Step 1
Orient Yourself to the Framework
Orient yourself to the six Framework Focus Areas for building family, school, and community partnerships. The Framework is adapted from the PTA National Standards for Family-School Partnerships to respond to New Mexico families and school communities. It is designed to support family engagement initiatives that build capacity among educators and families to partner with one another around student success and school improvement.
Throughout the Framework references to families and parents should be interpreted broadly to include adults or young adults who play an important role in a student’s life. Other adults may include grandparents, aunts, uncles, step-parents, guardians, or siblings.
Families from all backgrounds, and diverse families include families from rural or urban communities, all races, ethnicities, cultures, religions, family structures, economic levels, and languages, as well as those with disabilities.
Framework Focus Areas
Welcoming All Families Into the School Community
The school culture strongly impacts family engagement. The goals in this focus area emphasize the importance of creating a welcoming environment in the school and building trusting and respectful relationships with families.
Communicating Effectively
This area emphasizes the value of communication between home and school that is ongoing, two-way, meaningful, current, and focused on student learning. When parents and school staff communicate effectively, positive relationships develop, problems are more easily solved, and students make greater progress.
Supporting Student Success
Family-School Partnerships designed to support sustainable initiatives that build knowledge and skills among educators and families to partner together around student success have an impact on healthy student development both at home and at school.
Speaking up for Every Child
School staff and parent groups can make a critical contribution to student success by ensuring that all students have an advocate, whether it’s a family member, teacher, or community volunteer. They also can contribute to student achievement by offering opportunities for families to participate in Parent Advisory Teams while learning and practicing skills necessary to speak up for children and youth.
Sharing Leadership
Schools that promote shared responsibility encourage collaboration between all parties involved in a child’s education. The focus is on families and school staff as equal partners in decisions that affect children and families and together inform, influence, and create policies, practices, and programs.
Collaborating with Community
Engaging community members, businesses, and organizations as partners in children’s education can improve learning communities through benefits such as expanded learning opportunities, broad-based support for increased school funding, and quality after school programs.