Family-School-Community Partnerships:
A Compilation of Professional Standards of Practice for Teachers

Margaret Caspe, Harvard Family Research Project
August 2001

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Over the next 10 years, an estimated 2.2 million new educators are expected to enter the teaching force. In the current climate of high standards and accountability, these teachers bear the responsibility for the success of all students. Research clearly shows that teacher qualifications are related to student achievement.* A crucial process to ensure quality teaching is the creation of national standards for the profession. Creating external teaching benchmarks and codifying standards for high quality programs establishes the level of professional performance that is both possible and necessary.

Standards for the teaching profession have integrated family and community relations as areas where teachers need to demonstrate competency. Families and local communities are crucial partners to improve student achievement, and teachers are expected in new professional and state standards to engage them to a much greater extent. Standards in family involvement identify the qualities and body of knowledge teachers need to connect home and school. For example, newer standards issued by professional or certifying organizations expect teachers to:

• Work with and through parents and families to support children's learning and development. (NBPTS)
• Know the importance of establishing and maintaining a positive collaborative relationship with families to promote academic, social, and emotional growth of children. (NCATE)
• Propagate communication between home and school that is regular, two-way, and meaningful. (National PTA)
• Foster relationships with school colleagues, parents, and agencies in the larger community to support student's learning and well-being. (INTASC)
• Communicate about mathematics goals to help families and other caregivers. (NCTM)
• Maintain an open, friendly, and cooperative relationship with each child's family, encourage their involvement in the program, and support the child's relationship with his or her family. (CDA)

Professional organizations differ in the depth and format of standards they create. To make this information more accessible, this document compiles professional standards of practice in family involvement. This document offers a way to explore the range of standards across organizations and to access the underlying principles of standards in family involvement in one easy location. It can be used by teacher education institutions as a framework and guide for developing programs, curricula, and courses about family and community involvement. It also serves as a reference for community and parenting groups that take an active role in strengthening teacher preparation by participating in the development, implementation, and evaluation of these standards.

* Darling-Hammond, L. (2000). Teacher quality and student achievement: A review of state policy evidence. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 8(1), 1–51. Available at epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v8n1. Haycock, K. (1998). Good teaching matters: How well-qualified teachers can close the gap. Thinking K–-16, 3(2), 1–16. Available at www2.edtrust.org/edtrust/product+catalog/reports+and+publications.htm.

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