How to make parents partners in education

Research is clear that when parents and teachers work together, the impact on students can be dramatic. Test scores go up. Attendance improves. Discipline problems go down. Graduation rates improve. 

But developing strong parent-school partnerships can be a challenge. Demanding work schedules may not allow parents much time for volunteering. Arranging transportation or child care may be difficult. Cultural and language differences can create barriers. And sometimes there’s a belief — by either parents or educators — that families should leave the education of children to the experts. 

Developing strong parent-school partnerships requires both educators and parents to recognize the value of working together for the benefit of children. Together, they can create family-friendly schools and school-friendly homes, says Joyce Epstein, director for The Center of Parent School Community Partnerships at Johns Hopkins University. 

Family-friendly schools encourage parents to be involved in their school and in their child’s education — everything from serving on school committees to volunteering in their child’s classroom. School-friendly homes are ones where parents help their children with homework and reinforce the importance of school and learning. 

In order to create those kinds of partnerships, mutual trust and respect must happen. Teachers must trust families and appreciate their insights into their children. Families, in turn, must trust and respect teachers and their expertise and knowledge of their children’s educational needs. 

Communicating frequently and openly is a critical element in developing effective parent-school partnerships. Through two-way communications, each side has a better understanding of the other’s needs and goals. But it’s essential that two-way communication happens on a frequent basis, so that their insights and information gets shared and acted on.

Not all parents wish to be involved in their child’s education in the same role or to the same degree. It’s not enough just to have opportunities for classroom volunteers or field-trip chaperones because all parents don’t have the same schedule. For a variety of reasons — work commitments or the need to be with younger children at home or lack of interest in certain activities — parents need a variety of options for getting involved.

Epstein identified six types of involvement for comprehensive parent-school partnerships:
1.	Parenting — Help all families establish home environments to support children as students.
2.	Communicating — Design effective forms of school-to-home and home-to-school communications about school programs and their children’s progress.
3.	Volunteering — Recruit and organize parent help and support.
4.	Learning at Home - Provide information and ideas to families about how to help students at home with homework and other curriculum-related activities, decisions and planning.
5.	Decision Making — Include parents in school decisions, developing parent leaders and representatives.
6.	Collaborating With the Community — Identify and integrate resources and services fromnt the community to strengthen school programs, family practices and student learning and development.

Where to start in creating healthy parent-school relationships? The checklist below spells out the crucial steps, according to Teachers & Parents As Partners (TAPP), a research-based program developed at the Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools. TAPP’s goal is to build partnerships between parents and teachers to help solve children's behavioral and academic challenges. 
Form relationships
●	Children benefit most when their caregivers and teachers know one another and have some basic information about “how things work” at home and school.
●	One of the basic building blocks of strong parent-teacher relationships is a focus on children’s strengths and the strengths of the partnership.
Create ways to become and stay engaged
●	Engagement — between parents and teachers, and with their students—is essential to help children feel valued and important.
●	Efforts to remain connected, no matter how small, will help create deep and meaningful consistency for the child at home and at school.
Communicate two ways
●	Both parents and teachers have important information to share when it comes to a child they both know well.
●	Make sure that communication is frequent and clear, and everyone has an equal chance to speak and to listen.
Structure consistent opportunities for learning and behavior
●	Look for similar ways to create structured learning opportunities across home and school, because these connections can help children be successful in both places.
●	Reinforce children’s positive behaviors at home and school to help them experience consistent messages.

Collaborate to achieve goals and solve problems

●	Both parents and teachers have important information and ideas that can help when a student is having a problem.
●	Children show more improvement when teachers and parents work together to create a plan, decide on strategies, and practice them at school and home.

Savvy teachers make it a priority to develop opportunities for parents to get involved both in their child’s individual learning and in their classrooms. They quickly discover that students aren’t the only ones who benefit. Strong parent-school partnerships can improve school climate, provide family services and support, increase parents’ skills and leadership, connect families with others in the school and help teachers with their work. 

Resources

Teachers & Parents As Partners (TAPP), https://cyfs.unl.edu/TAPP/research

The Center of Parent School Community Partnerships at Johns Hopkins University, www.sfcp.jhucsos.com/

Contributed by Connie Potter, communications consultant