Partners in Education: A Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships

For schools and districts across the U.S., family engagement (1) is rapidly shifting from a low-priority recommendation to an integral part of education reform efforts. Family engagement has long been enshrined in policy at the federal level through Title I of ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act), which requires that Title I schools develop parental involvement policies and “school–family compacts” that outline how the two stakeholder groups will work together to boost student achievement. (2) State governments are increasingly adding their voices to the chorus. As of January 2010, 39 states and the District of Columbia had enacted laws calling for the implementation of family engagement policies. (3) In 2012, Massachusetts was one of several states to integrate family engagement into its educator evaluation system, making “family and community engagement” one of the four pillars of its rubric for evaluating teachers and administrators. (4)