A well-functioning Action Team for School, Family, and Community Partnerships is essential for the success of a school's partnership program. The action team approach ensures that work is shared among parents, teachers, administrators and others, and reduces the likelihood that partnerships will end if one active person leaves the school.
Baltimore Area Facilitators Marsha Powell-Johnson, Brenda Thomas, and Paula Williams guide the work of about 80 Action Teams in the Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS). They conduct meetings with the schools in their areas, quarterly cluster meetings with groups of schools, End-of-Year Celebrations to share best practices, and help the schools with their plans and programs.
Recently, the district-level facilitators, the Fund for Educational Excellence, and the National Network of Partnership Schools conducted a 3-hour workshop for Chairs of all BCPS Action Teams. The goal was to help the chairpersons understand the skills and actions needed for effective leadership of their teams, including delegating tasks, motivating team members, and ensuring that progress is made on partnership activities. One product of the workshop was the "ABCs of Action Team Leadership," added to Chapter 4 of the Partnership Schools Handbook.
The workshop for the Action Team leaders was a great success. It helped Action Team leaders see what Powell-Johnson of the Northwest Area of BCPS often says: "There is no 'I' in TEAM." Strong Action Teams have leaders and members who share responsibility for implementing a comprehensive program of partnerships.
One team leader explained:
"Before joining Partnership Schools, the parent liaison alone was responsible for family and community involvement. Now, the Action Team members share responsibilities. We're all turning to each other. It [the Action Team for School, Family, and Community Partnerships] has made my job so much easier."