Type 2
Issue No. 20
Spring 2006

Meeting the Challenge

Sustaining Your School's Partnership Program

Developing and maintaining a strong partnership program means working hard to implement targeted, well-designed involvement activities that engage and connect with a wide range of families. Sustaining these activities from one year to the next, however, can be difficult. Over its 10 years, NNPS research and interactions with members have revealed that factors such as changes in principals, changes in members of Action Teams for Partnerships (ATPs), and changes in district personnel or priorities can all undermine efforts to create long-lasting programs of school, family, and community partnerships.

The annual NNPS awards for excellent partnership programs have shown that strong programs can develop and thrive in the midst of change. But in order for this to happen, schools must conduct and utilize evaluations of their program, and create organizational procedures to ensure that departing ATP members are replaced and new members are trained. The schools that received NNPS Partnership Awards in 2005 for their outstanding programs have demonstrated ways that you can carry out these tasks with your ATP.

Using Your Evaluations

Strong partnership programs use evaluation for more than accountability purposes. Evaluations of partnership programs and activities serve as important resources to help you improve and sustain your family and community involvement program. Grant Elementary School in Wausau, Wis., for example, goes through its evaluations at the end of each school year to assess which practices worked, which did not, and how each could be improved in the upcoming school year. At Webster Stanley Elementary School in Oshkosh, Wis., the action team examines its parent surveys to help set goals in its One-Year Action Plan for Partnerships.

Even if your evaluation is only a headcount of parents at an event, it can help you improve your program over time. At Orchard Hills School in Milford, Conn., the ATP found that a family involvement activity on literacy had the maximum number of people it could accommodate. As a result, the ATP decided to expand the activity from one to three times a year.

Transitioning Leaders

Establishing organizational procedures helps maintain a strong and stable ATP. Roosevelt Elementary School in St. Paul, Minn., asks its action team members to commit to serving on the committee for at least two years. This policy helps the ATP develop members with knowledge and expertise about the school's partnership program, and gives time to identify and train incoming team members. Similarly, Highlands Elementary School in Naperville, Ill., has a system where the ATP's chair-elect "shadows" the current chairperson for one year to learn about the duties and responsibilities of that position.

At Roberts Elementary School in Wayne, Pa., the ATP actively took part in hiring the school's new principal, ensuring that each candidate was asked about his or her philosophy on family and community involvement. Also, each year the ATP sends one or two members to the NNPS Leadership Development Conference for training. These individuals return to the school and train new ATP members, helping them understand and become comfortable with the NNPS approaches.

Moving Forward Despite Change

Inevitable and unforeseen changes can easily disrupt an ATP's progress. Programs that evaluate activities, assess what parents want and need from the school, and establish mechanisms to stabilize ATP leadership are most likely to improve and sustain their strong efforts.

2005 NNPS School Partnership Award Winners