Collaborating with Families : Family-School-Community Partnerships

1. Collaborating with Families: Family-School-Community Partnerships Taylor County Schools

2. Why it is important to partner with families? • There are numerous settings in which children learn • Children spend an estimated 91% of their time between birth to the age of 18 outside of school (Usdan, 1990); once in school, they spend an estimated 70% of their time outside of school (Clark, 1990). • Families provide the single most important influence on a child’s development, where schools provide the second most important influence. • Families provide unique contributions to children’s academic, behavioral, and socioemotional outcomes. • The interface of families and schools provide children, families, and educators with favorable outcomes.

3. Theoretical Support for involving families • Providing indirect support and assistance to families increases the likelihood these families can directly mediate their child’s behavior and development more efficiently than can direct services aimed toward the child (Dunst, Trivette & Deal, 1998). • Family’s strengths, needs, and priorities along with the needs of their children guide the provision of local resources and services (Dunst, 1985; Rappaport, 1981). • Family-centered services strengthen the family’s capacity to meet their needs and the needs of their child (Dunst, 1985; Rappaport, 1981). • Families are their child’s first and best advocate.

4. Partnership-Oriented Perspective • Families and educators are unique, co-equal partners and contributors, to a child’s learning. • An extension of family-centered principles wherein educators or other support personnel contribute to the child’s learning and development. • Underlying principles: • No fault approach (i.e., shared ownership) • Nondeficit approach (i.e., strengths-based) • Facilitates empowerment • Facilitates an ecological approach (i.e., emphasis on the mesosystem) (Christenson & Hirsch, 1998)

5. Research on child outcomes Parent-professional partnerships are predictive of: • increased academic performance (higher grades and test scores) • increased homework completion rates • better work habits • more consistent school attendance • reduced drop-out rates • school completion or increased graduation rates and higher postsecondary education enrollment • socioemotional benefits (better social skills and reduced conduct problems • decrease in negative behaviors such as alcohol and drug use and violence • increase in positive attitudes (especially towards learning) and behaviors • greater connections between home and school

6. Research Findings In the presence of effective family-school partnerships, parents have been shown to: • demonstrate greater understanding of the work of schools and positive attitudes about school (Epstein, 1986); • report increased contacts and communication with educators, and a desire for more involvement (Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 1997); • improve their communication with their children, report improved parent-child relationships, and develop effective parenting skills (Becher, 1984); and • become more involved in learning activities at home (Epstein, 1995).

7. Research Findings In the presence of effective family-school partnerships, schools have been shown to: • receive higher effectiveness ratings, and • implement more successful school programs. • Have better reputations of schools within the community; • Better performance of school programs that involve parents versus identical programs that do not include parents. (Christenson & Sheridan, 2001) • *It can be hypothesized that extended learning programs show similar effects from partnering with families.

8. Various levels of family involvement in education programs (Epstein) • TYPE 1: PARENTING (assist and educate) • TYPE 2: COMMUNICATION (communicate with family about school programs and student progress. Home-school communication) • TYPE 3: VOLUNTEERING or INVOLVEMENT • TYPE 4: LEARNING AT HOME (connect home activities to school or curriculum activities) or CONNECTIONS AND ENGAGEMENT • TYPE 5: DECISION-MAKING (PARTNERSHIP AND COLLABORATION) • TYPE 6--COLLABORATING WITH THE COMMUNITY

9. Family-School Collaboration:A “Systems” Approach: Understanding Terms General PurposeGeneral Outcome Goal Specific Purpose Shared Outcome Goal OUTCOME EXPECTATION Family/School Communication Family/School Connections Family Engagement Family/School Partnerships Family/School Collaboration High IntensityLow Frequency Less IntenseHigh Frequency INTENSITY

10. Actions • Engaged Partnerships… • Empower both families and schools and community partners • Are bi-directional • Are ongoing, mutual, reciprocal • Are coordinated interventions across settings • Send congruentmessages across settings • Require shared information and resources • Require open communication and dialogue • Promote collaboration and joint decision making in planning for the child – “Collaborative Planning”

11. Summary • Family involvement and engagement is crucial to impact a child’s academic functioning. • A family-centered and family-partnership oriented philosophy can help engage parents. • Family-educator partnerships can be developed through a collaborative model • Each family is different and therefore professionals must be flexible and sensitive to families needs.