This article discusses the contributions of the international studies in this special issue and presents a few emerging topics on school, family, and community partnerships. The studies in Part I confirm that, across countries, future teachers are inadequately prepared to conduct effective partnership programmes with all students' families. Part…

Although we know that family involvement is associated with stronger math performance, little is known about what educators are doing to effectively involve families and community members, and whether this measurably improves math achievement at their schools. This study used data from 39 schools to assess the effects of family and community…

Purpose: This study tests key constructs of sociocultural and organizational learning theories with quantitative methods to better understand the nature and impact of district and school leadership and actions on the quality of programs of family and community involvement. Research Design: Survey data from a "nested" sample of 24 districts and 407…

Students who are chronically absent are more likely than other students to drop out of school. Many schools have goals to reduce student truancy and to help chronically absent students attend school regularly. Few studies, however, have focused on whether or how family and community involvement help reduce rates of chronic absenteeism. In this…

Collected data on elementary and secondary schools' rates of daily student attendance and chronic absenteeism and on specific partnership practices that schools implemented to help increase or sustain student attendance. Results suggest that schools interested in improving or maintaining good attendance can benefit from taking a comprehensive…

Examined school officials' efforts to implement family and community involvement activities to reduce the number of disciplinary actions and ensure school climates focused on learning. Longitudinal data from elementary and secondary schools indicated that regardless of schools' prior discipline rates, the more family and community involvement…

A survey of educators in 161 U.S. schools, colleges, and departments of education (SCDEs) examined the preparation of teachers to work with families and communities. The survey included questions on the demographic characteristics and present course offerings of the SCDE; attitudes and perspectives of the respondents about school, family, and…

This case study reports the feasibility of the Partnership Schools Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) model for school improvement in a Title I elementary school. Interviews were conducted and documents were collected for 3 years to study whether and how the school implemented key policy attributes--specificity, consistency, authority, power, and…

To better understand how some secondary schools are working to encourage continued family and community involvement as children progress from elementary to middle and high school, 22 educators, parents, and students at 2 middle schools and 2 high schools were interviewed. The four schools are members of the National Network of Partnership Schools,…