Revised National Standards Stress Partnerships

In the 2002 research review A New Wave of Evidence: The Impact of School, Family, and Community Connections on Student Achievement, Anne T. Henderson and Karen L. Mapp conclude that there is a positive and convincing relationship between family involvement and student success, regardless of race/ethnicity, class, or parents’ level of education. To put it another way, when families are involved in their children’s learning both at home and at school, their children do better in school. The report also points to specific types of involvement as being especially beneficial to children’s academic success.

PTA, working with leading experts on parent involvement and school-community partnerships, has updated its National Standards for Parent/Family Involvement Programs to reflect recent research and improve parent and community involvement practices. The updated National Standards shift the focus from what schools should do to involve parents to what parents, schools, and communities can do together to support student success. To reflect this change, the standards have been renamed the National Standards for Family-School Partnerships.

Standard 1: Welcoming all families into the school community
Families are active participants in the life of the school, and feel welcomed, valued, and

connected to each other, to school staff, and to what students are learning and doing in class.

Action Ideas:

1. Place large signs saying "Welcome" at all school entrances and on each classroom door, written in all major languages spoken in the school.
2. Conduct a welcoming walk through. Lead a tour of your school to identify the elements of the school that let parents and community members know they are welcomed partners and ask them for ways to make the school more friendly.
3. Host activities and events at varying times to accommodate family work schedules and lifestyles.
4. Provide interpreters for non-English speaking families to ensure their participation.
5. Host a "Welcome to the School" activity for new families a week before school starts.
6. Establish a family resource center or a family support team to connect families to appropriate community and other resources that support student learning.
7. Post names, pictures, and titles of all school staff (including custodians and cafeteria workers) in the main hall of the school and on the school website.
8. Survey families at the beginning of the year to identify their interests and concerns.
9. Recruit and train volunteers to serve as family mentors.

Standard 2: Communicating effectively
Families and school staff engage in regular, two-way, meaningful communication about student learning.

Action Ideas:

1. Identify the forms of diversity represented in your school or program, including race, ethnicity, culture, language, socioeconomic background and disability.
2. Obtain information about appropriate ways to communicate acceptance and respect to diverse families in your community.
3. Offer informal, nonthreatening opportunities for parents to provide input and feedback on all areas of interest and concern.
4. Create a parent handbook that provides valuable information about the school, what their children are learning, and how parents can help them at home.
5. Develop a slide presentation or video orienting new parents and students to the school.
6. Provide interpreters, contact information, and families' schedules and other assistance to teachers so they can make at least two positive phone calls a month to parents.
7. Encourage parents to call or visit their child's teacher at least twice a month.
8. Involve students in conducting a parent satisfaction or school climate survey. Host an event to present the results and discuss opportunities for improvement.

Standard 3: Supporting student success
Families and school staff continuously collaborate to support students’ learning and healthy development both at home and at school, and have regular opportunities to strengthen their knowledge and skills to do so effectively.

Action Ideas:

1. Following the first report card period, sponsor a study skills session where parents are asked to come with their student to learn how to improve grades and study habits.
2. Provide information sheets to guide parents in helping students with a particular skill; for example, how to help a young child with reading or a teen with a research project.
3. Provide opportunities for student-parent interaction through homework assignments, such as an interview. Research shows that this type of student-parent interaction results in higher parent involvement, and increased homework completion and writing scores.
4. Develop a school-family compact in which teachers, parents and student agree on specific steps to improve the student's skills.
   Offer 'ask the right question" workshops for families to prepare them to have more proactive conversations with teachers about how their students are doing.
5. Organize exhibits of student projects in community settings and have students explain their work and its relevance to viewers.

Standard 4: Speaking up for every child
Families are empowered to be advocates for their own and other children, to ensure that students are treated fairly and have access to learning opportunities that will support their success.

Action Ideas:

1. Create a Parents' Bill of Rights and Responsibilities that reinforces the important role parents play as partners in education.
2. Include an organizational chart in the school handbook with an explanation of how and when to contact the principal, teachers, counselors, and other staff. Explain step-by-step how to resolve an issue or concern.
3. Identify available parent leadership and parenting programs or classes and explore ways to offer them to families.
4. Publish a catalog of all the programs in the school. Describe how to apply and who is eligible. Include Title I, special education, gifted and honors programs, and vocational and career education.
5. Develop a student introduction form that families can complete to give teachers information about their child's interests, special skills and learning style.
6. Offer advocacy workshops where parents role-play different situations and practice holding productive conversations with a teacher, counselor, or their child about an issue or problem.
7. Organize tours of the next school students will attend. Be sure to use parents and student from the new school as tour guides.
8. Organize a back-to-school neighborhood walk in late summer so that the principal, parent leaders, and teachers can reacquaint themselves with the school community and demonstrate their commitment to a family-school community partnership.

Standard 5: Sharing power
Families and school staff are equal partners in decisions that affect children and families and together inform, influence, and create policies, practices, and programs.

Action Ideas:

1. Identify community organizations and businesses that support school improvements (social and academic) and invite them to speak to families and staff about how they can help.
2. Provide support for parents and teachers who serve on decision-making communities to ensure they are informed and confident in their roles.
3. Use results from a satisfaction or school climate survey to set the agenda or PTA meetings.
4. Develop a process, such as focus groups or surveys, to get broad parent input into decisions.
5. Take families on field trips to district offices and school board meetings.
6. Hold a voter registration drive. Offer voter registration forms in the school office and help families fill them out.
7. Encourage families to lobby local officials about needed funds for the school. Invite candidates for public office to speak at the school and raise these issues when they come.
8. Hold focus groups about issues that concern families, such as racism, safety, and economic development.
9. Set up online chat groups and blogs to allow a continuing exchange of ideas on school matters.

Standard 6: Collaborating with community
Families and school staff collaborate with community members to connect students, families, and staff to expanded learning opportunities, community services, and civic participation.

Action Ideas:

1. Make connections with local community institutions, including libraries and museums, to expand learning opportunities for students.
2. Encourage families to participate in a community-mapping project in which parents and school leaders identify where resource assets and gaps exist.
3. Provide access to the school for families and the community for after-hours programming, such as classes, community meetings, and recreation and cultural activities.
4. Use community-based organizations as partners to mobilize families in lobbying for additional resources for the school. This advocacy also could focus on addressing other relevant community issues, including those that affect these organizations.

Enabling families and communities to become informed about and part with schools in the education of children must be viewed as an essential component of school organization. Positive results are not automatic. However, the National Standards for Family-School Partnerships offer a viable structure for creating well-planned programs and practices that will achieve measurable and sustainable results over time.

Sheri Johnson is director of programs for the national PTA organization.