TheImportance ofEducational Partnerships

1 1 TheImportanceof EducationalPar tne rships3 Afterreading thischapter,youshouldhavea betterun derstandingof : whatpartnerships areandreasons forpr omotingthemwithinschool s andclassrooms; themyriad be nefitstocreatingpartnershipsamongschools ,bu sinesses, universities,families, andother communitygroups; examplesof co mmunity, pr ofessional,andfa mi ly part nershipsto en hancetheeducationof students; howhome, school,andcommunityallin fluence theeducat ional potenti al andaccessforstudents andfamilie s; theroleofsituatedlearning(Lave& Wenger,19 91)andcommunitiesofpractice(Wenger,1998) in enhancingandsustaining Partnerships ; thediffer ence be tweenacculturati onandassimilationwhenworkingwi thch ildrenfromdiverseculturalba ck grounds; collaborationmodelsandexamples.

2 And shared,sequential,an d separateresponsibi litiesrelatedto educationof PARTITHEBASICSOFEDUCATIONALPARTNERSHIPSU se theinformationyouenterin providea backgroundas yo u readaboutth e reasonsforeducationa l Partnerships andex amplesof differenttypesof zerDes cri be yourexperienceswitheducationalpartnershi psas a childandas an thepartnership,the pa rtners, the learning,an d anyspecificactivitiesthatyouremember (po si tiveandnegative).Overviewof EducationalPa rtnershi psWhatIs an Edu cationalPartnership?Thereare manydefinitionsandideasthatsurface wh en describing a partnershi ,apartnershipis an agreementwh ere twoor morepeopleor groupsworktogethertowardmutualgo n be formal, informal,or eve n unspokenas longas theyincludepeople or groupswo rk expertsagreetha t apartnershipmust benefitbothsidesforit to be tw o partiesco me to getherfo r the com mongoodof a sch ool or to enhancestudentlearning,we cal l th is anedu cational partnership .

3 Partnersca n includeanyonewho is in terestedin or committedto enrichingeducati onal experiencesforstudents,fam il ies,sch ools, andthecommunit y. Most important, partnershipsdono t includeone individ ualor onegroupdictatingwhatshouldbe doneand whyit shouldbe collaborativelywithina educati onalpart-nerships can be formed betweenteachersandstudents , thecollaborationsdi scu ssedinthisbookwillrel atemostlyto th oseoutsidetheteache r-studentrelationshipstoincludeentirefam ilies, professionals,andthebroadereducati onalcommunity. Thesepartnershipsalwaysin cludestudentsbutareinte gratedwi thi n la rg er groups,an dorg anizationscansupplementsch oo l learning andencourage li felonglearning (1999)createda CenteronSchool,Family,andCommunityPartne rshipsat Johns HopkinsUniversityin Ma rylandin anefforttoinformandpromote co mmunitypartner ships to enhanceeducationforstudentsan dfam il has threego al s: (a)creating,assessing,andsharing eff ective part-nership strategies.

4 (b)enhancing theeducati onof teachersandteac hereducationprogramsto encouragemoreco mmunityinvolvement;and(c ) conductingresearchon communitypartnershipsan d org anizedwithsimilargoalsin eac h ch ap ter,stepsforcreatingand assessingpartnershipswill be fea tured in additionto st ep -b y-stepexamples to helptea chers plan,implement,and assesscurrent andfutureed ucational Partnerships .WhyTaketh eTime to EstablishPartnerships?Theanswerto thequestionabove is quitesimple:Wesho uldes ta bli sh pa rtner-shi ps to providethebested ucation po ssible forall chi reality, partne rs hi ps arecreatedfora varietyof reasonsthatin cl udeenhancingpublic relations, seeking addi-tion al fu nding,andwo rk in g toward a particular ca useor issu e.

5 Somepa rtnershipsaredevelopedwithina fo rmalstructure,andothersaredevelopedba sedon an clude partnershipswit hstudents homeandco mmunitywithintheir missionstatementsor educational ,themoredifficultch all en ge is forsch oolsand districtsto ac tually ena ct thosepartnershipsduringth e busy sch oo l pri nci paloncetoldmeth at herteachers we re maxedout andthatthe y haddoneeverythinginstructional ly to in creasestudents educati onalachievementinclud-ing ext ra instructionalminutes forreadingand ever,their studentsdidnotshowsignificantimprovement sin learningin theseareas.

6 Shetoldmethathe r schoolChapter1 TheImportanceofEducationalPartnerships 5haddecidedto changeits strategiesan d focusfromadditionaldrillandpracticetimet o working withfa miliesandth e broadercommunityto increaseacademi c ,af termultipleparentsessionsandthedevelopme nt ofpartnersh ip programs,sheandher teachersstartedtoobservebetteracademicpr ogressforall students,a hig hermotivationfor learning,anda moreposi in creased spending forel em entaryandsec ondarysch ools,butthisextramonet arysupport hasno t resultedin significantlyhi gher aca-demic achievement,accord ingto Departmentof Educati on stat ist addition,spending to ass is t disadvantaged ch il drengre w by 45%be tween20 01 and20 06,re sult-ingin an achievement gapthatcontinuesto exi st am ongvarious groupsof students.

7 Whenschoolschooseto enhan ce part nershipswithfamilies,thishasunlimited possi-bi litiesforimprovingeducationalprogress foral l st during thepast25 years all su pport family andco mmunity involvementas a strategytha t sup-ports student le the re asonsforcontinuedinequitiesandac hi evementgapscou ld be basedonthefa ct thatthereis oftena disconnectionbetweenparents andtea chers. Family-teacherpartnership s have beenstrained at ti mesdueto thest ressrelatedto standard-izedtestingandnegative informationhighlightedwith ne published a seriesof articlesrelatedto teachersand parentsat oddswitheachother(Gibbs, 2005).

8 As a teacher anda parent,I wa s shockedby the coverhead-line, What Te achersHateAboutParents. I believe thatparentsdono t evenrealizeth at teachers mayactually hate th th pa re ntswhofeeltha tth ey ar e intrudingif theyques tio n or impedeformal sc hoolingandwithteacherswhoth inkth at pa rentsshould be doingmore,and you de finite ly havemisc om municationbetweenfamiliesandsch d th oughthereare many teacherswhoworkcollab-orativelywithfamil ies, therearejustas manyteac he rs whodo not havetheexperience,education,or strategiesto developpo sitivereciprocal relationshi ps outsidethefourwa lls of the cl ch er-famil y relationships doexist; howeve r, manydonotexistfora numberof sonincludesthedi verseculturalbeliefsof te achers, students, andfamilies;thelackof time in busyda ily schedules.

9 An addition,mostfamilies are doi ng all th ey can eac h da y to takecareof th eir childre n ti meand effortforcreatingpartnershipswithsch oolsis notusuall y a , if famili es andteachersknewof theultimatebenefits thatan educationalpartner sh ip couldhaveon theacademic development ofchildren,theywould makeit mo re of a onalpartners hi ps taketimeandeffortto develop,butoncetheyaredevelopedandsus tai ned,thebe nefitsareen d-lessforall groupsand Benefits FromEducationalPartners hip s?Havingpar tnersin educationhelpsprovide a moreevenplayingfieldforallfamilies an d children.

10 Society benefits whenst udents,families,th e community,schools,an d teachers worktogetherto educate ch il (1998)describesspecific out-co mesandbenefitsto th e school, families,student s, teachers,administrators,andtheco mmunitywhentheyworktogetheras outlinedbe PARTITHEBASICSOFEDUCATIONALPARTNERSHIPST he schoolbene fit s by n amongal l parties; e; ; forfac ul ty andstaff; diversestudentsandtheirfam ilies; erp er so nalre lationshipsamongstudents; , communication,andrelationshipsamongteach ers,students, andfamilies; participationin schooleve nt familiesbene fit by gaini andunderstandingof education; serrelationshipswiththeirch ild ren; pport;Chapter1 TheImportanceofEducationalPartnerships 7 Parents andteachersworke d togetherto createan I sland-ThemedDay.