1. Understanding the Six Types of Family Involvement
Keys to Successful
Family-School Partnerships
Janie King
Family Consultant, Tennessee Department of Education
Julie Sullivan
Family Voices of Tennessee
Reggie Curran
University of Tennessee Center for Literacy Studies

2. Defining the Terms
What does the research say about family involvement?
Who is the “family” of family involvement?
What is family involvement?

3. Six Types of Family Involvement
PARENTING
COMMUNICATING
VOLUNTEERING
LEARNING AT HOME
DECISION MAKING
COLLABORATING WITH THE COMMUNITY

4. Parenting Assist families with: parenting and child-rearing skills
understanding child and adolescent development
setting home conditions that support children as students at each age and grade level
Assist schools in understanding families.

5. Challenges
Provide information to all families who want it or who need it, not just to the few who attend workshops or meetings at the school building.
Enable families to share information with schools about background, culture, children's talents, goals, and needs.
Make all information for families clear, usable,
age-appropriate, and linked to children's success.

6. How has SIG responded to the challenges?

7. Main Point
Workshop is not only a meeting on a topic held at the school building at a particular time, but also the content of a topic to be viewed, heard, or read at convenient times and varied locations.

8. Possible Results STUDENTS
Awareness of family supervision, respect for parents
Positive personal qualities, habits, beliefs, and values taught by family
Balance between time spent on chores, other activities, and homework
Regular attendance, awareness of importance of school
PARENTS
Self-confidence about parenting and knowledge of child/adolescent development
Adjustments in home environment as children proceed through school
Awareness of own and others' challenges in parenting
Feeling of support from school and other parents
TEACHERS
Awareness of own skills to share information on child development
Understanding of families' backgrounds, cultures, concerns, goals, needs, and views of their children
Respect for families' diversity, strengths and effort

9. Communicating
Communicate with families about school programs and student progress through effective school-to-home and home-to-school communications.

10. Challenges
Make all memos, notices, and other print and non-print communications clear and understandable for all families.
Consider parents who do not speak English well, do not read well, or need large type.
Obtain ideas from families to improve the design and content of major communications such as newsletters, report cards, and conference schedules.
Establish an easy-to-use two-way channel for communications from school-to-home and from home-to-school.

11. How has SIG responded to the challenges?

12. Main Point
Communications about school programs and student progress are not only from school-to-home but from home-to-school, parent-to-parent, parent-to-child, child-to-parent, teacher-to-teacher, etc, etc, etc.

13. Possible Results
STUDENTS
Awareness of their own progress and skills, and knowledge of actions needed to maintain or improve grades
Informed decisions about courses and programs
Awareness of their own role as courier and communicator in school-family partnerships
PARENTS
Understanding school programs and policies
Monitoring and awareness of child's progress in subjects and skills
Responses to student problems
Ease of interactions and communications with school and teachers
High rating of school quality
TEACHERS
Diversity of communications with families
Ability to communicate clearly
Use of network of parents to communicate with all families
Ability to understand family views and elicit help with
children's progress

14. VOLUNTEERING
Improve recruitment, training, work, and schedules to involve families as volunteers and audiences at the school or in other locations to support students and school programs.

15. Challenges
Recruit widely for volunteers so that all families know that their time and talents are welcome.
Make flexible schedules for volunteers, assemblies, and events to enable working parents to participate.
Provide training for volunteers, and match time and talent with school needs.

16. How has SIG responded to the challenges?

17. Main Point
Volunteer doesn’t just mean those who come to school during the day, but also those who support school goals and children's learning in any way, at any place, and at any time.

18. Possible Results STUDENTS
Learn communication skills through interaction with other adults
Increased skills that are tutored or taught by volunteers
Awareness of many skills, talents, occupations, and contributions of parents and other volunteers
PARENTS
Self-confidence about ability to work in school and with children
Awareness that families are welcome and valued at school
Use of school activities at home
TEACHERS
Organization, training, and use of volunteers
Readiness to involve families in new ways, including those who do not volunteer at school
Awareness of parents' talents and interests in school and children
Individual attention to students because of help from volunteers

19. Learning at Home
Involve families with their children in learning activities at home, including homework and other curriculum-linked activities and decisions.

20. Challenges
Design and implement a regular schedule of interactive homework (e.g., weekly or bi-monthly) for which students take responsibility to discuss important things they are learning with their families.
Coordinate family-linked interactive homework assignments if students have several teachers.
Involve families and their children in all important curriculum-related decisions.

21. How has SIG responded to the challenges?

22. Main Points
"Homework" not only means work that students do alone, but also interactive activities that students share with others at home or in the community, linking schoolwork to real life.
"Help" at home means how families encourage, listen, react, praise, guide, monitor, and discuss schoolwork with their children, not how they "teach" children school skills.

23. Possible Results STUDENTS
Homework completion -skills, abilities, and tests scores are linked to homework and class work
Positive attitude about homework and school
View of parent a similar to teacher and of home as similar to school
Self-confidence in ability as learner
PARENTS
Knowledge of how to support, encourage, and help student at home
Discussions of school, class work, homework, and future plans
Understanding of instructional program and what child is learning in each subject
Appreciation of teacher's skill and awareness of child as a learner
TEACHERS
Varied designs of homework, including interactive assignments
Respect of family time
Recognition of helpfulness of single-parent, dual-income, and all families in motivating and reinforcing student learning

24. Decision Making
Include families as partners in school decisions, governance, and advocacy through PTA/PTO, school councils, committees, and other parent organizations.

25. Challenges
Include parent leaders from all racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and other groups in the school.
Offer training to enable parent leaders to develop skills to serve as representatives of other families.
Include student representatives along with parents in decision-making groups.

26. How has SIG responded to the challenges?

27. Main Point
Decision making means a process of partnership, of shared views and actions toward shared goals, not just a power struggle between conflicting ideas.

28. Possible Results STUDENTS
Awareness of representation of families in school decisions
Understanding that student rights are protected
Specific benefits linked to policies enacted by parent organizations
PARENTS
Input into policies that affect children's education
Feeling of ownership of school
Awareness of parents' voices in school decisions
Shared experiences and connections with other families
Awareness of school, district, and state policies
TEACHERS
Awareness of perspectives of families in policy development and school decisions
Acceptance of equality of family representatives on school committees and in leadership roles

29. Community Collaboration
Coordinate resources and services for families, students, and the school with businesses, agencies, and other groups, and provide services to the community.

30. Challenges
Solve turf problems of roles, responsibilities, funds, and places for collaborative activities.
Inform all families and students about community programs and services.
Assure equal opportunities for students and families to obtain services or participate in community programs.
Match business and community volunteers and resources with school goals.

31. How has SIG responded to the challenges?

32. Main Point
Community means not only the neighborhoods where students' homes and schools are located, but also all neighborhoods or locations that influence their learning and development.
Community is rated not only by low or high social or economic qualities, but also by strengths and talents available to support students, families, and schools.
Community includes not only families with children in the schools, but also all who are interested in and affected by the quality of education.

33. Possible Results STUDENTS
Skills and talents from enriched curricular and extracurricular experiences
Knowledge and exploration of careers and options for future education and work
Self-confidence and feeling of value and belonging in the community
PARENTS
Interactions with other families in community activities
Awareness of community's contributions to the school
Participation in activities to strengthen the community
TEACHERS
Knowledge and use of community resources to enrich curriculum and instruction
Knowledge of referral processes for families and children with needs for specific services

34. Family Involvement is a win-win situation for all!
Conclusion
Family Involvement is a win-win situation for all!
Questions??
The content in this presentation is based on the work of Joyce Epstein. Please visit for more information.