Family-School Partnerships
"At our best level of existence, we are parts of a family, and at our highest level of achievement, we work to keep the family alive." - Maya Angelou
Family School Partnership Training Brochure (pdf file) free reader available
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The purpose of this training is to teach Kansas educators how to form better, more effective working partnerships with the families of the students they serve.
The target audience for this training is comprised of teams from school buildings made up of 8-12 administrators, teachers and parents. That's right school personnel and parents training together!
Schools will be asked to have representation from both regular and special education, QPA committee, SIT team, Site Council, school administrator, district level administrator or school board member and parents.
Overall Educational Objectives
The training consists of four, 3-hour units delivered in a two-day format. Throughout the training participants will...
- Reflect on personal attitudes, behaviors and experiences regarding partnering with parents.
- Recognize the importance of family-school partnerships, the different types and levels of partnerships, and strategies for overcoming barriers to forming effective partnerships.
- Assess the strengths and weaknesses of current family-school partnerships at their school.
- Develop ideas for incorporating family-school partnerships into achieving goals of School Improvement Plans at the building level.
- Brainstorm ideas for family-school partnerships at the classroom level.
- Learn specific interaction skills for partnerships with families at the individual child level.
- Formulate an Action Plan for building more effective family-school partnerships at all levels of the school.
The Family-School Partnership training was developed by the Kansas State Department of Education with funds provided by the State Improvement Grant from the United States Department of Education. The principal author, Chris Petr, Ph.D., of the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare, worked closely with an Advisory Committee who provided much of the direction for the content and format of this training. The current Advisory Committee members are Tracey L. Oltmanns and Lesli Girard, Families Together; Dawn Miler, Ph.D., Northeast Kansas Educational Service Center; Kerry Ottlinger and Marita Renauer, PhD., Kansas State Department of Education.
Levels of
Family-School
Partnerships
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Individual Child- By working together through parent-teacher conferences and other communication strategies, the partners share perspectives and work toward common goals to ensure the success of the individual child.
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Classroom Level- Partnerships at the classroom level focus on the entire group of children served. Examples include parents volunteering as aides or instructors for special topics or units, as well as parents consulting with the teacher (through a parent advisory committee or other means) on classroom activities and behavior management.
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Building Level- Parents can partner with school personnel through site councils, planning and attending workshops and consultation on school wide disciplinary policies.
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District Level- Parents partner by becoming elected to the school board and/or participating in the school board's various committees.
For more Information on Free Training in Your School. Contact:
(785) 233-4777
1 (800) 264-6343
