This article discusses the contributions of the international studies in this special issue and presents a few emerging topics on school, family, and community partnerships. The studies in Part I confirm that, across countries, future teachers are inadequately prepared to conduct effective partnership programmes with all students' families. Part…

When schools, families, and communities collaborate and share responsibility for students' education, more students succeed in school. Based on 30 years of research and fieldwork, the fourth edition of the bestseller "School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action," presents tools and guidelines to help develop more…

Although we know that family involvement is associated with stronger math performance, little is known about what educators are doing to effectively involve families and community members, and whether this measurably improves math achievement at their schools. This study used data from 39 schools to assess the effects of family and community…

This article discusses a theoretical perspective, research results, and practical examples that support new roles for school counselors in strengthening school programs of family and community involvement. A modest proposal is offered for school counselors to spend 20% of their time on strengthening teamwork for partnerships by working with other…

Discusses the work of the Center on Families, Communities, Schools and Children's Learning related to the theory of overlapping spheres of influence and the framework of six major types of involvement. Summarizes the results of center studies that could help schools build better programs of partnership. (JOW)

Collected data on elementary and secondary schools' rates of daily student attendance and chronic absenteeism and on specific partnership practices that schools implemented to help increase or sustain student attendance. Results suggest that schools interested in improving or maintaining good attendance can benefit from taking a comprehensive…

Examined school officials' efforts to implement family and community involvement activities to reduce the number of disciplinary actions and ensure school climates focused on learning. Longitudinal data from elementary and secondary schools indicated that regardless of schools' prior discipline rates, the more family and community involvement…

Describes six types of school, family, and community involvement in the middle grades: (1) parenting; (2) communicating; (3) volunteering; learning at home; (4) decision making; and (5) collaborating with community. Links school-family-community partnerships to 12 recommended characteristics of responsive middle schools. (DLH)

Concerns about and characteristics of family/school partnerships are the theme of this issue of a "newsletter for the on-line administrator." Because of the changing natures of students, families, and schools, school administrators must take a leadership role in facilitating parent involvement in education. The six major types of involvement for…

Students who succeeded in school are almost always supported by their families, while other students struggle without support from home. For a school to develop a partnership program involving all parents in ways that increase student success requires new ways of thinking about family and community involvement. All schools need a purposeful,…

Students who are chronically absent are more likely than other students to drop out of school. Many schools have goals to reduce student truancy and to help chronically absent students attend school regularly. Few studies, however, have focused on whether or how family and community involvement help reduce rates of chronic absenteeism. In this…

A survey of educators in 161 U.S. schools, colleges, and departments of education (SCDEs) examined the preparation of teachers to work with families and communities. The survey included questions on the demographic characteristics and present course offerings of the SCDE; attitudes and perspectives of the respondents about school, family, and…

Researchers established the National Network of Partnership Schools at Johns Hopkins University's Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships to guide schools, districts, and state departments of education to create positive, permanent programs of partnership, to recognize and disseminate their efforts, and to learn from the various…

This handbook serves as a guide for state, district, and school leaders to organize and implement positive and permanent programs of school, family, and community partnerships. The book's eight chapters offer step-by-step strategies to improve school-family-community connections. Chapter 1 summarizes the theory and research on which the handbook…

Reviews the requirements of the revised Title I for parent and community involvement in schools, especially the requirement for school-parent contracts, and summarizes research on the effects of school-family partnerships on students, teachers, and parents. Two major programs for building such partnerships are described. (SLD)