Framework of Six Types of Involvement

It is well documented that educators and parents have important roles to play in guiding young children’s learning and success in school. Still, most preschools and elementary schools struggle to conduct effective programs that engage all families in their children’s education. Through studies and fieldwork, researchers at Johns Hopkins University developed School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action that includes research-based approaches that enable schools at all grade levels to develop goal-linked programs of family and community engagement. (In this entry, the word school applies to early care and education programs, formal preschools and kindergartens, and elementary schools that include preschool and primary grades.)

This entry summarizes essential elements that improve the quality of partnership programs from year to year. These include research-based structures ...