PARTNERSHIPS THEN and NOW

Developing Programs of

School, Family, and Community Partnerships

for Student Success in Early Education

Joyce L. Epstein, Ph.D., Director © Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships

Working Together for Student Success

A Discussion of Research, Policy, and Practice

OECD Network on Early Childhood Education and Care

Paris: July 4, 2011

How Can Educators and Parents STRENGTHEN and SUSTAIN HEALTHY

Early Education and Care Centers/Schools?

What do we mean by a HEALTHY SCHOOL?

1. We mean a safe and nurturing PLACE.

• A welcoming school environment for ALL

• A Partnership School

• A “family-like” school and “school-like” families

• An EXCELLENT school that students, teachers,

parents, and others WANT to attend and support

• Other ideas. . .?

2. We mean a place that produces positive RESULTS and helps students develop to their full potential.

Academic Results Intellectual Development Literacy and Numeracy Readiness and Other AchievementS Commitment to Role of Student Love of Learning

Physical Health Good Nutrition, Exercise Good Attendance

Emotional Growth Social Skills/Readiness for Transition to Primary School Positive Attitudes about School, Positive Self Concept, Behavior, Positive Relationships with Peers, Family, Teachers Appreciation of Each Other

OTHER RESULTS?

Not only THAT partnerships contribute to good programs and successful students

But also WHAT is needed in an excellent partnership program?

and . . . HOW to organize high-quality and effective programs: Policies Leadership Funding Structures/Processes Practices

What is important to know about school, family, and community partnerships?

THEN

Parent

involvement

NOW

School, family,

and community

partnerships

DEFINITION

Everyone wants EXCELLENT and SUCCESSFUL

SCHOOLS and STUDENTS.

How will we reach these goals?

THEN

Up to parents

Organized by one person or

just a few

PreK-K

NOW

Part of school and classroom

organization

Organized by Action Team for

Partnerships

ALL school levels

RESPONSIBILITY

Action Team

Structure

What is an Action Team for Partnerships?

2-3 teachers or more

2-3 parents/family members or more

Principal (or Head)

Other members (e.g., school nurse, counselor,

community partners)

Whittier Elementary School (School with PreK/K) Pasco, Washington

What does an ATP do?

Team members work together to:

Review school goals. Select 2 academic readiness goals; 1 non-academic readiness goal; and 1 goal for a welcoming school climate.

Write a One-Year Action Plan for Partnerships to involve families and the community in ways that contribute to the selected goals.

Implement and evaluate the quality of the activities – outreach to families, responses, and results.

Continually improve partnership plans, program, and practices.

Starting Point

Organization

Cuyahoga County

Universal Pre-Kindergarten

Cleveland, OH

Guides 20+ Pre-schools’ ATPs

Action Team for Partnerships: Structure G

(Focus on Goals)

School Council

ACTION TEAM for

PARTNERSHIPS

Improve Reading

Readiness

PRACTICES For SIX TYPES

Create a Climate

for Partnerships

PRACTICES For SIX TYPES

Improve Social Skills

for Transition to Primary School

PRACTICES For SIX TYPES

Improve Math

Readiness

PRACTICES For SIX TYPES

Academic goal Academic goal Non-Academic goal Partnership goal

THEN

Incidental or accidental

Off to the side

NOW

Framework of 6 types of

involvement

Goal-oriented

Part of comprehensive school/program

improvement

PROGRAM DESIGN

Framework of

Six Types of

Involvement

2

THE KEYS TO SUCCESSFUL

SCHOOL-FAMILY-COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS

EPSTEIN’S SIX TYPES OF INVOLVEMENT 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 school or in other locations to support students and school programs.

LEARNING AT HOME: Involve families with their children in learning activities at home, including homework and other curriculum-related activities and decisions

DECISION MAKING: Include families as participants in school decisions, governance, and advocacy through PTA/PTO, school councils, committees, action teams, and other parent organizations.

COLLABORATING WITH COMMUNITY: Coordinate resources and services for students, families, and the school with businesses, agencies, and other groups, and provide services to the community.

4

Type 1

Type 2

Type 6

Type 5

Type 4

Type 3

Solve

Challenges to

Involve ALL

Families

CHALLENGES

NOW

“Realities”

Solutions sought

Solutions found

Solutions shared

Strengths model and prevention programs

THEN

“Barriers”

Diverse family backgrounds, languages, cultures, or histories

Mobile, migratory, homeless families

Deficit model and treatment programs

THEN

Mainly mothers

NOW

Mothers, fathers, grandparents, foster parents, other family,

community groups, business partners,

volunteers, mentors, and

others

IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE

IMPLEMENTATION LEADERSHIP

THEN

School by

school

decisions

NOW

Multi-level leaders: School, District

State, and Organizations

Meet requirements for official policies

on family involvement

“Nested” networks

District-Level

Program of Partnership

DISTRICT-LEVEL ACTIVITIES

DIRECT FACILITATION of SCHOOLS

PARTNERSHIP

PROGRAM

GOALS

District Leaders for Partnerships conduct. . .

Leaders at the organization / state / ministry level also may guide clusters of schools.

Reaching

Results

THEN

Parent outcomes

Public relations

Focus on a few parent leaders

NOW

Student achievement and success in school

Link practices to results for all

students, parents, teachers, and community

RESULTS

22

Benefits of Well-Designed and Well-Implemented

Partnership Programs: Results of Research

For STUDENTS

PreK – Stronger reading, math, and social readiness skills for transition to primary school

Higher grades and test scores

Better attendance

Improved behavior at home and at school

Better social skills and adjustment to school

More classes passed and credits earned for on time graduation

23

Benefits of Partnerships: Results of Research

For PARENTS

Stronger sense of support from school and other parents

More awareness of student progress and effective responses to problems

Increased self confidence about guiding student through school

Appreciation of teachers’ work and skills

Increased feeling of ownership of school

24

Benefits of Partnerships: Results of Research

For TEACHERS

Increased respect for families’ strengths and efforts

Increased understanding of families goals for their children

Greater readiness to involve all families in new ways

Use of community resources to enrich students’ experiences

Increased satisfaction with teaching

Annual, Written Action Plans

for Partnerships

Linked to Goals for Student Success

26

PRE-K and Kindergarten EXAMPLES

for a One-Year Action Plan

to IMPROVE READING READINESS

TYPE 1 Workshops for parents on ways to read aloud with young children; reading readiness techniques

TYPE 2 Parent-teacher-student conferences on reading readiness goals and students’ progress

TYPE 3 Reading-partner volunteers, guest readers of favorite stories, guest authors, older/younger partners, other read-with-me activities

TYPE 4 Weekly book-bags for parent-child reading; Mother Goose on the Loose events to help students and parents enjoy rhymes at home

Action Team for Partnerships writes annual plan for partnerships, including one page for involving all families in reading readiness activities

TYPE 5

Donations from business partners of books for classrooms, for the school library, and for children to take home; activities with the public library

TYPE 6

…AND MANY OTHER IDEAS FOR EACH TYPE OF INVOLVEMENT See annual collections of Promising Partnership Practices at

www.partnershipschools.org in the section Success Stories.

27

Other Activities for PRE-K and K Programs of Family and Community Involvement

TYPE 1 Workshops for and with parents on reading, math, behavior, and social skills READINESS for Kindergarten and Grade 1

TYPE 2 New parent coffees; forums with students and parents from older grades to help students and families prepare for TRANSITIONS to the next grade or new school

TYPE 3 Training and on-going guidance for VOLUNTEERS; Diversity Celebration with parent volunteers to help students with skits, costumes, food, and sharing thru art, music, drama, and games.

TYPE 4 Math Carnival for math readiness in primary school; activities for students and parents to enjoy real-world math at home.

Action Team for Partnerships develops website for ongoing communications and information with parents.

TYPE 5

Collaboration with health services in community for students and families; collaboration with science museum and trips with students and families

TYPE 6

These ideas are from Early Care and Education Centers and Pre-K and K Schools in Buffalo, NY;

Canton, OH; Chaska, MN; Cleveland, OH; Hampton, VA; Ladysmith, WI; Luliing, LA; Marshfield, MO;

Mobile, AL; Naperville, IL; New York City and other locations. Other ideas at www.partnershipschools.org

in the section Success Stories in annual books of Promising Partnership Practices.

Outcomes

Results for

Students

Responses /

Attitudes /

Behaviors

of Parents

Outreach to

Parents

School-

Based

Programs

Interventions

Student and

Family

Background

District-

Level

Leadership

Programs/

Facilitation

Future Research on School, Family, and Community Partnerships

Studies must continue to improve questions, methods, and longitudinal measures to address key questions and account for:

What PARENTS DO

What SCHOOLS DO

to involve more parents

What DISTRICTS DO to facilitate

schools’ work on partnerships

How STUDENTS

benefit

Discuss and

Evaluate Results

THEN

Minimal or

Optional

For “compliance”

Focus on parents

NOW

Essential

Evaluate quality, results, and progress of

programs and practices

Focus on student achievement and success in school

EVALUATION

THEN

Labels for HAVEs and HAVE NOTs,

DOs and DO NOTs

“Blame game”

Finger-pointing

NOW

ACTIONS to involve all

families

Actions to communicate in languages

parents understand

EQUITY ISSUES

BUDGETS for PARTNERSHIPS

THEN

$$ Not well allocated

Fragmented spending

NOW

$$ For goal-linked

activities in annual plans

for school-based programs

to engage all families

Q & A

What are YOUR questions

about research, policy, and practices of

school, family, and community partnerships in Early Care and Education?

Epstein, J. L. (2011). School, family, and community partnerships: Preparing educators and improving schools. Second edition. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Epstein, J. L. et al. (2009). School, family, and community partnerships:

Your handbook for action. Third edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Epstein, J. L., Galindo, C., & Sheldon, S. B. (2011). Levels of leadership:

Effects of district and school leaders on the quality of school programs of family and community involvement. Education Administration Quarterly, 47, 462 - 495.

Epstein, J. L.& Sheldon, S. B. (2006). Moving forward: Ideas for research

on school, family, and community partnerships. Pp. 117-138 in C. F. Conrad & R. Serlin (Eds.). SAGE Handbook for research in education: Engaging ideas and enriching inquiry. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

References

To see research working in policy and practice, visit: http://www.partnershipschools.org

For more information and examples of best practices,

visit NNPS at

www.partnershipschools.org

Dr. Joyce Epstein, Director Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships

Johns Hopkins University 2701 N. Charles Street, Suite 300

Baltimore, MD 21218 410-516-8807

nnps@csos.jhu.edu

© Epstein, J. L. (2011). Partnerships Then and Now. Baltimore, MD: National Network of Partnership Schools at Johns Hopkins University.