
solving the problem.
Be Positive First
• Calling each family early in the school year,
especially in the elementary grades, and saying
something positive starts your relationship with
parents off on the right foot. That initial contact can
help you enormously. Parents can give you information about their child that will be helpful in working
with the child.
• If you can’t call each family, try sending home a
flier with your photo, schedule, and a short biography to introduce yourself to parents. Be sure to give
telephone numbers and times when you can be
reached; consider including your home phone
number, if appropriate. A brief summary of what
children will learn during the year and your expectations for them will also be appreciated by parents.
• Stress your community ties and share your own
experiences as a parent. If you attended the same
schools or live in the community, let families know.
Show Parents How the School Works
• One of the best activities during back-to-school
night or open house is a brief run-through of an
actual school day, including teacher expectations for
the year.
• Stress what students are expected to learn, as
well as your rules for behavior and grades.
• Offer to explain test results, particularly on state
assessments or developmental tests. Many parents
are too embarrassed to ask questions, mistakenly
assuming that everyone else can interpret the
results.
• Spell out the rules clearly early in the school year
and stick to them. Parents respect clear and fairly
applied rules.
Respect Every Family
• Smile and make eye contact when meeting with
parents. If you can, sit beside – not across from- the
parent. Keep your sense of humor. Laughter can
defuse some tense situations.
• Avoid educational jargon. Words like “pro-active”
or “needs-based assessments” will only confuse most
parents. Using jargon only widens the gap between
you and those unfamiliar with it.
• Ask questions about the child’s interests and
family activities, but respect privacy if you sense
resistance.
•
Excerpted from Helping Students Succeed: What Teachers and
PSRPs (Paraprofessionals and School Related Personnel) Can Do
to Help Families Help Children Succeed, American Federation of
Teachers, 555 New Jersey Ave., NW, Washington, DC 200012079; (202) 879-4400.
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
New Teacher Welcome Packet
Techniques for Effective Two-Way Communication
Between Home and School
Families learn about school programs and their children’s classroom learning in a variety of ways. Schools
with effective two-way communications not only provide several ways to reach families but also have several
ways that families are invited to respond back with ideas, questions, and concerns.
Listed below are techniques schools can use to encourage two-way communication. Which techniques does
your school use? Circle two techniques you would like to try this year. Add more of your own.
Elementary
Middle High School
1. Send letters, notes, post cards, memos, half-and-half letters which ask
families to respond (letters may have to be mailed to high school
students’ families).
o
o
o
2. Send schoolwork home once a week in a folder with a place provided
for family comments. Require a parent/guardian signature.
o
o
o
3. Develop assignment calendars that record students’ assignments, and
invite families to respond.
o
o
o
4. Send newsletters reporting community and school activities. Include
a mini-survey about discipline, homework, conferences, other related
information, and publish the results in the next newsletter. Include
recommended movies, books, television specials, and community
cultural activities.
o
o
o
5. Ask families to identify two or three concerns before coming to parentteacher conferences. At the conference, listen to families and jointly
develop a plan of action.
o
o
o
6. Send small tape recorders home to families whose first language is
not English or who may not be able to write well in English. The child
can explain how to record a message for the teacher and bring the tape
recorder back to school.
o
o
o
7. Conduct periodic random telephone surveys of families, asking them
how well they think the school is communicating and how well their
children are learning.
o
o
o
8. Once a month, randomly select a small group of families to meet
informally with the principal or a teacher. Listen to their views.
Discussion can be open-ended or focused on a specific topic.
o
o
o
9. Involve the PTA/PTO and school council in data collection. Representatives from these groups can plan activities, find guest speakers, and
organize public forums to encourage communication among students,
families, teachers, and community members.
o
o
o
10. Organize classes for families in which they learn about child development, mental health- issues, study skills, and student motivation.
These classes can be provided through cooperation with county extension services, mental health agencies, human service agencies, and
schools.
o
o
o
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
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20
MEETING WITH FAMILIES
Meeting With Families
Ready, Set, Go! Setting Goals for the School Year With
Students and Parents
Ready, Set, Go! Goal Setting Plan by Parent, Teacher,
and Student
Welcome to a New School Year
Help Me Know Your Child
How to Have a Great Open House
Ideas for Holding Successful Parent-Teacher Conferences
Getting Ready for Conferences
Letter to Parents/Guardians
Teacher’s Questions for Parents or Guardians
Questions for Parents/Guardians to Ask Teachers
21
New Teacher Welcome Packet
Ready, Set, Go!
Setting Goals for the School Year With Students and Parents
• Friends. Show the child a class list and ask if he
More and more school districts are finding that
providing teachers, students, and parents with time
to meet and get to know one another before or just
after school starts is a great way to give learning a
jump start. Whether they are called, “Ready, Set,
Go!” conferences or “Get to Know You” conferences,
teachers and parents report that having a little time
to establish positive relationships at the start of the
school year goes a long way toward enhancing
student learning during the rest of the year.
Many schools schedule a 20- to 30-minute session
with each child and at least one parent before school
starts or during the first few weeks of the school
year. The sessions are child-centered, friendly and
relaxed, and the focus is on getting to know each
child’s strengths, talents, and interests. Often,
siblings are invited to come along to play during the
meeting, and parents can choose from conferences
scheduled during the day or evenings.
Most schools hold such conferences in the classroom, but some teachers visit the homes of families
who feel more comfortable in that setting. Although
there is no rigid format for these sessions, many
teachers encourage the child and parent to respond
to questions in a number of areas. The goal is for
parent and child to get to know the teacher and
establish open, friendly communications for the
year.
or she has any friends among the names. The
information may help when forming cooperative
groups. Sometimes, concerns about a child’s isolation or aggressive behavior may arise.
• Concerns. This is a good time to discuss any
problems-academic, social, or behavioral-that the
child is experiencing or that occurred during the
previous year
• Goals. The child and parent together set two or
three goals—academic, social, or behavioral—to aim
for during the next semester. The goals encourage
students to think about areas they would like to
improve and the responsibilities they will take to
make that happen.
Parents can also be encouraged to discuss specific actions they can take to encourage achieving
the goals they set. For instance, a student who
wants to improve in spelling may decide that she
should study it more frequently and dad may pledge
to review spelling words with the child or purchase
a dictionary for her use.
For Consideration
• Teachers also may want to ask the child and
parent, “What would you like to learn more about
this year?”
• Consider having volunteer sign-up sheets available at conferences for volunteer activities parents
would like to be involved with: leading a Great
Books reading group, assisting in the computer lab
or with a drama production, planting a prairie area
near the school, and others.
• Write goals into a “Friday Folder” or other folder
the student takes home weekly so parents can
review the child’s learning activities and performance. Encourage parents to write comments or
questions in the folder every week and students to
evaluate their progress toward meeting their goals
by reflecting and writing about their experiences
near the end of the grading period.
• Bring the importance of family into the classroom
by taking a photograph of the parent and student at
the goal-setting session. Display the photos on a
“Let’s Work Together” bulletin board that stays up
all year.
• Scheduling the goal-setting sessions with parents
by telephone may be more efficient than through a
letter mailed home.
A Great Way To Start
“It really gets us anchored around the child, how
he or she learns best, and what the parent can do at
home to support what’s happening in the classroom,” one fourth-grade teacher in the Verona
School District said. “It’s the springboard for all
other communications during the year and it eases
the home-school relationship right away.”
The teacher’s role to listen, not evaluate, is a role
that might take a little getting used to. “I just
encourage the child and the parent to talk. I don’t
fill in the quiet times, but just let conversation
happen. You learn a lot about family dynamics and
how the child fits in the family.”
Here are some ideas for four general areas
teachers can discuss with children and parents and
take notes on. See the form on page 13.
• Strengths, talents, and interests. What is the
child good at? What does he or she enjoy doing?
Make sure both child and parent have a chance to
respond.
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
New Teacher Welcome Packet
Ready, Set, Go!
Goal Setting Plan by Parent, Teacher, and Student
Goal setting plan for (Student’s Name)
Date Developed
Date Reviewed
The purpose of goal setting is to assist with communication and planning of the student’s learning experiences.
1. Areas of demonstrated strength or ability. Things I am good at in school:
2. Things I am good at outside of school:
3. Things I would like to learn more about:
4. I learn best when:
Goals
Academic
Behavioral (optional)
To help me accomplish these goals
I will
My parent(s) will
My teacher(s) will
The following agree by signature to support these goals
Signature of Student
Signature of Parent(s)
Ø
Ø
Signature of Teacher
Signature of Other School Representative
Ø
Ø
Contributed by Verona School District
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
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New Teacher Welcome Packet
Welcome to a New School Year
Date
Dear Parent/Guardian:
Welcome to a new school year!
We all have a big job ahead of us, but working as partners, we
know we’ll have a successful school year. We hope to make this
school an even better place to learn and grow than it was last
year. Our staff has set goals to help every child make the most
of each school day.
Soon we will be letting you know about special conferences and
events for families and students, but we want you to feel
comfortable visiting your school anytime. We look forward to
working with you and hope you will find the time to call, visit,
volunteer, or share your experiences in our classrooms.
Research shows that students are more successful in school
when their families help them at home and get involved in
school activities.
Please call and visit often!
Principal
Telephone
Teacher
Telephone
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
New Teacher Welcome Packet
Help Me Know Your Child
Date _____________
Dear Parent/Guardian,
I invite you to share with me the talents, interests, and habits of your child, so that I may be
prepared to teach in the best way possible. Feel free to write on the back of this page or to
add additional pages if you need more room to write. Please share any concerns about your
child so we can have a cooperative team approach to education. Call and let me know if you
would like to visit our classroom or just to talk about your child. The best time to reach me
during the day is from _______ a.m./p.m. to _______ a.m./p.m. at _____________________
(telephone).
1. My child learns best by
2. Some things I do at home to help my child learn are
3. Right now my child’s goal/dream is
4. You will know my child is having problems when
5. The thing my child likes best about school is
6. One difficulty my child has at school is
7. When my child is having difficulty learning something, I find it works best to
8. Questions I would like to discuss at a parent-teacher conference include
Please return this form to me by ____________________________________________.
Teacher ________________________________________________________________
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
25
New Teacher Welcome Packet
How to Have a Great Open House
• When are children taught in groups other than a
An open house welcoming families to school early in
the school year gives families a chance to meet their
children’s teachers, to learn about the school’s plans
and policies, and to hear classroom goals and
teacher expectations.
Begin the open house with a general assembly for
all families and teachers. As families enter the
auditorium or gym, have them fill in name tags and
put them on. Encourage teachers and school staff
(also wearing name tags) to greet families as they
come in.
A suggested format for the open house follows.
• The principal welcomes families and introduces
teachers and others, such as school counselor, PTA/
PTO president, and secretary.
• If possible, each person introduced should make a
few comments (one or two minutes).
• Principal talks about the goals for the year and
special events.
• Principal invites families to visit their children’s
classrooms.
• Classrooms are open for the next 30 to 45 minutes with teachers presiding in the classrooms.
• Refreshments are available either in the classroom, the school family center, or an all-purpose
type room.
As appropriate, the principal or teacher should
answer general questions.
• What are the school rules regarding visiting,
discipline, busing, lunches, homework, cars, and
testing procedures?
•
self-contained classroom?
• How is a child’s progress evaluated?
• How much homework is given, and how can
families help?
• What level of mathematics will they learn, and
how can families help?
• When will children learn computer skills?
• In what school committees or groups are families
invited to participate?
• How can parents volunteer in and out of school?
• When is the best time to contact each teacher?
• Are there programs for gifted children and
children with learning disabilities?
• What is expected in terms of classroom and
school behavior?
• What are the names of principals, counselors, bus
supervisor, child-care coordinators, food service
managers, and PTA officers?
Even if your district distributed handbooks that
answer the above questions, reinforcing what
families have read will lead to stronger support
from the home. The open house is a get-acquainted
session for families and teachers. If teachers have
business cards, this is a good time to distribute
them. It’s also a good time for families to sign up for
individual conferences, or enlist as volunteers for a
classroom or school activity.
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
New Teacher Welcome Packet
Ideas for Holding Successful
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Teachers need the help of families to do the best
possible job of educating children. Parent-teacher
conferences offer teachers and parents the chance to
consider new ideas and suggestions for helping
children learn. Together, they can discuss children’s
progress, behavior, motivation, and reasons behind
successes and failures.
Many schools also encourage parents to bring
their child to the conference. Some schools, especially in the upper elementary and middle grades
are conducted with the student acting as discussion
leader.
Schools and teachers should schedule conferences
with the families of individual children early in the
term to discuss the progress and potential of the
child. Some of the topics that may be discussed are:
• the child’s overall ability to do school work.
• the child’s progress in all the subject areas.
• samples of the child’s work.
• special abilities or interests the child shows.
• books and materials used in the classroom.
• social skills exhibited by the child in and out of
the classroom.
The parent-teacher conference should be held in
a location that allows private, uninterrupted conversation. Families and teachers should be seated on
the same level-preferably away from the teacher’s
desk. Arrange for comfortable seating, with good
lighting and ventilation. Organize samples of the
children’s work and test results so they are easily
accessible and will complement the conference plan.
Teachers should write down the topics they plan
to discuss with families. Teachers need to know
beforehand what they hope to accomplish, communicate, and suggest, and what specific steps can be
recommended for families to help improve their
children’s education. Teachers should discuss
children’s strong points as well as things that need
improving.
During the Conference
Give waiting families folders of their children’s
work. It makes waiting easier.
Begin the conference with a friendly general
remark unrelated to the child. When speaking about
the child, start the conference on a positive note,
stressing some good points about the student.
Emphasize the child’s strengths. Use words all
family members will understand; do not use technical educational jargon. Do not present a long list of
negative concerns to families; work on a few negatives at a time.
Ask families questions to find out about their
concerns. Listen carefully so you can separate facts
from emotional feelings. Accept comments from
families without showing surprise or disapproval.
Give families time to ask questions, to interrupt,
and to disagree. Relax and try to gain insight into
the families’ attitudes toward their children, school,
and you. Do not argue with families or impose your
opinions on them. If you feel you must change a
viewpoint be as diplomatic as possible.
If a child has a problem, ask the family to suggest
an approach that could be used at home to help the
child. If applicable, suggest alternative approaches
for joint consideration. This makes the family a
participant in developing plans and may lead to a
discussion that will help the family adopt a realistic
plan. When working on solutions, try to set up a
timetable. Ask for the family’s help and help them
Preparing for the Conference
Teachers may contact the family by telephone or
letter to arrange a conference. Check with your
school principal or other staff members to find out
how your school notifies and signs up families for
the conferences.
Many schools, for example, send a sign-up sheet
home with students so families can choose the three
best times for conferences. Confirm in writing the
time for the conference. (Following, are samples of a
letter and questions for families and teachers that
may be duplicated and sent to families before the
conference.)
Teachers can improve the family-teacher relationship by encouraging family cooperation, inviting
suggestions, welcoming family members’ help,
recognizing individual and cultural differences,
respecting children’s feelings, and living up to
professional expectations. Teachers must not
preach, downgrade family situations, overlook
cultural differences in families, or use offensive
expressions such as “a broken home.”
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
27
New Teacher Welcome Packet
accept responsibility for a share in the child’s
success or failure.
End the conference by summarizing what has
been said. Finish with a friendly remark. Thank the
family for their concern and time and let them know
that you care about and enjoy their child as an
individual.
Treat all information as confidential. Document
conference notes for future reference. Remember
that you represent your school district and that the
final goal of parent-teacher conferences is to help
children.
might thank the family for attending the conference
and ask if the family has begun to follow through
with the suggestions made. Encourage the family to
discuss the conference with his or her child, if the
child was not present, and invite the family to call
the teacher or school to check on the child’s
progress, or simply to keep in touch. Be sure family
members know when and where to reach you by
phone or e-mail if they have further questions or
concerns.
If this follow-up is not possible because large
numbers of families were involved, make a special
effort to contact those families whom you sensed
might have been uneasy or who expressed negative
concerns.
Follow-Up
If possible, after the initial family conference,
follow up with a phone call or written note. The note
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
New Teacher Welcome Packet
Getting Ready for Conferences
Letter to Parents/Guardians
Date
Dear Parent/Guardian,
The success of your child is important to both of us. We can
gain new awareness of your child’s particular needs, strengths,
and limitations by sharing our observations.
Will you please take the time to meet with me in your child’s
classroom? I am hoping one of the following dates and times will
be convenient for you. Please check the one you prefer and
return it to me by ______________________.
Day: _______
Date: _______
Time: _______ or ________
Day: _______
Date: _______
Time: _______ or ________
I have circled some questions on the attached sheet that I
would especially like to discuss with you when we meet. On the
same sheet you will find examples of questions families often
wish to ask their child’s teacher during parent-teacher conferences.
Please feel free to ask me any of those questions when we
meet, or anything else about your child’s learning. Together,
we’ll make this a productive year for your child.
Sincerely,
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
29
New Teacher Welcome Packet
Teacher’s Questions for Parents or Guardians
The circled questions are points that I would especially like to discuss with you when we meet. You
may wish to bring this sheet along to help focus our discussion at the conference.
1. What does your child like most about school?
2. What would make school more interesting for
your child?
3. What activities take up your child’s leisure
time?
4. What activities do you and your child enjoy
doing together?
5. How do you reinforce good behavior at home?
6. Does your child have a quiet place to study at
home, and do you monitor study time?
What TV programs do you and your child enjoy
at home?
Does your child get along well with his or her
peers?
How is your child not meeting your expectations?
Are there any attitudes that you hope your
child will change?
7.
8.
9.
10.
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
Questions for Parents/Guardians to Ask Teachers
These sample questions are meant to prompt ideas for things that you may want to talk about with
your child’s teacher concerning his or her learning. Please feel free to ask about any other concerns
you may have, as well.
1. What is my child’s class schedule?
9. What standardized tests will my child take this
year, and what will the results be used for?
10. What discipline procedures do you use in the
classroom?
11. Does my child get along with other children?
With you?
12. Does my child respect the rights and property
of others?
13. Does my child show any behavior, such as
squinting or irritability, that may be signs of a
medical or emotional problem?
14. Can you mention other ways I can help my
child reach academic success?
15. What special interest activities are available for
my child?
2. Is my child working up to his or her ability?
3. Are children grouped for reading and math?
What group is my child in, and how are children
selected for each group?
4. What are my child’s strengths and weaknesses
in major subject areas?
5. Does my child need special help in any subject?
If so, how can I help my child at home?
6. What will my child be learning this year in
reading, math, and science?
7. How much time should be spent on homework,
and how can I help with homework?
8. How is my child’s work evaluated?
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
30
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
Linking Families to Learning
LINKING FAMILIES TO LEARNING
Teacher Tips: Using and Keeping School Volunteers
Survey of Interest for Volunteers
Letter to Parents: A Note from Your Child’s Teacher
Helping Your Child Learn: A Survey for Parents
25 Ideas for Communicating the Curriculum to Families
Teacher Tips: Helping Families Help with Homework
Teacher Tips: Working with Families of Children with Special
Needs
Teacher Tips: Involving Less-Engaged Parents
Fifty Ideas to Boost Family-School-Community Partnerships
31
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New Teacher Welcome Packet
Teacher Tips
Using and Keeping School Volunteers
The effectiveness of school volunteers depends
largely upon the skillful guidance of the classroom
teacher. The teacher’s attitude toward the volunteer
can encourage and inspire, or it can discourage and
defeat.
Following, are some frequently-asked questions
teachers ask when they consider using volunteers
and some general tips to help teachers get volunteer
efforts off to a promising start.
Working Successfully With Volunteers
Get to know the volunteer. Take advantage of his
or her special interests, talents, and skills in the
activities you plan.
• Assume responsibility for introducing volunteers
to the school staff and students with whom they will
be working.
• Explain your classroom’s rules and basic management procedures.
• Explain the purpose and importance of tasks so
the volunteer understands how his or her contributions will help.
• Let the volunteer watch your teaching techniques
as you demonstrate activities for students.
• Encourage the volunteer to help plan activities or
make suggestions.
• Say “we,” not “I,” to help the volunteer feel
included.
• Plan specific and clearly defined activities for the
volunteer.
• As abilities and strengths become apparent,
increase the volunteer’s responsibilities.
• Provide a regular time each week to plan with
the volunteer.
• Make time to ask the volunteer for feedback
about his or her progress or to answer any questions.
• Give directions and explanations in nontechnical
terms but don’t “talk down” to a volunteer.
• Give credit when it is due!
• Recognize the contributions of the volunteer
through daily expressions of appreciation and
encouragement as well as with certificates of
appreciation presented at a school ceremony.
• Remember, there are some responsibilities that
should NOT be delegated to a volunteer:
— diagnosing
— consulting with parents
— evaluating on a formal basis
— prescribing
— providing initial instruction
— disciplining students
What Are School Volunteers?
School volunteers are the parents, students,
senior citizens, service organization members, and
other community members who care about students
and want to help the school district. They perform a
variety of tasks, including reading to and with
students, sharing hobbies and careers, chaperoning
field trips, and assisting with clerical or classroom
duties.
How Can School Volunteers Help?
Some of your teaching ideas may require more
than two hands to make them succeed. You may
need more time to prepare special projects or
exhibits, or you may need more time with a student
who needs a little extra attention or just someone to
talk to.
Can a Volunteer Lighten the Load or
Enrich the Curriculum?
Yes! Are there non-teaching jobs which require
gathering and organizing material for the classroom
or bulletin boards? Maybe you just need an extra set
of eyes and ears.
How Do I Get Volunteers to Help?
Check with your school or district to find out if it:
• has a written school board policy that spells out
expectations for volunteers,
• recruits, trains, and recognizes volunteers, and
• provides forms and other materials that help
teachers obtain and work with the volunteers they
need.
Consider recruiting volunteers for your classroom
whenever you meet with parents, but especially at
the beginning of the school year during back-toschool night, school open house, or other introductory sessions. Have sign-up forms ready for parents
to complete and return.
•
Contributed by the National Association of Partners in Education
(NAPE), Inc., 209 Madison Street, Suite 401, Alexandria, VA
22314 (703) 836-4880. Web site: http://www.napehq.org
For ideas about how schools can establish standards for
volunteering, read the PTA handbook on parent involvement
standards on the National PTA Web site: http://www.pta.org/
programs/invstand.htm.
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•
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
•
•
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
33
New Teacher Welcome Packet
6XUYH\RI,QWHUHVWIRU9ROXQWHHUV
You are invited! As a volunteer, you can help children learn.
Please share your time, skills, or interests with our
students. You need not be experienced in teaching, just
willing to share. The gift will help our students develop
positive attitudes toward learning and motivate them to
achieve their potential.
On the form below, please indicate how you are willing to
help. We have provided a list to give you some ideas. We
welcome your suggestions. This form may be returned in
person or by mail to any school office. We will contact you
regarding future involvement. Thank you!
Telephone Area/No.
(Daytime)
(Evening)
Your Name
Address: Street/City/Zip
Names and grades of your children, if any, attending our schools
I am willing to help students by
‰Coming to School
‰Working from my Home
‰No Preference
‰Middle School
‰High School
I Prefer to Work At (Name of School)
I Prefer to Work with the Following Students
‰Elementary
I have the following skills to share:
‰Sewing/Needlecraft
‰Working with One Child
‰Typing/Word Processing
‰Working with a Small Group
‰Making Phone Calls
‰Making a Presentation to a Class
‰Cutting Paper Shapes
‰Installing/Designing Bulletin Boards
‰Working with Simple Carpentry
‰Shelving/Cataloguing Books
‰Filing
‰Posting Flyers in the Neighborhood
‰Making Posters/Banners
‰Providing Childcare
‰Reading Stories to Children or
‰No Preference
‰Helping with Math or Science Skills
‰Providing Transportation
‰Organizing School Events or Fundraisers
‰Chaperoning Field Trips, Bus Trips,
or Dances
‰Writing Grants
‰School Decision-Making or Advisory
Listening to Them Read
‰Bookkeeping
‰Keeping Score at Athletic Events
‰Working on Publicity
Committees
‰Talking About Career
Other Ways I could Help
My Other Hobbies/Skills (e.g., Camping, Architecture, Swedish Cooking, Local History, Calligraphy, etc.) are
I have Access to a
‰Computer
‰Pickup Truck or Van
•
‰Sewing Machine
•
‰Video Camera
•
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
34
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
New Teacher Welcome Packet
Letter to Parents
Teachers can use the following letter to notify parents that their child is
working with a volunteer at school. The letter should be sent home as soon
as the child begins working with a volunteer.
A Note from Your Child’s Teacher
Date:
Hello!
Today your child,
, worked with
, a school volunteer.
They worked on these things:
Here are some things you could work on at home together to
help your child:
Thank you!
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
35
New Teacher Welcome Packet
Helping Your Child Learn
A Survey for Parents
Explaining the Curriculum
For Working or Single Parents
Yes No
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Yes No
1. Do you understand what your child is learning and
how he or she is being taught?
2. Has the curriculum been explained adequately to you
grade by grade, either by a person or through written
materials?
3. Have you received an orientation or materials
explaining educational programs? (For example:
Chapter 1; special, gifted and talented, or bilingual
education; AODA; computer lab.)
o
o
o
o
o
o
Helping You More
23. What areas would you like more information or instruction
about? (check as many as you like)
4. Do you have enough ideas and instruction to
enhance at home what your child is learning in
school?
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
5. Do you feel well-informed about important dates,
activities, and events?
6. Do you read the school newsletter?
Student Assessment
Yes No
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
7. Do you feel informed about the school’s goals for
student achievement?
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
10. Do you have an opportunity to discuss how to improve
your child’s performance privately with teachers?
11. Are the results of standardized tests, for your child
and the whole class, clearly explained to you?
12. Do you feel comfortable contacting your child’s
teachers with questions and concerns?
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
16. Would you attend a workshop on how parents and
teacher can work together to help your child learn?
School Climate
Yes No
o
o
19. Have you ever been invited to volunteer in the school
or with school activities?
disciplining my child
what my child is learning at school
volunteering in my child’s school
Your name is not necessary, but please tell us about yourself
(check all that apply)
15. Would you attend a school-sponsored social event for
parents and teachers to get to know each other?
17. Do you feel welcome in your child’s school building?
helping with homework
__________________________________________________
14. Are you notified right away if your child has difficulties
at school or falls behind?
o
o
child development
26. What do you think we could do better to assist you in helping
your child learn?_____________________________________
13. Do you hear from your child’s teachers if your child is
doing something well?
o
o
parenting education
24. How do you find out about events happening in your child’s
school? (check as many as apply)
o school newsletter
o local newspaper
o other parents
o other (please describe)
25. What is the school doing that is most helpful to you as a
parent?____________________________________________
9. Are report cards and grades explained to you?
Yes No
o
the school’s educational philosophy
other (please explain)_______________________________
___________________________________________________
8. Do you feel fully informed about your child’s academic
performance?
Parents and Teachers Together
o
20. Would you like to see more meetings and events held
evenings and/or weekends to fit your schedule?
21. Would you use child care provided during meetings
and at other school events?
22. Are you willing to be reached at work or in the
evenings to discuss your child’s academic progress?
18. Do you feel welcome to visit or observe your child’s
classroom?
Female
Parent
o
o
Male
Grandparent
o
Friend
I am a single parent
There are two adults in our household
I work full time
I work part time
I attend school
My spouse or partner works full time
My spouse or partner works part time
My spouse or partner attends school
I have children in these grades (circle all that apply):
Pre-K K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
New Teacher Welcome Packet
25 Ideas for Communicating the
Curriculum to Families
will be learning in each subject during the school
year, major upcoming school events, and tips for
helping with homework. View a template for these
brochures at the DPI website: www.dpi.state.wi.us/
dpi/dlcl/bbfcsp/bbhghlts.html.
Want to keep parents positive and enthusiastic
about school? Make sure families are informed in a
variety of ways about what their children are
learning throughout the school year.
One teacher starts each school day by reminding
herself that the bright-eyed children filling her
classroom don’t come to school each day by themselves. They come with their family members
“perched on their shoulders,” with the voices,
lessons, and hopes of their parents, siblings, grandparents, and other family members resounding in
their ears, brains, and hearts.
How many of the following ideas has your school
done or even considered doing to ensure that families know and understand what their children are
learning and how they can help? Schools with
involved families are schools that enjoy more
support from families, rank higher on achievement
tests, and report content, productive staff members.
What have you got to lose?
• Try a few neighborhood coffees in parents’ homes
or a local community center. Invite people in a
neighborhood area to meet informally with the
principal and one or two teachers to chat about the
school and education issues.
• Work with other staff members to organize a
parent forum informing parents about the Wisconsin Student Assessment System and the State
Academic Standards. Provide a time for parents to
ask questions and comment. Also provide them with
copies of the DPI brochure, A Parent’s Guide to
Standards and Assessment, available on-line at
www.dpi.state.wi.us/dpi/dlcl/bbfcsp/bbhghlts.html.
• Advertise the telephone number(s) and times
when parents can call teachers during the day to
ask questions or discuss their children’s progress.
• Invite new students and their families to a “Get-
Acquainted Hour” before school starts or early in
the school year.
• Devote time at staff workshops to discussing
skills for communicating with parents and ways to
get feedback from them.
• Establish and publicize regular visitation days as
a way for family members to observe classes and
comment on their experiences.
• Set up a “family shelf” in classrooms or in the
school library with materials parents can check out
on child development, discipline, homework techniques, and learning styles. Place copies of school
textbooks in school and public libraries for parents
to check out.
• Schedule school open houses for one grade level
at a time. Smaller groups give parents a better
chance to get to know staff members and each other.
• Hold a start-of-the-year potluck supper for
students and families by grade level or classroom,
followed by a short school- or curriculum-related
presentation. Food and families bring people together.
• Is there a place for visiting parents and family
members to hang their hats while visiting your
school? Designate space for a school family center in
the school building where parents can talk with
teachers, community groups can meet, and the
lights and coffee machine are on!
• Vary the times for open houses, holding some
during the day and some at night, to allow all
families to come.
• Suggest that parents shadow their children for a
day to experience a typical school day.
• Organize special outreach efforts for less-engaged
families. The personal touch—telephone calls, home
visits, and special invitations mailed to families in
their own languages—will reap results.
• Organize a parent-and-student field trip so they
• Work with other teachers to develop grade-level
which offers practical suggestions for doing learning
activities in the home and in the community, creat-
can learn together.
• Develop a “How Parents Can Help” handbook
brochures that inform parents what their children
•
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
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New Teacher Welcome Packet
ing a learning-friendly home environment, and
establishing good homework guidelines.
• Start a “Family Corner” in your school district
newsletter that invites the PTA, PTO, or individual parents to talk about opportunities for
families to become involved.
• Offer computer and family math night programs
for parents and students to learn together.
• Videotape or publish short summaries of programs or presentations offered by your school for
families so those unable to attend will still be able
to learn from them.
• Offer learning-together opportunities that
especially appeal to fathers, such as programs on
the father-child relationship; making kitchen,
science, music, or art projects; and gym or athletic
activities.
• Involve parents in creating your own parentteacher-student learning compact or agreement.
•
• Enclose a two-minute survey in report cards asking
parents how well they think your school is helping
children learn. Publish the results promptly.
• Keep weekly school newsletters to one or two sides
of a page on brightly-colored paper so it can be read
easily and quickly. Publish your school’s goals for the
year and leave a “clip’n comment corner” for parents
to jot down a thought or two about a featured school
issue.
• Create opportunities for families to volunteer
together in a youth service-learning project—in a
community drive for the local food pantry, cleaning
up a park, or visiting those in need.
• Establish a “Families and Friends Program,”
bringing families from different neighborhoods or
cultural backgrounds together at a school picnic and
another time during the year to share food, conversation about the curriculum, and the joys of parenting.
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
New Teacher Welcome Packet
Teacher Tips
Helping Families Help with Homework
• At the beginning of the year or semester, inform
Teachers can encourage families to monitor and
talk about school assignments with their children.
Families who are aware of their children’s school
program are able to give more support to their
children’s efforts in school and reinforce the
teacher’s goals. Students who know their families
communicate with their teachers and support
learning goals talk more about schoolwork and
school decisions at home.
In fact, the 1998 Reading Report Card for the
Nation and States concluded that students in
Grades 4, 8, and 12 who had at least weekly home
discussions about their studies averaged higher
reading scores than students who reported discussing their studies less frequently. Students who had
such discussions almost every day were associated
with the highest average score, the National Assessment of Educational Progress reported.
The research also shows that teacher leadership
in involving parents with learning activities at home
significantly improves student achievement. In a
study (Epstein 1991) of student achievement in 14
elementary classrooms, reading test scores of
students improved from the fall to the spring after
teachers used various techniques to involve parents
in reading activities with their children at home.
The study also found that reading gains came not
only for children whose parents made a regular
practice of helping them, but also for children whose
parents were encouraged by teachers to help them.
“Parents are one available but untapped and
undirected resource that teachers can mobilize to
help more children master and maintain needed
skills for schools…this requires teachers’ leadership
in organizing, evaluating, and continually building
their parent involvement practices,” the study
concluded.
Here are some tips for getting families on board
with homework expectations:
• At the beginning of the school year or semester,
give parents a “homework calendar,” listing all
major assignments (books to read, papers to write,
special projects to complete) and the due dates.
Suggest that students write the due dates on the
calendar and that adults periodically check
progress. This is one way adults can help children
avoid last-minute panic in completing assignments.
•
families about your homework expectations. In
either a start-of-the-year parent-teacher meeting or
in a note to families, briefly explain your philosophy
of homework and generally what kinds of assignments will be made. How do homework assignments
fit in with curriculum and school goals? What
weight will homework assignments have on grades?
How much time per night or week can students be
expected to spend on homework?
• Offer families some basic guidelines on how to
encourage their children to complete homework on
time, tips for setting up an appropriate time and
place to study at home, and what to do if their child
finds it difficult to understand or complete homework assignments. Visit the U.S. Department of
Education website at www.ed.gov/pubs/parents/
Homework for parent-friendly, reproducible
materials.
• Help students develop assignment notebooks
with space for the assignment, due date, teacher
comments, and family comments. Send home a note
about these notebooks and seek cooperation from
home in using them. This can be an effective way to
communicate daily or weekly with home.
• Be sure students understand the assignments
before they leave class.
• Make homework assignments meaningful and
give students feedback on the assignments. Students will soon lose interest in doing assignments
that are simply busy work or that are never
checked. If assignments are worth doing, they are
worth feedback.
• Homework assignments should be based on
materials that are readily available to students.
Offer ideas for further resources at the school or
public library and on the Internet.
• Assignments should not require teaching by the
adult at home.
• If homework assignments are not being com-
pleted, call the child’s home. If a phone call does not
solve the problem, arrange a meeting with the
student and family.
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
39
New Teacher Welcome Packet
Teacher Tips
Working with Families of Children with Special Needs
with the day-to-day parenting of their children with
special needs.
• Communicate respectfully with parents. Just as
educators need to listen carefully, they also need to
monitor their verbal and written communications
with families to ensure they are done with mutual
respect. Parents request that teachers speak to them
as they would speak to a friend or equal, without
dominance or the implication of intolerance. Establish regular notes, phone calls, or meetings to detail
successes, as well as concerns. Teachers must help
families feel comfortable contacting school with
information about home or related services that
affects student performance.
• Be sensitive to the needs of the student as one
member of a family. Parents encourage teachers to
“walk a mile in their shoes” and imagine how they
might feel if they were parenting a child with special
needs. Being aware of family issues also means
that educators must monitor their advice to fit
individual families while building their own knowledge of available family supports.
• Increase your knowledge about disabilities. Strive
to be a lifelong learner in your field with the goal of
becoming even more prepared to address the complexities of your students’ needs.
• Accommodate the individual needs of students.
Parents request that educators provide a supportive
and nurturing environment that fosters student selfawareness and self-esteem. Educators who help
students understand their strengths and needs allow
students to be risk-takers and partners.
• Improve the IEP process to be more receptive to
family issues. Because the IEP is the one mandated
interaction between school and family, it must
reflect to the fullest degree the potential for strong
collaborative relationships. Parents want to feel that
they are equal partners in a team striving for the
same goals. Develop instructional goals
collaboratively with families.
Parents know their children better than anyone
else. They can represent them in a way no one else
can, advocating for what they feel and know is best.
Unless their message is recognized and acted upon,
true collaboration that results in meeting the child’s
best interests cannot be realized.
How can teachers of special education students work
more effectively with students’ families? Researchers
in 1998 interviewed 80 parents of children or young
adults who received special education services in
public schools and found that responses could be
organized into six common themes:
1. “Listen to us!” Nearly 30 percent of parents in
the study said they wanted educators to listen,
both to their input and to their problems. Twothirds of parents responding in this category said
educators should realize that parents know and
understand their children; their contributions and
suggestions are valuable and should be heard and
respected. The remaining third of parent respondents wanted teachers to listen to their personal
issues and be responsive to their feelings.
2. Strengthen communication between parents
and professionals. Nearly 25 percent of parents
responded that the quality and quantity of communication between parents and professionals should
be improved. Several parents urged educators to
be more humane when discussing their children,
treating them in a more honest manner and with
dignity and respect. Other parents wanted more
frequent and consistent communication with
professionals.
3. Be aware of families’ needs and differences.
About 18 percent of parents suggested that educators be more sensitive to the needs of their family,
including constraints of time and expertise, as well
as to the differences among families. Most responses in this category indicated that educators
should realize every family is different, should try
to get to know more families in depth, and should
see the family’s point of view.
4. Be knowledgeable about my child’s disability. (15% of respondents)
5. Respect my child and try to meet his or her
needs. (12%)
6. Improve the Individualized Education Plan
process. (4%)
Steps for Teachers to Take
Here are some specific steps educators of special
needs students can take to promote more sensitive,
effective communications and decision-making
partnerships with families:
• Value parents’ contributions. As the one constant
in their children’s lives, parents have valuable information and observations to offer educators about
their child’s learning. Families want teachers to be
supportive and nonjudgmental as they strive to deal
•
Adapted from an article by Pamela Pruitt, Donna Wandry, and
Diane Hollums: Listen to us! Parents speak out about their interactions
with special educators; Preventing School Failure, Summer 98, Vol. 42,
Issue 4, p. 161, Item Number: 1029951. Reprinted with permission of
the Helen Dwight Reid Educational Foundation. Published by Heldref
Publications, 1319 18th St., NW, Washington, DC 20036-1802.
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
New Teacher Welcome Packet
Teacher Tips
Involving Less-Engaged Parents
leaders to help you survey the parents to determine
their needs.
Schools reporting success in reaching less-engaged
parents (those who do not attend school events
regardless of efforts or invitations) are succeeding
by “taking the schools to the community.” Lessengaged parents can be from any geographic setting, ethnic group, or income level.
Offer programs to meet parents’ needs and those
of other members of their neighborhood or community. These may not always be school-oriented.
Working to improve housing, providing day-care
facilities, or offering recreation or after-school
activities in community centers may be the first step
in reaching less-engaged parents and letting them
know you care.
Ideas for Outreach Activities
Hold coffee-and-doughnut discussions with
groups of parents in their homes or at a community
center. Communication can take place in a nonthreatening setting. Start with the positive aspects
of the school and be honest in responding to questions and challenges.
Provide school representatives, or recruit
community volunteers who are fluent in the language of ethnic groups. Offer English classes, as
well as parenting classes, to help these parents help
their children. Hold them in locations and at times
convenient for them.
Be available to parents at local sites. In one
district, principals, the superintendent, and board
members each take two hours on one Saturday each
month, on a rotating basis, to make themselves
available to parents at local sites—church, supermarket, library, or community center—wherever
parents gather. Let parents know you will be there
and want to meet them and answer their questions.
Offer to hold parent-teacher conferences in the
neighborhoods—churches, youth centers, and so
forth.
Offer transportation to school activities you
would like parents to attend and provide child care
facilities. Ask local service clubs to volunteer use of
their vans or other vehicles for a special event.
Make sure your school projects warmth and
concern for parents and students. Customs and
expectations differ. It is the school leaders’ challenge to find the proper vehicles and approaches for
communicating with and involving hard-to-reach
parents to help them help their children.
Go to the churches, synagogues, or other places of
worship. Work with the clergy in setting up opportunities for parents and community residents to talk
about the schools and ways to help students. Ask
the clergy for support and suggestions. (Send copies
of your district and/or school building newsletter for
distribution at places of worship.)
Ask parents the best ways to reach them. Any time
you have a group of hard-to-reach parents together,
ask them what are the best ways to communicate
with them. What are the best locations and times
for them to meet? What kind of information do they
want? How do they want to receive information
about their child and the school?
Locate community leaders and invite them to
help you communicate with less-engaged parents.
Develop a special neighborhood network by inviting
these leaders to be your “key communicators” and
share with you the concerns of parents. Ask these
Source. Dr Santee Ruffin in Helping Parents Help Their Kids,
from the National School Public Relations Association This
article was originally printed in It Starts on the Frontline
(Feb.1996) The National School Public Relations Association,
1501 Lee Hwy. Ste 201. Arlington, VA 22209, (703) 528-5840.
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
41
New Teacher Welcome Packet
Fifty Ideas to Boost
Family-School-Community Partnerships
How many of these ideas have been tried by the
staff at your school? Which ones could you start or,
if underway, could you reach more families with by
doing differently? These ideas would also be good
discussion starters for a staff inservice or a workshop on improving teacher-family communication.
Effective family-school-community partnerships
take planning by an action team composed of
teachers and parents in roughly equal numbers, a
school administrator, and community members. A
good program may take three to five years to
establish, so keep moving ahead!
Partnership efforts are most likely to be effective
if they are:
l meaningful to and needed by families.
l convenient for families.
l administered in a supportive climate.
l communicated to families several times in a
variety of ways.
_____ 3. Kick-off the school year or banish the
winter blahs with a family-staff picnic or a familyfaculty athletic event, such as a one-mile race,
basketball game, or tennis tournament.
Listed below are 50 ideas for family
involvement. Mark those that you
_____ 8. Offer computer and family math programs
during which families and students can learn
together.
ü
_____ 4. Invite families to play together in the school
gym at a weekly Family Recreation Night.
_____ 5. Send home unit goals so families can help
children reach the goals set by the teacher.
_____ 6. Let younger children take envelopes or
folders home on Friday to their families with the
week’s work enclosed. Invite parental feedback
either on the envelope or on a preprinted postcard.
_____ 7. Invite parents to be members of all school
committees. Aim for equal parent and staff representation on committees, especially those dealing
with family-school-community partnership issues.
Make sure parents represent all students in your
school.
= Tried with success within the last three
years.
= Tried, but with limited success.
_____ 9. Invite families to select a book or chapter or
poem to read to their children’s class, reinforcing a
lifelong commitment to reading.
Ñ
à=
Plan to do this year.
< = Think will not work in your school.
O = Have never tried.
Teachers can implement some of these ideas; others
need an administrator’s initiative. In small groups,
teachers can share their successes and offer practical suggestions to improve practices that have met
with limited success. Encourage teachers to review
these 50 ideas and to suggest ways to make ideas
work, or to offer alternatives.
_____ 1. Schedule parent-teacher conferences at the
convenience of both parties, either after school or in
the evening. Offer families a choice of times and
provide childcare for any family requesting it.
Consider home visits to families not able to come to
school.
_____ 2. Ask parents to evaluate parent-teacher
conferences. Ask parents how effective the conference was and what additional kinds of information
they want about classroom activities, communication, or other concerns.
•
_____ 10. Encourage students to adopt pen pals who
are senior citizens or businesspeople. The letters
often provide the impetus for getting community
members involved in school.
_____ 11. Invite families to volunteer to help with
after-school activities in which their children show
an interest (drama club, music, Girl/Boy Scouts,
other).
_____ 12. Establish a homework hotline. This could
be a tape-recorded message to call, a computer
modem hookup, or a family network.
_____ 13. Have a monthly birthday calendar for
students and staff posted in the hallway. Have the
school food staff make cupcakes or a birthday cake
for celebrants. Add new students when they arrive.
The calendar could also be distributed in homes or
sold as a moneymaker.
_____ 14. Make a bulletin board available in the
school lobby for families to share photos and other
memorabilia.
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
New Teacher Welcome Packet
_____ 15. Invite children new to the district or
school and their families to a Get-to-Know-You
Hour the week before school starts.
_____ 26. Hold a School-Community Awards Day.
Let students, staff, and volunteers nominate recipients from the school and community to be recognized for their service and excellence. Certificates of
appreciation can be given to the nominees. Invite
the press.
_____ 16. Invite new teachers and new families on a
tour of the district. Point out facilities available in
the area, places that could be used for field trips,
boundaries of attendance area, youth center, and
other community sites which may interest families.
_____ 27. Include a survey in welcome materials to
new families asking about their interests, needs,
and concerns.
_____ 17. Develop a slide presentation or a video
orienting families and students to the school.
Involve high school students or volunteers in
producing the presentation.
_____ 28. Develop family surveys on key issues,
school policies, home-school communication, community needs, and interests. Ask a local club to mail
the survey and count survey answers.
_____ 18. Announce a Family Visitation Day that
includes time for families to offer suggestions, ask
questions, and observe children in class.
_____ 29. Ask students, perhaps as a classroom
project, to conduct a survey of families to evaluate
the school and collect ideas for improvement.
Promptly announce survey results to all families in
the school newsletter. Hold a family forum as a
follow-up.
_____ 19. Place a “Welcome to Our School” sign and
a map at school entrances.
_____ 20. Organize a partner system for new students. Students who will make newcomers feel
comfortable are good ambassadors; they also build
self-esteem as they participate. Call the family and
describe your effort to make the new student feel
welcome. Plan activities and follow through to cover
at least two weeks. New families also could be
assigned a partner family. Welcome them with
packets of information on the school and community.
_____ 30. Improve the quality and frequency of the
school newsletter. Set up an idea exchange by
asking families to send in ideas. Publish the ideas in
future issues. You can also check with the Wisconsin School Public Relations Association (WSPRA) for
help.
_____ 31. Publish a curriculum calendar or syllabus
in your school newsletter or in your local newspaper.
_____ 21. Sponsor a talent show that involves
students, families, faculty, and administrators.
_____ 32. Ask other local organizations to print
family involvement tips and information about
school programs in their publications.
_____ 22. Develop a well-organized volunteer
program. Let parents, guardians, grandparents,
community members, and business people know
they are needed.
_____ 33. Ask the local media to cover school board
meetings if this is not standard procedure.
_____ 23. Invite families to help with instructional
activities for students, such as bike rodeos, book and
video swaps, theater workshops, or art shows.
_____ 34. Design an up-to-date logo, perhaps with
the help of an art student, so people will immediately recognize letters or notices from your school.
_____ 24. Encourage a families’ group to sponsor a
health fair at school in which various community
agencies bring exhibits and displays.
_____ 35. Set up a speaker’s bureau. Include students, families, community leaders, and school staff
willing to talk about school programs to interested
individuals, groups, and businesses. Or, include
those who are willing to share their interests and
talents with students.
_____ 25. Work with the Chamber of Commerce,
realtors, or other groups to send a packet of information about the school to new residents in the
community and invite them to visit. Include such
information on your school website.
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_____ 36. Encourage school and community summer
activities workshops and enrichment programs.
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
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New Teacher Welcome Packet
_____ 44. Place suggestion boxes in key locations in
the school and community. “I Have An Idea” cards
near the boxes encourage positive contributions. For
this to be effective, someone needs to respond to
each suggestion.
_____ 37. Have an evening or Saturday morning
workshop for single parents and for fathers. Offer
activities and ideas that take advantage of their
unique strengths and that inform them about how
and what their children are learning. Invite them to
talk about their challenges and concerns as parents
of school-aged children. Be prepared to act upon
their ideas and to address their concerns. Hold
seminars for two-career families and families of
ESL students, too.
_____ 45. Attract families to school events by putting their children on the program. Children can
introduce speakers, perform, serve as ushers, be
greeters, or have many other duties.
_____ 46. Plan an evening movie (film or video)
night for teenage students, families, and teachers.
Hold a discussion of the movie afterwards.
_____ 38. Invite families to breakfast or school lunch
with the principal or superintendent. Listen to their
concerns and ideas.
_____ 47. Initiate enrichment courses or evening
talks on communication, discipline, peer pressure,
study habits, careers, or drug and alcohol abuse for
middle and high school students and their families.
Invite a panel of students to talk about the issues
they deal with.
_____ 39. Conduct a class for families on health and
nutrition taught by the school nurse, a registered
dietitian, or a human service agent.
_____ 40. Make sure families are aware of resources,
tutors, or support services to help address schoolrelated issues, as well as child development issues.
_____ 48. Assign a time every week for families with
pre-school children to play in the school gym during
the day when it is not being used. Allow parents to
network and become familiar with the school.
_____ 41. Provide parents with summaries of recent
research findings on topics such as the average
hours of sleep children need per night by age, the
average number of hours students at each grade
devote to homework, television viewing habits, and
other topics.
_____ 49. Hold a Family and Community Town
Supper that allows families and community members to discuss a timely issue, listen to a panel
presenting both sides of the issue, discuss it over an
informal meal, and vote on it as they get dessert.
Announce the results of the vote and what steps the
school will take next.
_____ 42. Ask your community agencies to lend their
vans or buses to transport families and senior
citizens to school functions.
_____ 50. Offer senior citizens and school volunteers
reduced ticket prices to school-sponsored athletic
and arts events. Create special buttons they can
wear to the events in recognition of their support.
_____ 43. Try to get media coverage of special school
events.
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
APPENDIX
The Six Types of Family-School-Community Partnerships
Appendix
A Checklist for Schools: Making Your Family-Community
Partnership Work
How Far Has Our School Moved Toward Partnership with
Families?
Web Resources for Teachers on Family-School-Community
Partnerships
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
The Six Types
of Family-School-Community Partnerships
The Six Types
Getting it Done
Parenting—Build on parenting strengths and help families improve
parenting skills. Facilitate support systems and networks to enable families to effectively nurture their children.
Leadership—Who is in charge and has the
authority to organize and assign tasks? One
person should be accountable for the results.
Communicating—Design and implement effective two-way
communication practices to reach families, both individually and collectively. These practices should ensure that families and school staff communicate back and forth about their children.
Analysis—What are the needs and challenges? What results do you want? Develop a
basis for your efforts.
Learning at Home—Provide for families and school staff to work together
in developing learning goals and offering opportunities for learning activities at home and in the community to meet the goals.
Volunteering—Recruit and organize volunteer participation from families and the community at-large.
Decision Making—Design governance structure through which parents
are partners in policy decisions so that families have opportunities to give
their opinions and to participate in decision making about school programs.
Recruit families to act as advocates and decision makers and represent
other parents and families.
Community Collaboration—Establish partnerships with individuals
and organizations in the community.
*Based on the research of Joyce Epstein, co-director, Center on Families, Communities, Schools & Children's Learning, John Hopkins University. Implementation
through the League of Schools Reaching Out, Institute for Responsive Education,
Boston.
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Planning and Policy Development—
What must be done? How? Who will do it?
What is the time line? School board policy
and district and school procedures may need
to be developed.
Action/Implementation—With the groundwork laid, how much of the plan can you put
in place? While the six types of family-community participation for schools are interrelated and important for a comprehensive
approach, determine what is possible and
practical at any given time. Don’t delay doing
something because the whole plan is not in
place.
Evaluation—What worked? What didn’t?
What needs changing or fine tuning? Listen
and learn from experiences.
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
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A Checklist for Schools
Making Your Family-Community Partnership Work
Following are examples of practices and programs that schools and districts can use to encourage family and
community support of children’s learning. They are meant to be advisory and should be adapted to each
school’s or district’s needs.
Parenting and Family Skills
q
1. We sponsor family learning workshops on topics
suggested by parents, and held at times and places
easily accessible to all parents.
q 2. We ask families what types of workshops or
informational events they would be interested
in attending and what session times are most
convenient for them.
q 3. We provide families with information on child
development.
q 4. We lend families books and tapes on parenting and
parent workshops.
q 5. We provide families with information about
developing home conditions that support school
learning.
q 6. We survey parents to determine their needs,
assign staff members to help address those needs,
and work to link parents with community resources.
q 7. We have a family center or help parents access
other resource centers in the community.
q 8. We have support groups for families with special
interests and needs.
q 9. We train staff members and support them in
reaching out to all families.
q 10. Other:
q 11.
q 12.
q 13.
q 14.
15.
Communicating
q
1. We schedule parent-teacher-student conferences to
establish student learning goals for the year.
q 2. We listen to parents tell us about their children’s
strengths and how they learn.
q 3. We follow the “Rule of Seven:” offering at least
seven different ways that parents and community
members can learn about what is happening in the
school and comment on it.
q 4. Teachers have ready access to telephones to communicate with parents during or after the school day.
q 5. Staff members send home positive messages about
students.
q 6. We make efforts to communicate with fathers.
q 7. Staff members make home visits.
q 8. Parents know the telephone numbers and e-mail addresses of school staff members and the times teachers are available to take phone calls from parents.
q 9. We involve families in student award and recognition events.
q 10. We encourage and make provisions for staff
members to communicate with parents about the
•
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q 16.
child’s progress several times each semester.
We communicate the school’s mission and expectations for students to parents.
The school has a homework hotline or other kind of
telephone system.
We provide parents with structured ways to
comment on the school’s communications, for
example, with mailed, phone, or take-home
surveys.
We have staff members available to assist and support parents in their interactions with the school (i.e.
home-school liaisons).
We send home communications about
q student academic progress
q meetings at school
q how parents can be involved in student
activities
q Parent Association
q student discipline
q child development
q the curriculum
q how parents can be involved as volunteers
q how parents can be involved in school
governance
q how parents can help with homework and
encourage learning at home
q community resources available to families
q how parents can communicate with school
staff
q the school’s philosophy of learning.
We directly speak to parents (does not include
leaving messages on answering machines) if
students are having academic difficulty or causing
classroom disruptions before a crisis occurs.
q 17. We provide copies of school textbooks and publications about the school to the public library.
q 18. Other:
Learning at Home
q
q
q
q
q
1. We have specific goals and activities that keep
parents informed about and supportive of their
children’s homework.
2. We offer learning activities and events for the
whole family.
3. We invite parents to borrow resources from school
libraries for themselves and their families.
4. We link parents with resources and activities in
the community that promote learning.
5. We give parents materials they can use to evaluate
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
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q
q
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their child’s progress and provide feedback to
teachers.
6. We help parents understand student assessments,
including report cards and testing, and how to help
students improve.
7. School staff and school communications help
parents link home learning activities to learning in
the classroom.
Governance and Advocacy
q
q
q
8. We include parents and other community members
in developing children’s learning outside of school
activities.
9. Other:
q
Volunteering
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
1. We encourage families and other community
members to volunteer their support by attending
school events.
2. We offer youth service learning opportunities for
students who want to volunteer in the community.
3. We help school staff learn how to work with parent
and community volunteers.
q
1. We encourage parents to attend school board and
site council meetings.
2. We assign staff members to help parents address
concerns or complaints.
3. We invite staff and parent groups to meet
collaboratively, providing space and time to do so.
4. We help families advocate for each other.
5. We involve parents in
q revising school and district curricula
q planning orientation programs for new
families
q developing parenting skills programs
q establishing membership for site-based
councils
q hiring staff members.
6. Other:
Community Collaboration
4. We ask family members how they would like to
participate as volunteers at their child’s school or
in the community, and we respond in a timely
manner to their offers of assistance.
q
q
5. We encourage family and community members to
become involved as
q participants in site-based management
councils
q presenters to students on careers and other
topics
q assistants with art shows, read-aloud events,
theater workshops, book swaps, and other
activities
q tutors/mentors
q chaperones on field trips and other class
outings
q instructional assistants in classrooms,
libraries, and computer labs
q non-instructional assistants
q from-the-home contributors of baked goods,
assembling materials, typing, etc.
q
q
q
q
q
q
6. We offer volunteer opportunities for working and
single parents.
q
7. We have a program to recognize school volunteers.
1. We act as a source of information and referral
about services available in the community for
families.
2. We use a variety of strategies to reach out to
adults, families, and children of all ages, races,
and socioeconomic backgrounds in the community.
3. We encourage local civic and service groups to
become involved in schools in a variety of ways
such as mentoring students, volunteering, speaking to classes, and helping with fund-raising
events.
4. We encourage staff and students to participate in
youth service-learning opportunities.
5. We open our school buildings for use by the
community beyond regular school hours.
6. We work with the local chamber of commerce or
business partnership council and public library to
promote adult literacy.
7. We have a program with local businesses that
enhances student work skills.
8. We widely publish and disseminate school board
meeting notices, summaries, and board policies
and agendas, and encourage the feedback and
participation of community members.
9. Other:
8. We gather information about the level and
frequency of family and community participation
in school programs.
9. Other:
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
Families in Education Program
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
49
How Far Has Our School Moved
Toward Partnership with Families?
When schools involve families, children do better
in school. The schools get better, too. This section
is a scoring guide that sets a high standard of
partnership. You can rate your school on that
standard. Is your school more like a Partnership
School or a Fortress School? Is it like an Open
Door School or a Come-If-We-Call School?
First, read more about these schools. Then, check the
boxes that fit your school. Where are your checks? If
most are under Partnership and Open Door, your school
meets a high standard. If most are under Fortress and
Come-if-We-Call, your school needs help. Bring parents,
administrators and teachers together. Show them this
guide. Talk about how you can move toward Partnership.
Is Your School a
FORTRESS SCHOOL?
Fortress Schools keep parents outside. When students don’t do well, the school
often blames: them—and their families. It seems as if the school thinks, “We’d be a
good school if we had better students and families.”
Check the boxes that sound like your school:
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
The school does not give parents information about learning standards.
It’s not easy for parents to talk to school staff.
If there is a parent group, it’s handpicked by school staff.
Few parents or community people visit the school. The front office is not friendly.
Parents are afraid to complain or ask questions. “They may take it out on my child.”
The school doesn’t share student test scores with parents.
Families feel like outsiders.
Is Your School a
“COME-IF-WE-CALL” SCHOOL?
Come-If-We-Call Schools don’t expect a lot of students or families. Families are
welcome, but only when asked.
Check the boxes that describe your school:
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
The standards for learning are not clear.
The school calls families only when a child has done something wrong.
Teachers see parents only at conference time and at special events.
An “in-crowd” of parents does all the work. Other parents feel they don’t belong.
If there is a school handbook, it’s all about rules and discipline.
Volunteers have to fill out long forms.
Families have no say in school decisions.
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
•
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
Is Your School an
OPEN DOOR SCHOOL?
Open Door Schools try to help all students. Nearly all families come to the school at
least once or twice a year. But teachers and the principal decide how parents will be
involved.
Check the boxes that describe your school:
q Families get information about what students are learning. Teachers send home folders of
student work.
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
The school has a family center.
The parent group sets its own agenda.
Parents helped write the school handbook.
The school feels families have much to offer, but they are not experts in education.
Families talk to classes about their jobs and help out as tutors.
Most teachers or advisors try to contact their students’ families once a month.
The school shares its test scores with families, but it’s hard to understand.
Is your School a
PARTNERSHIP SCH00L?
Partnership Schools have high standards for all students, in all classrooms. This
school does whatever it takes to make sure that every student succeeds.
Check the boxes that sound like your school:
q
q
q
q
Families and school staff set the school vision together.
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
Parents are on standards committees and know how to look at student work.
Families and staff talk all the time about how students are doing.
All students get extra help if they need it.
The school shares power with families. Families are part of all big decisions, such as hiring
the principal.
Training for staff is open to families. Families learn how the system works.
Data on student progress is shared in ways that parents can understand.
Parents and teachers talk openly about tough issues like racism and tracking.
The family center offers education, job training, and advocacy skills.
The school budget supports partnership. It pays for childcare and transportation.
Parents can use the telephone, copier, fax, and computers.
This article was originally printed in Urgent Message: Families Crucial to School Reform, a 1999 report published by
The Center for Law and Education, Community Action for Public Schools, 1875 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 510,
Washington, DC 20009. Phone 202-986-3000. Website: http://www .cleweb.org.
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
51
Web Resources for Teachers
on Family-School-Community Partnerships
The following list of Internet sites offers teachers
further information, guidance, and ideas about how
schools and families can work together effectively to
promote children’s learning. Most sites also feature
links to other useful sites and resources.
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction,
www.dpi.state.wi.us, offers information on state
education programs and initiatives, including the
Wisconsin/National Network of Partnership
Schools, the State Superintendent’s Parent Advisory
Council, and reproducible materials. Two brochures
of particular interest to parents are downloadable:
l A Parent’s Guide to Standards and Assessment,
and
l A template for Grade-Level Brochures for
Parents.
The U.S. Department of Education website,
www.ed.gov, features the Partnership for Family
Involvement on its homepage. Available under
Publications and Products, are a Survival Guide for
New Teachers and many downloadable publications
for parents.
The National Network of Partnership Schools,
www.csos.jhu.edu/p2000 is based at Johns
Hopkins University and offers excellent tools and
strategies for implementing family-school-community partnerships in schools and classrooms. Wisconsin is a state member of the Network along with
about 65 Wisconsin school and district members.
The National Parent Information Network, http://
npin.org, co-sponsored by the ERIC Clearinghouses on Elementary and Early Childhood Education and Urban Education, includes extensive
articles on parenting, listservs, and links to more
than 100 sites on education, health and safety,
family issues, child development, and parenting.
The Family Education Network, www.family
education.com, offers hundreds of brief articles on
parenting, links to local sites, and discussion boards
that connect parents with on-line experts.
The National Coalition for Parental Involvement in
Education, www.ncpie.org, provides a catalog of
resources available from all its member organizations.
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The National Association of Partners in Education,
www.napehq.org, is a grassroots membership
organization dedicated to providing leadership in
forming and growing partnerships to ensure the
learning success of all children. Its website offers
publications, links, and newsletter articles highlighting successful partnership practices.
The National Education Association’s site,
www.nea.org, with links to the Wisconsin Education Association, www.weac.org, offers a useful
Parents section with many tips for teachers, articles
on current practices and research, and learning at
home strategies.
The Harvard Family Research Project, http://
gseweb.harvard.edu/~hfrp, publishes research
findings and provides technical assistance to a
nationwide network of practitioners, policymakers,
and educators. The site offers a useful FamilySchool-Community Partnerships section with
models, solutions for sustaining partnerships, and
web connections.
Pathways to Social Improvement, www.ncrel.org/
sdrs/, is found on the North Central Regional
Educational Laboratory (NCREL) website. It offers
an extensive and in-depth section on Parent and
Family Involvement. The two “Critical Issues”
highlighted at this site offer respected reviews of
the issues and hyperlinks well worth exploring.
Hand in Hand: Parents Schools Communities
United for Kids, www.handinhand.org, was
developed as a response to Goal 8, the Parental
Involvement Goal of the National Education Goals
2000. It was established to share information about
programs that value and nurture the family and
community role in children’s learning. The site is
coordinated by the Institute for Educational Leadership and funded by the Mattel Foundation.
At the National PTA site, www.pta.org, learn
about PTA education groups, and participate in a
discussion group, chat room, or bulletin board. The
site also offers many links to sites of other organizations concerned about children.
•
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841
Parents Plus of Wisconsin P.O. Box 452 Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 729-1787
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• Madison, WI 53707-7841
Are We Family-Friendly?
Record Sheet for Physical Walk-Through
Instructions: On the line provided, write in the area(s) of the school you have been assigned. In the space provided, write
your observations of the area and use the following questions to help direct your thoughts.
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What is the first thing you see when you enter this area?
What is the condition of the things you see?
Are written items in the home languages of the student body?
Does the area reflect positively on how school staff feels about students and their families?
What does this area say about what is important to the school or what the school values?
What does this area say to the families and community members?
Area of the School: __________________
Observations:
Partnerships by Design © Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, Oregon. Permission is granted to reproduce. Epstein's Framework of Six Types of Involvement
(Including: Sample Practices, Challenges, Redefinitions, and Expected Results)
TYPE 1
PARENTING
Help all families establish home environments to support children as students.
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Sample Practices
Suggestions for home conditions that support learning at each grade level.
Workshops, videotapes, computerized phone messages on parenting and child rearing at each age and
grade level.
Parent education and other courses or training for parents (e.g., GED, college credit, family literacy.)
Family support programs to assist families with health, nutrition, and other services.
Home visits at transition points to pre-school, elementary, middle, and high school. Neighborhood
meetings to help families understand schools and to help schools understand families.
Challenges
Provide information to all families who want it or who need it, not just to the few who can attend
workshops or meetings at the school building.
Enable families to share information with schools about culture, background, children's talents and
needs.
Make sure that all information for and from families is clear, usable, and linked to children's success
in school.
Redefinitions
"Workshop" to mean more than a meeting about a topic held at the school building at a particular
time. "Workshop" may also mean making information about a topic available in a variety of forms
that can be viewed, heard, or read any where, any time, in varied forms.
Results for Students
Awareness of family supervision; respect for parents.
Positive personal qualities, habits, beliefs, and values, as taught by family.
Balance between time spent on chores, on other activities, and on homework.
Good or improved attendance.
Awareness of importance of school.
Results for Parents
Understanding of and confidence about parenting, child and adolescent development, and
changes in home conditions for learning as children proceed through school.
Awareness of own and others' challenges in parents.
Feeling of support from school and other parents.
Results for Teachers
Understanding families' background, cultures, concerns, goals, needs, and views of their
children.
Respect for families' strengths and efforts.
Understanding of student diversity.
Awareness of own skills to share information on child development.
Joyce L. Epstein, Ph.D., et. al., Partnership
Center for the Social Organization of Schools
3505 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218-3843
Epstein's Framework of Six Types of Involvement
(Including: Sample Practices, Challenges, Redefinitions, and Expected Results)
TYPE 2
COMMUNICATING
Design effective forms of school-to-home and home-to-school communications about school programs
and children's progress.
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Sample Practices
Conferences with every parent at least once a year, with follow-ups as needed.
Language translators to assist families as needed.
Weekly or monthly folders of student work sent home for review and comments.
Parent/student pickup of report card, with conferences on improving grades.
Regular schedule of useful notices, memos, phone calls, newsletters, and other communications.
Clear information on choosing schools or courses, programs, and activities within schools.
Clear information on all school policies, programs, reforms, and transitions.
Challenges
Review the readability, clarity, form, and frequency of all memos, notices, and other print and
nonprint communications.
Consider parents who do not speak English well, do not read well, or need large type.
Review the quality of major communications (newsletters, report cards, conference schedules, and so
on).
Establish clear two-way channels for communications from home to school and from school to home.
Redefinitions
"Communications about school programs and student progress" to mean two-way, three-way, and
many-way channels of communication that connect schools, families, students, and the community.
Results for Students
Awareness of own progress and of actions needed to maintain or improve grades.
Understanding of school policies on behavior, attendance, and other areas of student
conduct.
Informed decisions about courses and programs.
Awareness of own role in partnerships, serving as courier and communicator.
Results for Parents
Understanding school programs and policies.
Monitoring and awareness of child's progress.
Responding effectively to students' problems.
Interactions with teachers and ease of communication with school and teachers.
Results for Teachers
Increased diversity and use of communications with families and awareness of own ability to
communicate clearly
Appreciation for and use of parent network for communications.
Increased ability to elicit and understand family views on children's programs and progress.
Joyce L. Epstein, Ph.D., et. al., Partnership
Center for the Social Organization of Schools
3505 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218-3843
Epstein's Framework of Six Types of Involvement
(Including: Sample Practices, Challenges, Redefinitions, and Expected Results)
TYPE 3
VOLUNTEERING
Recruit and organize parent help and support.
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Sample Practices
School and classroom volunteer program to help teachers, administrators, students, and other parents.
Parent room or family center for volunteer work, meetings, resources for families.
Annual postcard survey to identify all available talents, times, and locations of volunteers.
Class parent, telephone tree, or other structures to provide all families with needed information.
Parent patrols or other activities to aid safety and operation of school programs.
Challenges
Recruit volunteers widely so that all families know that their time and talents are welcome.
Make flexible schedules for volunteers, assemblies, and events to enable parents who work to
participate.
Organize volunteer work; provide training; match time and talent with school, teacher, and student
needs; and recognize efforts so that participants are productive.
Redefinitions
"Volunteer" to mean anyone who supports school goals and children's learning or development in
any way, at any place, and at any time -- not just during the school day and at the school building.
Results for Students
Skill in communicating with adults.
Increased learning of skills that receive tutoring or targeted attention from volunteers.
Awareness of many skills, talents, occupations, and contributions of parent and other
volunteers.
Results for Parents
Understanding teacher's job, increased comfort in school, and carry-over of school activities
at home.
Self-confidence about ability to work in school and with children or to take steps to improve
own education.
Awareness that families are welcome and valued at school.
Gains in specific skills of volunteer work.
Results for Teachers
Readiness to involve families in new ways, including those who do not volunteer at school.
Awareness of parents' talents and interests in school and children.
Greater individual attention to students, with help from volunteers.
Joyce L. Epstein, Ph.D., et. al., Partnership
Center for the Social Organization of Schools
3505 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218-3843
Epstein's Framework of Six Types of Involvement
(Including: Sample Practices, Challenges, Redefinitions, and Expected Results)
TYPE 4
LEARNING AT HOME
Provide information and ideas to families about how to help students at home with homework and other
curriculum-related activities, decisions, and planning.
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Sample Practices
Information for families on skills required for students in all subjects at each grade.
Information on homework policies and how to monitor and discuss schoolwork at home.
Information on how to assist students to improve skills on various class and school assessments.
Regular schedule of homework that requires students to discuss and interact with families on what
they are learning in class.
Calendars with activities for parents and students at home.
Family math, science, and reading activities at school.
Summer learning packets or activities.
Family participation in setting student goals each year and in planning for college or work.
Challenges
Design and organize a regular schedule of interactive homework (e.g., weekly or bimonthly) that
gives students responsibility for discussing important things they are learning and helps families stay
aware of the content of their children's classwork.
Coordinate family linked homework activities, if students have several teachers.
Involve families and their children in all-important curriculum-related decisions.
Redefinitions
"Homework" to mean not only work done alone, but also interactive activities shared with others at
home or in the community, linking schoolwork to real life.
"Help" at home to mean encouraging, listening, reacting, praising, guiding, monitoring, and
discussing -- not "teaching" school subjects.
Results for Students
Gains in skills, abilities, and test scores linked to homework and classwork.
Homework completion.
Positive attitude toward schoolwork.
View of parents as more similar to teacher and of home as more similar to school.
Self-concept of ability as learner.
Results for Parents
Know how to support, encourage, and help student at home each year.
Discussions of school, classwork, and homework.
Understanding of instructional program each year and of what child is learning in each
subject.
Appreciation of teaching skills.
Awareness of child as a learner.
Results for Teachers
Better design of homework assignments.
Respect for family time.
Recognition of equal helpfulness of single-parent, dual-income, and less formally educated
families in motivating and reinforcing student learning.
Satisfaction with family involvement and support.
Joyce L. Epstein, Ph.D., et. al., Partnership
Center for the Social Organization of Schools
3505 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218-3843
Epstein's Framework of Six Types of Involvement
(Including: Sample Practices, Challenges, Redefinitions, and Expected Results)
TYPE 5
DECISION MAKING
Include parents in school decisions, developing parent leaders and representatives.
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Sample Practices
Active PTA/PTO or other parent organizations, advisory councils, or committees (e.g., curriculum,
safety, personnel) for parent leadership and participation.
Independent advocacy groups to lobby and work for school reform and improvements.
District-level councils and committees for family and community involvement.
Information on school or local elections for school representatives.
Networks to link all families with parent representatives.
Challenges
Include parent leaders from all racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and other groups in the school.
Offer training to enable leaders to serve as representatives of other families, with input from and
return of information to all parents.
Include students (along with parents) in decision-making groups.
Redefinitions
"Decision making" to mean a process of partnership, of shared views and actions toward shared
goals, not just a power struggle between conflicting ideas.
Parent "leader" to mean a real representative, with opportunities and support to hear from and
communicate with other families.
Results for Students
Awareness of representation of families in school decisions.
Understanding that student rights are protected.
Specific benefits linked to policies enacted by parent organizations and experienced by
students.
Results for Parents
Input into policies that affect child's education.
Feeling of ownership of school.
Awareness of parents' voices in school decisions.
Shared experiences and connections with other families.
Awareness of school, district, and state policies.
Results for Teachers
Awareness of parent perspectives as a factor in policy development and decisions.
View of equal status of family representatives on committees and in leadership roles.
Joyce L. Epstein, Ph.D., et. al., Partnership
Center for the Social Organization of Schools
3505 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218-3843
Epstein's Framework of Six Types of Involvement
(Including: Sample Practices, Challenges, Redefinitions, and Expected Results)
TYPE 6
COLLABORATING WITH COMMUNTY
Identify and integrate resources and services from the community to strengthen school programs, family
practices, and student learning and development.
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Sample Practices
Information for students and families on community health, cultural, recreational, social support, and
other programs or services
Information on community activities that link to learning skills and talents, including summer
programs for students.
Service integration through partnerships involving school; civic, counseling, cultural, health,
recreation, and other agencies and organizations; and businesses.
Service to the community by students, families, and schools (e.g., recycling, art, music, drama, and
other activities for seniors or others).
Participation of alumni in school programs for students.
Challenges
Solve turf problems of responsibilities, funds, staff, and locations for collaborative activities.
Inform families of community programs for students, such as mentoring, tutoring, business
partnerships.
Assure equity of opportunities for students and families to participate in community programs or to
obtain services.
Match community contributions with school goals, integrate child and family services with education.
Redefinitions
"Community" to mean not only the neighborhoods where students' homes and schools are located but
also any neighborhoods that influence their learning and development.
"Community" rated not only by low or high social or economic qualities, but by strengths and talents
to support students, families, and schools.
"Community" means all who are interested in and affected by the quality of education, not just those
with children in the schools.
Results for Students
Increased skills and talents through enriched curricular and extracurricular experiences.
Awareness of careers and of options for future education and work.
Specific benefits linked to programs, services, resources, and opportunities that connect
students with community.
Results for Parents
Knowledge and use of local resources by family and child to increase skills and talents or to
obtain needed services
Interactions with other families in community activities.
Awareness of school's role in the community and of community's contributions to the school.
Results for Teachers
Awareness of community resources to enrich curriculum and instruction.
Openness to and skill in using mentors, business partners, community volunteers, and
others to assist students and augment teaching practices.
Knowledgeable, helpful referrals of children and families to needed services.
Joyce L. Epstein, Ph.D., et. al., Partnership
Center for the Social Organization of Schools
3505 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218-3843