National Standards for Family-School Partnerships
Successful Family-School Partnerships
PTA’s process for building successful partnerships starts with the National Standards for Family-School Partnerships and consists of three steps:
– Raising awareness about the power of family and community involvement.
– Taking action to cultivate involvement through specific programs and practices.
– Celebrating success as your school sees increased involvement and its impact.
Standard 1: Welcoming All Families into the School Community
Families are active participants in the life of the school, and feel welcomed, valued, and connected to each other, to school staff, and to what students are learning and doing in class.
Take the Standard 1 Assessment.
Standard 2: Communicating Effectively
Families and school staff engage in regular, two-way, meaningful communication about student learning.
Take the Standard 2 Assessment.
Standard 3: Supporting Student Success
Families and school staff continuously collaborate to support students’ learning and healthy development both at home and at school, and have regular opportunities to strengthen their knowledge and skills to do so effectively.
Take the Standard 3 Assessment.
Standard 4: Speaking Up for Every Child
Families are empowered to be advocates for their own and other children, to ensure that students are treated fairly and have access to learning opportunities that will support their success.
Take the Standard 4 Assessment.
Standard 5: Sharing Power
Families and school staff are equal partners in decisions that affect children and families and together inform, influence, and create policies, practices, and programs.
Take the Standard 5 Assessment.
Standard 6: Collaborating with Community
Families and school staff collaborate with community members to connect students, families, and staff to expanded learning opportunities, community services, and civic participation.
Take the Standard 6 Assessment.
National Standards Implementation Guide
The benefits of family-school-community partnerships are many: higher teacher morale, more parent involvement, and greater student success are only a few. That is why PTA developed the National Standards for Family-School Partnerships Implementation Guide, a tool for empowering people to work together with an end goal of building family-school partnerships and student success.
For each of the six National Standards for Family-School Partnerships, this online guide provides:
– An explanation of each standard and its importance
– Insights to help convince educators of the standard’s value
– A success story from a school community
– Action steps for your school community
– Resources to enhance your understanding
The full guide, downloadable as a PDF, provides additional details, background, research, and success stories.
Who should use this guide?
Anyone with a stake in improving schools and student achievement can use this tool: PTA leaders, parents, school administrators, school board members, community organizations, and more.
How to use this guide
This guide can assist organizers with implementing programs and policies that encourage these family-school partnerships. Used with the supporting resources, it can help organizers educate their communities about the importance of family involvement and direct the development of effective partnerships. These materials are best used after the formation of an action team focused on promoting family involvement. This team can include parents, other caregivers and family members, school staff, community members, and even students.
- The Power of Partnerships (en español)
A guide to PTAs building successful partnerships process. - Report: The Positive Relationship Between Family Involvement and Student Success
A discussion of the finding connecting parent involvement to higher levels of student achievement. - National Standards for Family-School Partnerships
What parents, schools, and communities can do together to support student success. - A Parent Checklist
This guide provides families with questions, tips and resources to use to partner with their children’s teachers, support their children’s success, and make sure their children are getting a high-quality education. - Tips for Teachers
This guide provides teachers with tips to support student success. - Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships
U.S. Department of Education’s guide for Family-School Partnerships - Family-School Partnerships poster
Promoting the National Standards for Family-School Partnership - Action Steps for the Local PTA Leader
Ready, Set, Lead! National Standards action steps excerpted from the Implementation Guide - Estándares Nacionales para la Asociación de la Familia y la Escuela por PTA: acciones para el líder local de PTA
En susmarcas, listos, ¡guíen - National Standards Assessment Guide: Full Version
Includes introduction and information on all six standards for family-school partnerships - Estándares Nacionales Para las Asociaciones Familia-Escuela
Lo que los padres, escuelas y comunidades pueden hacer unidos para apoyar el éxito del estudiante - National Standards Assessment Guide: Introduction – Measuring Success
A guide to facilitate local schools’ implementation of programs, practices, and policies that are grounded in the National Standards - National Standards, Goals, and Indicators for Family-School Partnerships
Overview of the National Standards