School, Family, and Community Partnerships : Preparing Educators and Improving Schools

How can teachers and administrators be prepared to create partnerships with families and communities? Nationwide, rhetoric in favor of parent involvement is high, but the quality of most programs still is low. Part of the problem is that most teacher education, administrative training, and other education of school professionals omit topics of school, family, and community partnerships. Instead, educators are prepared in limited ways to "deal with parents" when problems occur. Well-known and respected author Joyce Epstein updates her acclaimedSchool, Family, and Community Partnershipsto reflect the past ten years of study and advancements. New readings address this growing field and offer expanded consideration of district leadership and its impact on school programs. Epstein contends it is now possible to prepare teachers and administrators with a solid base of knowledge on partnerships. Theoretical perspectives and results from research and development can and should be shared with educators. As partners, parents and teachers share responsibility for the education and development of their children. Common messages and collaborative activities of home and school help to promote student success, prevent problems, and solve those that arise. Epstein provides the material needed to help current educators and educators in training think about, talk about, and then act to develop comprehensive programs of school, family, and community partnerships. This collection is designed for use in courses of teacher education, preparation of school administrators, and other courses that prepare professionals to understand and to work in schools and with families and students. It is a definitive resource both in and out of the classroom with comments, discussion questions, activities, and field experiences in each of the chapters.

Joyce L. Epstein is director of the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships and National Network of Partnership Schools, principal research scientist at the Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk, and research professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins University. She is the author of more than 100 publications on the nature and effects of family involvement.