PTA’s process for building successful partnerships starts with the National Standards for Family-School Partnerships and consists of three steps:
Families are active participants in the life of the school, and feel welcomed, valued, and connected to each other, to school staff, and to what students are learning and doing in class.
Families and school staff engage in regular, two-way, meaningful communication about student learning.
Families and school staff continuously collaborate to support students’ learning and healthy development both at home and at school, and have regular opportunities to strengthen their knowledge and skills to do so effectively.
Families are empowered to be advocates for their own and other children, to ensure that students are treated fairly and have access to learning opportunities that will support their success.
Families and school staff are equal partners in decisions that affect children and families and together inform, influence, and create policies, practices, and programs.
Families and school staff collaborate with community members to connect students, families, and staff to expanded learning opportunities, community services, and civic participation.
The benefits of family-school-community partnerships are many: higher teacher morale, more parent involvement, and greater student success are only a few. That is why PTA developed the National Standards for Family-School Partnerships Implementation Guide, a tool for empowering people to work together with an end goal of building family-school partnerships and student success.
For each of the six National Standards for Family-School Partnerships, this online guide provides:
The full guide, downloadable as a PDF, provides additional details, background, research, and success stories.
