Spring 1997 No. 2  National Network of Partnership Schools

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Issues and Insights

What Makes a Permanent Program of Partnerships?

Joyce L. Epstein, Director

One of the main goals of the National Network of Partnership Schools at Johns Hopkins University is to help schools, districts, and states establish permanent programs of school, family, and community partnerships. In permanent programs, families and community members are welcomed, respected, informed, and involved in positive and productive ways. Activities are planned every year for the six types of involvement to improve school programs, strengthen families, increase students' success, and develop helpful connections with the community. How do school, district, or state leaders make their programs of school, family, and community partnerships PERMANENT? By starting some good habits this spring.

It is time to do some "spring gleaning!" That means it is time to gather information, assess progress, and make plans for the next school year. To progress toward a permanent, ever-improving program of partnerships, Action Teams should:

Complete an End-of-Year Evaluation to check progress overall and on each of the six types of involvement. Also, review Starting Points: An Inventory of Present Practices to chart present practices and identify activities that should be maintained or improved next year.

Revisit the Three-Year Outline. Select Form A or the new Form B to update a long-term vision for a program of partnerships.

Write a new One-Year Action Plan for 1997-98. Most important of all is to complete the next One-Year Action Plan before the end of the school year so that your partnership program will continue in the fall. Select Form A to plan activities for each of the six types of involvement or the new Form B to link school, family, and community partnerships to the major goals in a School Improvement Plan. (See Chapter 5 of  School-Family-Community Partnerships:  Your Handbook for Action.)

States and districts, too, must work toward permanent programs of partnerships with some spring gleaning. This includes collecting information on the effectiveness of staff assistance to schools, and writing plans for 1997-98 to improve training, support, communications, opportunities to share practices, and to "scale up" the number of schools or districts in the National Network of Partnership Schools.

The National Network will do some spring gleaning too! In May, we will mail to all Key Contacts an UPDATE: The Annual Progress Report to the National Network of Partnership Schools to check the progress and plans of members.

Gathering information every spring and completing new plans for the next school year will help create permanent programs of school-family-community partnerships.

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