For the National Network of Partnership Schools, the UPDATE surveys serve two purposes: (1) they help us keep our contact information for members up-to-date, and (2) they provide valuable data that allow us to identify important processes and outcomes of school, family, and community partnership programs. We recently completed a study using UPDATE data from 565 elementary schools that examined which school processes affect program implementation and the extent to which high quality implementation is associated with parent involvement at school.
Data analysis supported a model of program development (see Figure 1) suggesting that district (external) and collegial (internal) support are key elements for developing partnership programs that reach out to more family and community partners. Schools that met more challenges such as communicating with all families, recruiting and training parent volunteers, and ensuring that all major groups of families participate in school decision-making reported higher levels of parent involvement at school.
Figure 1
From: Sheldon, S. B. (in press). Testing a Structural Equation Model
of Partnership Program Implementation and Parent Involvement. Accepted for
publication in the Elementary School Journal.
Additional analyses showed that district support for partnerships was associated with greater implementation of basic NNPS program components (e.g., having Action Team committees and writing One-Year Action Plans), as well as schools' ability to meet challenges to involve all families. Basic NNPS implementation also was associated with more support for partnerships from teachers, principals, parents, and the community, which helped schools reach out to all families.
The data suggested that schools in large urban areas serving low-income families tend to have lower levels of parent involvement at school. Even these schools had higher percentages of parents attending back-to-school night and parent-teacher conferences when they addressed challenges to reach all families.
This NNPS study suggests that the development of strong partnership programs is a systemic effort that benefits from the support of districts and school community members, and that can help more families become involved in their children's education.