Parent and Community Involvement

Joyce L. Epstein, in Phi Delta Kappan May 1995 article "School/Family/Community Partnerships Caring for the Children We Share"

In Epstein's article she provides a framework for involvement and sample practices. She has identified six types of involvement in her framework:

1. Parenting, where families establish home environments to support children as learners.
2. Communicating, design effective school-to-home and home-to-school communication about events and student assessment and evaluation.
3. Volunteering, recruiting and organizing parent help and support.
4. Learning at home, provide care givers with information and ideas on how to help students at home with curriculum related activities, decisions, and planning.
5. Decision making, include parents and community members in decisions made by the school and develop parent and community leaders and representatives.
6. Collaborate with community, identify and integrate resources and services from the community to strengthen school programs, family practices, and student learning and development.

Robert Sweetland's Notes ©