Creating
Partnerships
with Families
Kelli Staples, M.Ed.
Guilford County Schools
Jennifer A. Diliberto, Ph.D.
Greensboro College
Family Engagement:
Research Overview
“Systemic, integrated, and sustained Family,
School, Community, Engagement (FSCE) helps
to create a solid foundation for communication
between families and school staff, enabling their
collaboration in creating a set of support
systems—both within and outside of the school—
to help students meet their educational goals.”
Weiss, Lopez, & Rosenberg (2010)
Family Engagement:
Research Overview
Empowerment
 Involvement implies doing to
 Engagement implies doing with
 Empowering Families requires building a different
type of relationship: a partnership established on
the following characteristics:
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Listening
Welcoming
Thinking outside of the box
Sharing
(Ferlazzo, 2011)
Family Engagement:
Research Overview
Knowing the Families: Approaches to Parent Advocacy
 The Intuitive Advocate
 Focus on “knowing my child” and his needs better than
anyone else
 The Disability Expert
 Acquire expertise from outside the school (doctors, agencies,
websites, etc.) and use that knowledge to advocate change
 The Strategist
 Use personal knowledge of IDEA and Special Education Law
to strategize and engage in advocacy
 The Change Agent
 Engage in personal relationships with professionals to
encourage, establish, & create change
(Trainor, 2010)
“The key variable in transforming scattered
volunteers into meaningful contributors in
schools is strategic planning that
matches a school’s instructional needs
with volunteers’ skills and, if necessary,
proactively seeking particular expertise to
help with specific academic goals.”
~ Handbook on Family and Community Engagement
Six Types of Involvement
(Epstein, 2011)
1. Parenting
Assist families with establishing a home environment that
supports children as students.
2. Communicating
Design effective forms of communication between home and
school
3. Volunteering
Recruit and organize parent help and support.
4. Learning at Home
Provide information and ideas regarding how to help students
at home with homework or other curriculum related
activities, decisions, and planning.
5. Decision Making
Include parents in school decisions.
6. Collaborating with the Community
Identify and integrate resources from the community.
The 5 Steps for Creating
Partnerships with Families
1. Establish communication with
families
2. Determine the level of partnerships
3. Seek engagement from families
4. Create and Implement the plan
5. Evaluate progress
Step 1: Establish Communication
with Families
 Build rapport with families from the start.
 Acknowledge the family as an EQUAL
partner.
 Seek their input.
 Respect and value their input.
 Develop a communication system based
on individual families.
 Determine the best form of
communication based on family
needs.
Ideas for Continued Family
Engagement
 Quarterly Report Cards and Progress Reports
 Monthly/Bi-Monthly Telephone Call or In-person
communication
 Monthly Toolkits that include strategies, tips, and
activities families can do with their children at
home.
 Weekly newsletters
 Weekly interpretive communication
 Daily journals/notes
 Daily attendance calls
Step 2: Determine the
Level of Partnerships
 What type of partnership is needed?
 How to determine the typed needed?
 What are the needs of the school, classroom,
students, teachers, and families?
 How can families help?
 Survey families
 When can families help?
 Survey families
Step 3: Seek Engagement
from Families
 Determine….
 Availability
 Interest
 Expertise
 Comfort
 Invite
 Input
Examples of Engagement: School
Parents Are People (Scully & Howell, 2008)
I Love You Dinners (Scully & Howell, 2008)
Show & Tell and Other Classroom Presentations
Cultural Appreciation Event
Family and Friend Breakfast
Lunch Buddies
Fieldtrips
Photo Shares
International Potluck Dinner (Scully & Howell,
2008)
 End-of-the-Year Celebrations
 Schoolwide Activities








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Examples of Engagement: Home
Website Design
Clerical tasks
Assembling weekly folders
Craft preparation
Making file folder games, projects, &
cards
∗ Spelling word helper (put lists on website)
∗ Teacher luncheon preparation
∗
∗
∗
∗
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Step 4: Create and Implement
the Plan
 Ask yourself the following questions.
 What kind of resources do I need?
 What kind of help do I need?
 What is my time frame?
 Do helpers need training? If so, when and
how will the training occur.
 How will I evaluate the success or lack
thereof?
Step 4: Create and Implement
the Plan
 Layout the plan on paper. (BE DETAILED!)
 Provide family partners with necessary
materials and/or instructions for
engagement.
 Let it roll!
 Be sure to evaluate the plan in action.
Step 5: Evaluate Progress
 Collect data on effectiveness.
 Analyze effectiveness of the plan after
implementation.
 Determine future modification based on data.
 Ask the following when analyzing effectiveness.
 Did the activity meet the needs of the school,
teachers, and families (i.e., parents, students,
other involved family members)?
 What was successful about the activity?
 What could be done differently?
BRAINSTORMING TOGETHER!!!
 What are some of your ideas for
engaging families?
 What would be the steps involved in
turning your idea into a reality?
 What resources/materials are
needed?
 Who needs to be involved?
 What permissions are needed (if
any)?
Contact Information
Kelli Staples
kellistaples@gmail.com
Jennifer A. Diliberto
jadiliberto@gmail.com
References
Ferlazzo, L. (2011). Involvement or engagement? Educational
Leadership, 68, 11-14.
Trainor, A. A. (2010). Diverse approaches to parent advocacy
during special education home-school interactions:
Identification and use of cultural and social capital.
Remedial and Special Education, 31, 34-47. DOI:
10.1177/0741932508324401
Weiss, H.B., Lopez, M.E., Rosenberg, H. (2010). Beyond random
acts: Family, school, and community engagement an an
integral part of education reform. (The National Policy
Forum for Family, School, and Community Engagement).
Cambridge, MA: Harvard Family Research Project