Home–School Collaboration

Home–school collaboration, which involves connecting with families at school and at home, can be defined as a partnership between family members and school staff. Building a home–school partnership is a key responsibility for schools in order to promote the highest standards of education. In reaching out to both families and teachers, school psychologists play an important role and have a unique opportunity. The relevance of home–school partnerships has been underscored by the Futures Workgroup of the National Association of School Psychologists (2004), which has named three goals for enhancing these partnerships:

• 1.
  Identify evidence-based models of effective family–school partnerships.
• 2.
  Engage in activities to change the culture of schooling to ensure that families are integral partners in the educational process of children.
• 3.
  Change preservice education and training to infuse a focus on families as integral partners in the educational process.

Home–school collaboration has also become a focus of recent education reform efforts. While family involvement has traditionally been addressed in special education law, Eagle (2004) notes that the relationship between families and schools was also highlighted in two of the eight goals defined by the National Education Goals Panel in 1999. Goal 1 stipulates that parents will help children start school ready to learn, by devoting time each day to working with their preschool children while having access to training and support services, and Goal 8 states that schools will increase parental involvement to promote social, emotional, and academic growth of children. Further, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires that local education agencies (LEAs) make efforts to establish effective involvement of parents as well as form partnerships between parents, schools, and the community. These agencies must assist school personnel in forming connections with parents, by coordinating parent programs and working with parents as equal partners (Eagle, 2004).

Epstein (2001) outlines six types of involvement for successful school, family, and community alliances, which schools can promote:

• 1.
  Parenting—Involves assisting families in establishing supportive home environments, as well as families assisting schools in understanding the home atmosphere. Schools may provide workshops on jointly selected parenting topics that can be held at convenient times and locations.
• 2.
  Communicating—Entails talking with parents about school activities and student progress, and promoting effective home-to-school communication as well. Parents and school staff should talk about what forms of communication work best, as well as appropriate times for discussing school issues.
• 3.
  Volunteering—Advocates helping parents and teachers work together to support students, and accommodates family schedules to make student events and school programs accessible. Schools should attempt to recruit all parents to let them know their assistance is valued.
• 4.
  Learning at home—Involves opportunities for families to become engaged with their students' education at home through homework and other enrichment activities. Teachers can provide assignments for parents and children to do together, as well as inform families about goals and homework policies.
• 5.
  Decision making—Entails both families and schools as valued participants in school decisions, as well as family–school organizations and other committees to take action toward shared goals. Schools can promote this involvement by creating leadership positions for family representatives.
• 6.
  Collaborating with community—Involves coordinating resources to provide the most effective services for students. Schools can take the lead in identifying accessible resources.

The idea of family–school partnerships is important from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. Ecological systems theory says that children are a part of a social system comprised of several inter-related systems (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). These systems involve reciprocal influences, such as family and school, which are useful in understanding student behavior. Therefore, it is important to recognize each individual system (e.g., home, classroom, school, school district, and culture) and how it relates to the student's overall ecological environment. Greater continuity between home and school systems means a greater chance of student success.

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