A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Creating Partnerships:
Communicating and Working Together

"Home, school and community are the legs of the tripod upon which student learning rests...." (Thomas Rodd, 1996). When families, schools and communities work together in partnership, students hear that school is important from their parents, from teachers and from community leaders and they perceive that caring people in all three environments are investing time and resources to help them succeed. The closer the relationship approaches a comprehensive, well planned partnership, the higher the student achievement (Henderson 1994).

"Abraham Twersky, a Pittsburgh psychiatrist, has said that every person has four basic needs -- food, clothing, shelter, and someone to blame. Although said in jest, there is some truth within. Having someone to blame is often an active component of home-school relationship...."(Dr. David Yammer, 1996). Partnerships take time and energy to create. Building partnerships requires building relationships. This entails first asking others what is important to them.

Critical issues raised during this session included:

• One of the overriding goals of building partnerships in the early years is to enhance and support the families capacity to raise their children to be healthy, productive and responsible citizens.
• Forming partnerships does not necessarily mean that families must be physically present at the school. Working parents are no less concerned about their child's education but only have so much time and energy to go around. Families want to be informed about instructional programs and progress and how to help at home.
• Alliance building does not mean educators and other professionals must give up their roles as experts. It means recognizing that parents have expertise about their own children.
• Communicating regularly means more than detailing problems. It means telling families about the good things that happen in a student's day as well.
• Educators must proceed from the assumption that there are valuable resources in the community (families, community leaders, community based organizations) that can give help in developing strategies for collaboration.
• It is important to create mechanisms for meaningful participation. This participation must ensure that families are treated as central members of a community.
• We must remember the impact that culture and experience have on an individual and family and we all must learn to value and engage different cultures on an equal basis.
• Employers need to develop family friendly policies that include flex time, day care, and opportunities for families to participate in their child's education without penalty.
• "Improving America's School Act", signed into law in October 1994, reauthorized Title I -- the largest federally funded program for K-12 education in the nation. Key to the success of the Title I program is the ongoing participation of parents. To facilitate this participation, school-parent compacts are required. The compact outlines how parents, school personnel and students will share responsibility for improved student achievement.

This session was introduced by Alan Ginsburg, Director of Planning and Evaluation Services, Office of the Under Secretary, U.S. Department of Education. The group then broke out into fourteen separate roundtable discussions led by facilitators.

[Overview of Research]

[Involving Fathers]