Spring, 2003, No. 14 National Network of Partnership Schools
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Why Do Schools Need NNPS and Their PTA?
Many schools, districts, and states in the National Network of Partnership Schools also have PTAs, PTOs, Home-School Associations, or other parent organizations. NNPS often is asked, “Why does our school need NNPS if we already have a PTA or PTO?” The answer is rather simple. Students benefit from the complementary roles of NNPS and a PTA or PTO. Together, NNPS and parent organizations help teachers, families, community members, and others increase and strengthen their relationships so that all stakeholders work together for student success.
Focus on Student Achievement
Often, PTAs or PTOs are parent groups that “reach into the school” to advocate for children. NNPS shares the same goals for children, however its members “reach out from within the school” to involve families and community members to support student achievement. NNPS guides school members to “reach out” by using an Action Team for Partnerships (ATP) consisting of teachers, parents, administrators, and community partners. As the basic structure for organizing a school partnership program, the ATP serves as the “action arm” of the school council or school improvement team to plan and implement activities that involve all families and the community.
Because schools are increasingly being held accountable for high student achievement, NNPS emphasizes involving families and the community in curriculum-linked activities that affect teaching and student learning. For example, the ATP may work to improve parent-teacher conferences, designs for homework, information provided to families on tests and assessments, family support of learning at home, postsecondary planning, and other academically-related involvement activities. NNPS helps schools add curriculum-linked involvement activities to their partnership programs along with other important PTA or PTO activities.
Link to School Goals
The PTA, PTO, or other parent groups develop parent leaders and increase all parents’ voices in school discussions and decisions. In addition, PTAs or PTOs often support activities that contribute to a positive climate within the school. Sometimes these activities are the result of parents’ ideas, other times teachers’ requests. In many cases however, the chosen activities are not part of a comprehensive partnership plan linked to school improvement goals.
NNPS members use the researched-based framework of six types of involvement to write a One-Year Action Plan that documents how and when the school will inform, engage, and involve families and the community in activities to help students improve reading, math, or other skills, attendance, behavior, or other school goals. NNPS encourages schools to have one school improvement plan, usually developed by the school council or school improvement team. From that base, schools establish one partnership program to support and advance student success. This requires one annual Action Plan for Partnerships to organize all of the family involvement activities that will be conducted by the ATP and the PTA or PTO. In this way, everyone’s work on family and community involvement is accounted for and celebrated, and the school’s partnership program will continue to grow and improve.
Conduct Research
NNPS and the PTA share a similar emphasis on building family and community partnership programs using Epstein’s researched-based framework of family and community involvement. NNPS extends the use of research by collecting annual data from its members so that we can work together to build new knowledge for research-based training, tools, guidelines, and other services. NNPS also offers members opportunities to participate in studies of the effects of school, family, and community partnerships on student achievement.
The bottom line is that when teachers, administrators, parents, community partners, and students work together, they develop well-planned, inclusive, and ever-improving partnership programs. There are plenty of ways to support children, and NNPS and PTAs or PTOs are important partners working to accomplish goals for students.
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