News

Families and Schools Partner When It Comes to Education

(Hartford, CT) In the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, parents attended parent-teacher conferences with excitement and trepidation, and teachers shared a similar attitude. Teachers were eager and parents were relieved when a children received all A’s and B’s on their report cards and when conduct reports included words such as, “well behaved,” “helpful to others,” “quiet,” “hard worker,” and “compliant.” Both parents and teachers were apprehensive and uneasy if a child’s work was below standard, or if a child was a “behavior problem.”

Now, fast forward to the 1990s and early 2000s when family involvement was the key. What did families need to do to ensure their children were prepared for and successful in school? They read to toddlers, helped with and monitored homework, focused on academic achievement and test-taking, fundraised for schools, and ensured their middle school student brought home information. Essentially, the teachers possessed the power in the relationship. They delivered the information; parents were the recipients of the information.

Joyce Epstein, of John Hopkins University, transformed and redefined the way educators and families think about family and school relationships. One key concept is that families, educators, and communities all have mutual interests and influences in a child's education; another is the importance of educators and families believing and supporting each other’s importance. Epstein uses the terms "school-like families" and "family-like schools" to explain the behaviors of families and schools that believe in each other's importance.

Since the mid-2000s, researchers, educators, and families have come to view the family and school relationship as a partnership, meaning that educators and parents and guardians need to work together to best support children and youth. More importantly, both groups—the parents and the educators—need to learn new skills and knowledge, and this gives teachers and parents and guardians equal input and voice when it comes to the education of children.

In fact, the U.S. Department of Education supports and promotes family and school partnerships through the Dual Capacity Building Framework fir Family-School Partnerships. The objective of the dual focus is to build the capacity of educators and families to engage in partnerships that support student achievement and learning. If you would like more information, visit www2.ed.gov/documents/family-community/partners-education.pdf.

CREC supports school and family partnerships in many ways. CREC Magnet Schools and the Hartford Region Open Choice Program held a parent engagement series during the 2015-201616 school year, and CREC is organizing a fall conference, “Connecticut Family Engagement Conference on Social Justice and Equity: Making a Difference Together." Patricia Edwards, a professor at Michigan State University, will be the keynote speaker, and her comments will be based on her book, “New Ways to Engage Parents: Strategies and Tools for Teachers and Leaders, K-12.” Additionally, conference participants will learn about the Dual Capacity Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships, and they will have the opportunity to attend workshops that focus on school and family partnerships.

For more information about this October conference, visit www.crec.org/protraxx/docs/355021/att.pdf.