|

|

|

|

|

|

 

   

Research suggests that communication is effective when educators:

• communicate with families about school programs and student progress in thoughtful, clear and productive ways; and
• create two-way communication from school to home and from home to school, so that families can easily keep in touch with teachers, administrators, counselors and other families. (Epstein, 2004)

The quality of teacher and parent interaction contributes to student achievement:

Make it Positive: Teachers most often communicate with parents when the student misbehaves, yet parents also want to know when their child is doing well. This helps parents be more responsive when extra effort or modifications need to be made.

Make it Practical: By helping parents understand the curriculum, they will be better able to support their child’s academic achievement. Make specific suggestions about what parents can do to help their child manage difficulties they are having with schoolwork and help them build their child’s strengths.

Make it Personal: Collaboration between parents and teachers is enhanced when parents read or hear something personal about their child. Include specific examples and be as detailed as possible.

Make it Accessible: By meeting families in their own natural environment, rather than only at the school, educators are seen as reaching out to families and acknowledging them as partners.


According to research by Epstein (2002), well designed and implemented programs that promote positive parenting have been shown to impact students, families and educators in a variety of ways.

Results for Students:

• Respect for self, parents and family
• Awareness of importance of school
• Responsible behavior and ownership of learning
• Positive attitudes, higher grades and high attendance in school

Results for Families:

• Understanding of child growth and development: birth, adolescence, young adult
• Support for children as learners at each grade level
• Understanding of teacher roles and responsibilities
• Exchange of information between educators and parents about concerns and goals for children

Results for Teachers:

• Understanding of families’ goals and concerns for children
• Respect for families’ strengths, needs and efforts
• Awareness of own skills to share information on growth and development
• Completed homework assignments
• Increased parental involvement
• Improved student attendance

Research reinforces the idea that valuing and supporting parents as key figures in their children’s learning often provides the following benefits (Epstein et al., 2002).

Results For Students:

• Improvement in skills, abilities and completion of homework
• Development of positive attitudes toward school and self
• Cultivation of academic identity

Results For Families:

• Improvement of communication with children
• Increase in understanding of school requirements
• Increase awareness of student expectations based on New Mexico Content Standards
• Improvement of communication with teachers and principals

Results For Teachers:

• Engagement of families in homework assignments
• Recognition of the many ways in which ALL parents can motivate and reinforce student learning
• Improvement of communication with families
• Increased value of student’s home language and culture
• Engagement of parents as partners in the education of their children

Tapping into the skills and expertise of parents, families and community members can:

• help schools to meet academic goals and student needs
• provide a positive learning environment to show that the community cares about what goes on in its school
• encourage families to feel valued and welcome
• involve ways that do not require them to be at school during school hours.

Make it Positive: Create chances for families to volunteer and use their skills and interests. Explain the roles and responsibilities of volunteers and how their involvement helps students. Remember, if their experience is fun, the volunteer will want to repeat it. (Sander and Lowney 2003)

Make it Practical: Keep volunteer activities focused on student learning.

Make it Personal: Contact families personally. Create an environment and experiences that help volunteers connect with one another through friends and acquaintances. Welcome them and find ways to connect them to what is going on at school.


Decision Making and Advocacy with families is evident when educators “Prepare parents to actively participate in school decision making and develop their leadership skills in governance and advocacy.” (Epstein, 2002).

The research of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence emphasizes that parents must be equal partners in education (Henderson, Jacob, Kernan-Schloss, Raimondo, 2004) and set high expectations for effective school leaders who embrace parents as equal partners in the ways listed:

• Sharing Power by opening up the decision making process so that all families have a voice
• Communicating Expectations by being clear about teacher expectations for parents and parent expectations for teachers
• Opening Doors by being available to meet with families and for them to observe classrooms
• Offering and Participating in Training with Parents on standards, curriculum, assessment and school performance
• Answering the Hard Questions by sharing the school’s improvement plan with families and community members
• Recognizing and Working with Parent-Led Organizations by involving a variety of groups, not just the “official” school parent group
• Giving Parents Information About How the School System Works by sharing data and school improvement plans

The benefits of community-home-school collaborations are profound and wide ranging. The National PTA (2004) found that effective school, family and community partnerships can provide benefits for students, parents, educators and the community.

Results for Students:

• Increase in skills and talents from enriched curricular and extracurricular activities
• Development of positive relationships with adults
• Development of sense of value and belonging to the community
• Learn the importance of leading a heathy lifestyle and building resiliency toward outside negative factors

Results for Parents:

• Gain an awareness of the community’s contributions to the school
• Develop a sense of connection with other families in the community
• Gain knowledge of and use local resources to obtain services and improve their skills

Results for Teacher and Administrators:

• Gain knowledge of and become involved in the social and community service referral process for families
• Develop skills for working with business partners, community, volunteers and mentors
• Gain knowledge of and use community resources to enrich classroom instruction

Results for Community Agencies, Organizations and Businesses:

• Gain improved access to school resources
• Form connections between businesses and future employees
• Gain a greater sense of purpose by sharing strengths with students