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…

Purpose: Coburn's (2003) multidimensional conception of scale includes four interrelated dimensions--depth, sustainability, spread, and ownership--that provide a framework to understand scale at both the school and district levels. This study was conducted to understand how reform leaders in four districts implementing the National Network of…

Families and schools have traditionally been viewed as the institutions with the greatest effect on the development of children. Communities, however, have received increasing attention for their role in socializing youth and ensuring students' success in a variety of societal domains. School-community partnerships can be defined as the…

In this qualitative case study, the author describes (a) how parent liaisons in a diverse suburban district have supported school, family, and community partnerships and (b) the role played by the district family and community involvement specialist. On the basis of analyses of interview, observation, survey, and document data, the author…

Describes how one urban elementary school in a high-reform district and state developed strong connections with community business and organizations as part of its program of school, family, and community partnerships, identifying four factors that allowed the school to maintain successful partnerships: school commitment to learning, principal…

Based on surveys of 375 elementary, middle, and high schools in the National Network of Partnership Schools (NNPS), this report identifies differences and similarities in the development and quality of these schools' programs of school, family, and community partnership, examining how NNPS members at various school levels implemented partnership…

Reviews international research and practice regarding parent-school partnerships. Considers factors common to many nations: parents' concern for their children's academic success; the role of partnership programs in parent involvement in education; the need for teacher and administrator training to prepare for partnerships; and the need for…

Focuses on how the Action Teams in two elementary schools and one middle school in Baltimore (Maryland) used the Framework of Six Types of involvement developed by J. L. Epstein to develop effective school-family-community connections. Nine key insights derived from the study are presented. (SLD)

Examines role of community in school-based school, family, and community partnerships. Presents a definition of school- community collaboration, identifies gaps in current knowledge, and analyzes survey data to learn more about types of community partners and the challenges schools face in developing partnerships. Discusses steps needed in…

Reviews the current theoretical and empirical literature on community involvement in schools, describing different rationales for community involvement. Discusses four major forms of school-community partnerships (business, university, service learning, and school-linked service integration) and factors influencing their implementation and…

Based on interviews with eight administrators, teachers, parents, and community volunteers, this article reports the challenges and progress of two urban middle schools in developing comprehensive, permanent school, family, and community partnerships through the National Network of Partnership Schools. Partnership activities and their effects on…

Analyzed data from a 1996 end-of-the-year survey that updated information on schools in the National Network of Partnership Schools, which was designed to build comprehensive programs of school, family, and community partnerships. Results indicated that five ingredients were crucial for partnership success: active and supportive action teams,…

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…