Children, Families, and Communities Guidebook Developing Family Par.docx

Children, Families, and Communities Guidebook: Developing
Family Partnerships
[CLOs: 1, 2, 4]
This week, you will continue to develop your Children,
Families, and Communities Guidebook by completing the
Developing Family Partnerships section. This week’s readings
include Chapters 4-7 of the Gestwicki text and focuses on
building family partnerships. Chapter 4 presents the
NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct (Links to an external site.)
and Statement of Commitment, specifically describing the nine
ideals connected to family involvement. These ideals support an
early childhood education professional’s ethical responsibilities
and commitments to the families in their settings. Using this
chapter, as well as the content in the Gestwicki chapters and the
NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct (Links to an external site.)
, complete the Family Partnerships section and add it to your
text-based or electronic Guidebook using the following
requirements. An example of this section and requirements can
be referenced in the Instructor Guidance.
Guidebook Setup:
Last week, you chose either a text-based or electronic format
for your guidebook. This week,
you will continue to develop your existing work by adding a
new section titled, “Developing Family
Partnerships.” You will continue to build your Guidebook using
your chosen format from last week.
Guidebook Developing Family Partnerships Section:

For this section, you are going to develop nine personal
statements of commitment, including action plans for how you
will specifically develop family partnerships in your future or
current role. For each of the nine NAEYC ethical
responsibilities, specific to the family partnerships section, you
will:
Summarize the NAEYC code of ethical responsibility statement.
Compose a personal commitment statement, specifically
detailing how you will follow this code of ethics in your current
or future role as an early childhood education professional.
Describe your specific plan, including action steps, of how you
will address this commitment statement, referencing a source,
book, website, article or community resource to support each
statement.
Content Expectations
:
Children, Families, and Communities Guidebook: Developing
Family Partnerships Introduction: Set up your Children,
Families, and Communities Guidebook with a section titled
“Developing Family Partnerships.” For this section, include an
introduction that explains what is included and why
partnerships are important for families.
Developing Family Partnerships Ideals: Using Chapter 4 of the
Gestwicki text, specifically page 104 as a guide for the nine
NAEYC Code of Ethics responsibilities to families, address the
following for each of the nine ideals:

Summarize the NAEYC code of ethical responsibility.
Compose a personal commitment statement, specifically
detailing how you will follow this code of ethics in your current
or future role as an early childhood educator.
Describe your specific action plan to address this commitment
statement, including at least four sources that support these
statements. Your supporting sources can be an Internet
resource, book, website, article, or community resource.
Writing and Formatting Expectations:
Resource Support: Writing is substantiated by at least four
supporting sources.
Organization: Demonstrates logical progression of ideas within
the writing.
Syntax and Mechanics: Writing displays meticulous
comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics, such
as spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
APA Formatting: Paper is formatted properly and all four
sources are cited and referenced in APA style, as outlined in
APA title and reference pages are included.
NOTES:

4-5. Mandated Parent
Involvement
4-5. Mandated Parent Involvement
When the powers that control funding mandate family
involvement as a program requirement, there is no longer any
debate about whether to have parent participation. Several
legislative efforts have included parent participation as part of
the required structure in schools and agencies providing
services to children. In addition, recent policies and practice
guidelines have proclaimed specific directions for programs to
follow in relation to families—sometimes in order to win
accreditation or professional status. Several examples of
mandated parent involvement will be discussed next.
4-5a. Head Start
We have already mentioned Head Start as an example of the
research linking family involvement with children’s school
success. From the beginning, Head Start was required to have
“maximum feasible participation” of the families served. Head
Start Performance Standards for family support and parent
involvement include the following:

Building relationships with parents as early as possible from
enrollment and creating ongoing opportunities for parent
involvement throughout the time children are in the program
Helping families work toward their goals and linking families to
or providing necessary services
Making programs open to parents at any time, involving parents
in the development of program curriculum, and providing
parents opportunities to volunteer or become staff
Providing parents with opportunities to enhance their parenting
skills
Helping parents become active partners in accessing health care
for their children, making community services more responsive
to their family needs, and transitioning their children into
school
Involving parents in program decision making and governance
(Head Start Performance Standards, 2010)
Parents are given a concrete means of doing something for their
children. The major role of decision maker is emphasized to
offer parents opportunities to become competent in running the
program. Parents set the standards for the hiring of professional
staff—often interviewing and selecting staff. They also
participate in decisions on budgetary matters. Parent
decisionmakers influence the agency to become sensitive to the

culture and needs of the families served.
4-5b. Title I
More recent federal initiatives authorize funds as part of
Chapter I of Title I (of PL 100-297), reauthorized by the
Literacy Involves Families Together (LIFT) Act of 2000 and the
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. Called Even Start,
the family-centered education program funds local efforts to
improve the educational opportunities for the nation’s low-
income children and adults by integrating early childhood
education and adult education for parents into a unified family-
centered Focusing on children and parents as a unit, with the
parents becoming active in their children’s development—not
relating separately to parents and children. literacy program.
The mandate calls for the following:
Early childhood education
Adult basic and secondary education and instruction for English
language learners
Parenting education
Interactive parent–child literacy activities (see Figure 4-10)
Each program funded by Title I funds must have a plan to
involve families. Sample activities and services for families that
may be funded by Title I include the following:

Family literacy activities
Parent meetings and training activities
Transportation and child care so parents can come to school
activities or volunteer in classrooms
Parent resource centers
Materials that parents can use to work with their children at
home
An example of the mandated involvement for parents can be
seen in a Parent/School Partnership agreement signed by parents
whose children were participating in a pre-kindergarten program
funded by Title I resources. In this agreement, parents agree to
the following:
Make sure my child attends school regularly.
Make arrangements for my child before and after school; for
example, arrange for an adult to wait with/for my child at the
bus stop in the morning and in the afternoon.
Keep immunizations/physicals up to date and handle any

medical needs that arise.
Attend the orientation session for parents.
Attend conferences requested by my child’s teacher and be
available for contact on a regular basis with staff (this may
involve home visits, telephone conferences, or school/worksite
conferences).
Participate in at least four parent/child/staff events during the
year.
Read with my child and sign the reading log as required.
Participate with my child in regular at-home activities designed
to promote literacy learning as requested by my child’s teacher.
Attend a minimum of five hours of family–school partnership
workshops offered by the school.
Complete and return progress reports so there is open, ongoing
communication between the teacher and myself.
Parents are informed that failure to fulfill these requirements
may mean their child cannot remain in the program.
4-5c. Education of Children with Disabilities

Parent involvement in plans to provide services for children
with special needs was first mandated by PL 94-142, the
Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975. This law
requires parents’ participation in planning with professionals to
develop an individualized education program (IEP) for their
children.
Parents can initiate a hearing if they do not agree with the
child’s diagnosis, placement, or IEP. The 1986 Education of the
Handicapped Act Amendments and all later reauthorizations and
amendments added services for infants and toddlers and
required a focus on the family for delivery of services. Parents
or guardians are included in a multidisciplinary team that
develops an individualized family service plan (IFSP),
including a statement of the family’s strengths and needs in
maximizing the development of the infant or toddler with
disabilities. These provisions are continued in the
reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Act in 1990
and the amendments of 1997. The reauthorization of the
Individuals with Disabilities Educational Improvement Act of
2004 (PL 108-446) included provisions to align special
education with the NCLB legislation, such as requiring parents
to monitor whether the IEP was in line with state standards for
achievement. Families are required to be involved with all
aspects of planning for the education of their children with
special needs. Read more about this in Chapter 14.
4-5d. Child Care and Development Block Grants
The Child Care and Development Block Grants, funded by
Congress in 1990 and reauthorized and renamed the Child Care
and Development Fund (CCDF), is legislation that lays the
foundation for a national system of safe and affordable child
care. Many provisions of CCDF highlight the importance of
parental choice and involvement. The bill preserves the rights

of parents in the system by stating that nothing in the bill
should be applied to “infringe upon or usurp the moral and legal
rights and responsibilities of parents.” Parents are given the
right to help set child care standards and policies on national,
state, and local levels. The legislature sets minimum national
standards, including parent involvement, to help parents
measure and improve program quality. The bill also funds
resource and referral programs to educate parents and the public
about child care options and choices, licensing and regulatory
requirements, and complaint procedures. These CCDF
provisions recognize the importance of including parents in
child care systems.
4-5e. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Legislation
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act, commonly
known as No Child Left Behind, was signed into law in 2002
(PL 107-10) and has far-reaching effects on educational
systems, schools, classrooms, and the children served. Four
main goals are behind the law:
Stronger accountability for results measured by student
achievement test scores, with corrective actions to be taken as
needed
More freedom for states and communities to use federal
education funds
Encouraging the use of proven education methods to improve
student learning and achievement

More choices for parents
Teachers should be familiar with all provisions of the law, but
we will focus on the choices and opportunities for families
mandated by the law. In general, the law mandates that schools
give parents the tools they need to support their children’s
learning, communicate regularly regarding academic progress
and available choices for children, provide opportunities for
family workshops, and offer parents opportunities to engage in
parent leadership activities at school (see Figure 4-11). The
intention of the requirements is for parents to play central roles
and be actively encouraged to be involved in their children’s
education.
Parents of children in low-performing schools have new options
for making changes for their children. In schools that do not
meet state standards for at least two consecutive years, parents
may transfer their children to better-performing public schools,
including charter schools, within their district, with
transportation provided by the district. Students from low-
income families that fail to meet state standards for at least
three years are eligible to receive supplemental educational
services, such as free tutoring, afterschool services, and summer
school. Parents can also choose another public school if the
school their child attends is unsafe.
Schools are required to give parents annual report cards that
show how well students in each school performed on required
standardized tests, broken out by race, gender, disability, and
the like so parents can clearly see how well their schools are
performing. In addition, parents must be given an annual report
about how teacher qualifications at the school meet the law’s
requirements.

In addition to these family rights, the law makes clear
statements about requirements for parent involvement. The
requirements include the following:
A written parent involvement policy that has included parents in
creating and evaluating the policy
Involvement of parents in planning, evaluating, and improving
the various programs for parents
Giving parents understandable descriptions and explanations of
the curricula and forms of academic assessments used to
measure student progress
Offering a flexible number of meetings for parents at various
times and using funds to provide transportation, child care, and
home visits to facilitate parent attendance
Emphasizing the importance of regular, bi-directional and
meaningful communication, including (a minimum of) annual
parent–teacher conferences in each elementary school, frequent
reports to parents about children’s progress, reasonable access
to staff, and opportunities to volunteer, participate, and observe
in their children’s classrooms
Building the capacity for parent involvement, including
providing assistance to understand curriculum content and offer
materials and training to help parents work with their children,
such as with literacy training and technology

Educating teachers on how to reach out to, communicate with,
and work with parents as equal partners, building ties between
parents and the schools
Training parents to enhance the involvement of other parents
Sharing responsibilities between home and school for high
student achievement
Coordinating parent involvement activities with Head Start,
Reading First, Early Reading First, Parents as Teachers, HIPPY
(Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters), and
public preschools to encourage parents to participate more fully
Establishing parental information and resource centers
Parental information and resource centers (PIRC) are to assist
parents of children identified for improvement under Title I.
These school-based and school-linked centers are designated to
help implement effective parental involvement policies,
programs, and activities that will improve children’s academic
success. Another purpose is to develop and strengthen
partnerships among parents (including parents of children from
birth through age five), teachers, and their children’s schools
and programs. Fifty percent of the funds designated for PIRC
are to serve areas with a high concentration of low-income
families; of the funds, a minimum of 30 percent is to be used to
establish, expand, or operate early childhood parent education
programs. (See the information about the PIRC program at the

website noted at the end of this chapter.)
With these provisions and requirements, the act is sending clear
messages to schools about the necessity of family involvement
programs in all schools. It is important for teachers to
understand the requirements of the law and help interpret them
to families. Many hope that this is the beginning of a new era of
home and school communication and partnership, even while
they may have concerns about other aspects of the law, such as
the emphasis on testing.
Two resources could be particularly useful to teachers trying to
help families understand the implications of NCLB for
themselves and their children. A fact sheet titled
Choices for Parents
is available to download and print from the Department of
Education website; see the references at the end of this chapter.
Booklets titled
Models of Meaningful, Productive Parent Engagement
and
Success Stories about Family and Community Involvement
are available from the Learning First Alliance; see information
about this website at the end of this chapter (see Figure 4-12).
4-5f. Recommendations from Professional Organizations
Beyond these legislative mandates, clear statements issued from
several professional organizations point toward inclusion and
involvement of parents in schools for young children as a
measure of a quality program.
Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale
A tool that is widely used in the United States—and in military
child care and other programs around the world—is the Early
Childhood Environment Rating Scale, now in a revised edition

(Harms, Clifford, & Cryer, 2004). Program administrators,
credentialing evaluators, and teachers wanting to identify areas
of strength and need for improvement in an early childhood
program use the 43 items of the rating scale. One of the items,
number 38, is focused on provisions for parents.
The specific indicators identified under this item delineate
practices that may be rated from inadequate to excellent. In
many states, programs must get at least a good rating to gain a
higher standard of licensing or certification. The descriptors
that suggest quality are described in Figure 4-13.
NAEYC Accreditation
The NAEYC has developed standards to accredit high-quality
programs for young children. The NAEYC governing board
approved revised accreditation performance criteria in 2005.
Among the program standards, partnerships with families are
included as a necessary component. Program Standard 7 says:
The program establishes and maintains collaborative
relationships with each child’s family to foster children’s
development in all settings. These relationships are sensitive to
family composition, language, and culture.
Rationale
Young children’s learning and development are integrally
connected to their families. Consequently, to support and
promote children’s optimal learning and development, programs
need to recognize the primacy of children’s families; establish
relationships with families based on mutual trust and respect;
support and involve families in their children’s educational
growth; and invite families to fully participate in the program.
(NAEYC, 2005a)

The specifics drawn from the performance criteria in the section
related to families (NAEYC, 2005a, pp. 13–15) can be found on
the inside cover of this textbook.
Cultural Considerations
Lessons from Around the Globe
You will have noticed that these discussions have centered on
American research, American institutions, and American
legislature and requirements. Families who enter American
schools and preschools having had experiences in other
countries may have encountered similar or very different
approaches in working with families. Around the globe, early
educators are struggling with how to achieve optimum outcomes
with children, including working with families and adapting
practices to individual communities. Such studies go beyond the
scope of this textbook, but interested students can learn more by
studying what is happening around the world, including in the
countries from which their immigrant families come. A starting
place could be the entire November 2007 and November 2010
issues of
Young Children
[
62
(6) and
65
(6)], in which programs and practices in places as far-flung as
Bangladesh, China, South Korea, Estonia, Denmark, El
Salvador, and more are discussed.
Read about some of these programs and then reflect on how
ideas from other countries can contribute to good practices for
children and families with whom you work.
Code of Ethics

The Code of Ethical Conduct and Statement of Commitment,
approved by NAEYC’s Governing Board in 1989, revised in
2005, and reaffirmed and updated in 2011, includes a section of
ethical responsibilities to families, articulating 15 specific
principles governing actions and the following nine ideals:
To be familiar with the knowledge base related to working
effectively with families and to stay informed through
continuing education and training
To develop relationships of mutual trust and create partnerships
with the families served
To welcome all family members and encourage them to
participate in the program (See Figure 4-14.)
To listen to families, acknowledge and build on their strengths
and competencies, and learn from families as we support them
in their task of nurturing children
To respect the dignity and preferences of each family and to
make an effort to learn about its structure, culture, language,
customs, and beliefs
To acknowledge families’ child-rearing values and their right to
make decisions for their children
To share information about children’s education and

development with families and to help them understand and
appreciate the current knowledge base of the early childhood
education profession
To help family members enhance their understanding of their
children and support the continuing development of their skills
as parents
To participate in building support networks for families by
giving them opportunities to interact with program staff, other
families, community resources, and professional services
(NAEYC, 2005, 2011)
The 15 principles that are enunciated in this section of the code
of ethics are useful in helping teachers determine appropriate
professional actions when they face dilemmas in serving
families. The principles of the code of ethics related to working
with families are accessible online.
Opportunity for Self-Reflection
As you read this chapter, do you find that your own definition
of family involvement is expanding? What was your definition
until now? What new ideas are you adding to your definition?
4-5g. NAEYC Position Statement on Developmentally
Appropriate Practice
The revised NAEYC Position Statement on Developmentally
Appropriate Practice (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009) makes
explicit the professional commitment to:

Appreciating and supporting the close ties between the child
and family
Recognizing that children are best understood in the context of
family, culture, and society
Respecting the dignity, worth, and uniqueness of each
individual (child, family member, and colleague)
These are the statements most directly related to working with
families and their cultures, customs, and beliefs. The most
recent revision repeats the emphasis on establishing reciprocal
relationships with families. The statement maintains:
Practice is not developmentally appropriate if the program
limits “parent involvement” to scheduled events (valuable
though these may be), or if the program/family relationship has
a strong “parent education” orientation. Parents do not feel like
partners in the relationship when staff members see themselves
as having all the knowledge and insight about children and view
parents as lacking such knowledge. Such approaches do not
adequately convey the complexity of the partnership between
teachers and families that is a fundamental element of good
practice. (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009, p. 23)
Of the five sections in the NAEYC position statement on roles
of the teacher, one deals specifically with “establishing
reciprocal relationships with families.” The guidelines suggest
at least the following:

In reciprocal relationships between practitioners and families,
there is mutual respect, cooperation, shared responsibility, and
negotiation of conflicts toward achievement of shared goals.
Practitioners work in collaborative partnerships with families,
establishing and maintaining regular, frequent, two-way
communication with them (with families who do not speak
English, teachers should use the language of the home if they
are able or try to enlist the help of bilingual volunteers).
Family members are welcome in the setting, and there are
multiple opportunities for family participation. Families
participate in program decisions about their children’s care and
education (see Figure 4-15).
Teachers acknowledge a family’s choices and goals for the child
and respond with sensitivity and respect to those preferences
and concerns but without abdicating the responsibility that early
childhood practitioners have to support children’s learning and
development through developmentally appropriate practices.
Teachers and the family share their knowledge of the particular
child and understanding of child development and learning as
part of day-to-day communication and in planned conferences.
Teachers support families in ways that maximally promote
family decision-making capabilities and competence.
Practitioners involve families as a source of information about
the child (before program entry and on an ongoing basis) and
engage them in the planning for their child.

The program links families with a range of services based on
identified resources, priorities, and concerns (Copple &
Bredekamp, 2009, p. 23).
NAEYC Standards for Professional Preparation
In 2001, the NAEYC published core standards for initial teacher
licensure programs, followed in 2003 by similar core standards
for associate degree preparation of teachers. Of the five
standards, the second is
Building Family and Community Relationships.
This requires education to enhance experiences so students:
Understand and value children’s families and communities.
Support and empower families and communities through
respectful, reciprocal relationships.
Involve all families and communities in their children’s
development and learning (Hyson, 2003, p. 6; see link in
references to find complete revised statement).
Specific opportunities to learn these concepts are suggested in
the standards, along with ways that students may demonstrate
their growth within their college programs.
These standards mean that students enrolled in college early

childhood education programs accredited by the NAEYC will be
involved in learning about families during their professional
preparation.
4-5h. National Parent Teacher Association Standards for
Parent/Family Involvement
In 2002, the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) revised
the content and title of its family involvement standards. Known
as the Family–School Partnership Standards, six standards are
seen as essential for any school or program involving parents:
Welcome all families into the school community.
Communicate effectively.
Support student success.
Speak up for every child.
Share power.
Collaborate with the community (PTA, 2008).
It has long been recognized in American society that parents
have the primary responsibility for deciding what is in their
children’s best interest. Public policy now seems concerned
with safeguarding family authority in the “education, nurture,

and supervision of their children.” The increasing official
attention to policies involving family matters may lead to more
specific mandates regarding family involvement.

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