SEDL Letter | Family and Community Connections with Schools | SEDL's New Center Makes Family-Community Connections to Improve Learning

	Staff members of SEDL's National Center for Family and Community Connections with Schools are (left to right) Lacy Wood, Amy Averett, Catherine Jordan, Artie Stockton, Dana Center partner Maggie Myers, Deborah Donnelly, and Vangie Orozco. Not pictured: Dana Center partner Marilyn Fowler.

Thirty-five years of research show that school, family, and community interaction can make a difference in a student's learning experience. "Studies suggest that family involvement can improve student attendance, behavior, and academic achievement, while community involvement can help provide services that schools alone cannot give students and their families," says Catherine Jordan, director of SEDL's National Center for Family and Community Connections with Schools.

Based on this research, schools nationwide are tapping into their communities for support. But many schools and districts are unsure which programs or strategies for family and community involvement would most effectively improve student outcomes, given their student population and school and community context.

Jordan says, "When schools, families, and communities work together to address student achievement, their efforts may have a more significant impact on low-performing schools. To do this, schools, policymakers, and community groups must be knowledgeable about strategies and tools for family and community involvement, and be able to assess which of these would be most successful locally."

Established in 2000 under SEDL's Regional Educational Laboratory contract through the U.S. Department of Education, the national center is developing strategies to support people and organizations working to connect schools with families and communities across the country. The center emphasizes partnerships that have a direct impact on student achievement in reading and mathematics, as well as contribute to overall student success. It also focuses on connecting families from diverse communities with schools and involving families in preparing children to enter kindergarten.

Center staff members are building a network of local, state, regional, and national organizations -- including policymakers, educators, parents, and community members -- to share information and raise public awareness about the school-family-community connection. National partners joining the center's network to disseminate the latest research, programs, policies, and practices from the country's 10 regional educational laboratories (RELs) include the Johns Hopkins Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships; the National Center for Early Development and Learning at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; the Public Education Network; and the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin.

"Outside the REL network, there is no organization that is collecting and synthesizing the research and resources related to family and community connections with schools in a comprehensive way," says SEDL program specialist Amy Averett. "Our job is to pull together these types of information, synthesize them, and disseminate the synthesis so that practitioners can access and use research-based information to support their practice."

This year's research synthesis, the first in a series of five, covers four key issues: clarification of the concept of family and community connections with schools, measuring the outcomes of family and community connections, advancing the research base for family and community connections with schools, and addressing critical areas for research in family and community connections with schools. The annotated bibliography of current research is now online and the synthesis may soon be found online at http://www.sedl.org/connections/.

In addition to the annual synthesis, the staff of the national center is presenting videoconference or satellite broadcasts every quarter and an annual conference. The most recent satellite broadcast was "Educator Preparation for Connecting Families and Communities with Schools," while the Center's annual conference held on November 16 focused on "Family and Community Connections with Schools --Emerging Issues." Video clips from the broadcast and conference will also be available online this spring.

SEDL Letter articles related to the subject:
Involving Family and Community in Student Learning

- "Date Night" Takes on a Whole New Meaning
- A Comprehensive Collaboration
- One Child at a Time: The Case of School-Based Mentoring
- Parents Are Partners in Fabens
- Parents Reach Beyond Their Own Families
- Resources for Family and Community Involvement in Schools
- Study Circles Stave Off Crises for Two Arkansas School Districts
- The Community Is the Key to Engaging Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Families
- The Missing Link in Teacher Education Programs

SEDL products related to the subject:
Involving Family and Community in Student Learning

Briefs
- ¿Qué pasa en la escuela de mi hijo?: Una guía para el padre de familia sobre las buenas escuelas
- Benefits²: Connecting Rural School Improvement and Community Development
- Benefits²: Service Learning: A Strategy for rural school improvement and community revitalization
- Benefits²: Rural Student Entrepreneurs: Linking Commerce and Community
- Benefits²: Adapting to Community-Based Learning
- Benefits²: Collaborative strategies for revitalizing rural schools and communities
- Benefits²: Making the collaborative process work
- Creating New Governance Structures
- Deliberating About Education: A New Policy Tool? (Insights on Education Policy, Practice, and Research, Number 10)
- Developing a Collaborative Team Approach to Support Family and Community Connections With Schools: What Can School Leaders Do?
- Easing the Transition from PreK to Kindergarten: What Schools and Families Can Do to Address Child Readiness
- Engaging Families at the Secondary Level: What Schools Can Do to Support Family Involvement
- How Can Schools Involve Family and Community Members in Supporting a Child's Readiness for School?: An Interactive Research Brief
- La ley "No Child Left Behind" Opción de cambio de secuela: Guía informativa para padres de familia
- Learning Outside of the School Classroom: What Teachers Can Do to Involve Family in Supporting Classroom Instruction
- NCLB School Transfer Option: Parent Information Guide
- Organizing Family and Community Connections With Schools: How Do School Staff Build Meaningful Relationships With All Stakeholders?
- Policymakers Build Bridges: (Insights on Education Policy, Practice, and Research, Number 13)
- Reaching Out to Diverse Populations: What Can Schools Do to Foster Family-School Connections?
- Speak Up!: Engaging Policymakers with Educators and Communities in Deliberative Dialogue (Insights on Education Policy, Practice, and Research, Number 9)
- What Do We Mean by "Family and Community Connections with Schools?"
- What Do We Mean by Family and Community Connections with Schools?: An Interactive Research Brief
- What Structures Can Help Schools Create Effective Family and Community Involvement That Supports Learning Outside of School?: An Interactive Research Brief
- What's Going on in My Child's School: A Parent's Guide to Good Schools

Literature Reviews/Research Syntheses
- A New Wave of Evidence: The Impact of School, Family, and Community Connections on Student Achievement
- Connection Collection
- Diversity: School, Family, and Community Connections
- Emerging Issues and A New Wave of Evidence: Set of Two School, Family, and Community Connections Publications
- Emerging Issues in School, Family, & Community Connections
- Emerging Issues, A New Wave of Evidence, and Diversity: Set of Three School, Family, and Community Connections Publications
- Emerging Issues, A New Wave of Evidence, Diversity, and Readiness: Set of Four School, Family, and Community Connections Publications
- Readiness: School, Family, & Community Connections
- The School-Family Connection: Looking at the Larger Picture, A Review of Current Literature

Magazines/Newsletters
- SEDLetter, Volume X, Number 3: Pulling Together
- SEDLetter, Volume XII, Number 1: Putting the Public back into Public Schools
- SEDLetter, Volume XIV, Number 1: Family and Community Connections with Schools

Professional Development Resources: Guides/Toolkits
- Beyond the Building: A Facilitation Guide for School, Family, and Community Connections
- Building Home, School, and Community Partnerships
- Building Support for Better Schools: Seven Steps to Engaging Hard-to-Reach Communities
- Continuity in Early Childhood: A Framework for Home, School, and Community Linkages
- Creating Collaborative Action Teams: Working Together for Student Success
- Family and Community Involvement: Reaching Out to Diverse Populations
- La creación de apoyo para mejores escuelas: Siete pasos para lograr la participación de todas las communidades
- La deliberación pública: Una forma de enlazar la reforma escolar con la diversidad cultural
- La participación de la familia y la comunidad: El acercamiento a las diversas poblaciones
- Making the Connection: A Guide to Involving Policymakers in a Community Dialogue on Education
- Making the Most of the Connection: A Policymaker's Guide to Participating in a Community Dialogue on Education
- Prosperando juntos: La conexión entre el mejoramiento de la escuela rural y el desarrollo comunitario
- Thriving Together: Connecting Rural School Improvement and Community Development (PDF only)
- Thriving Together: Connecting Rural School Improvement and Community Development (English)
- Thriving Together Bundle: Connecting Rural School Improvement and Community Development (Print and PDF versions)

Reports
- Calling the Roll: Study Circles for Better Schools (Policy Research Report)
- Collaborative Action Team Process: Bringing home, school, community, and students together to improve results for children and families: Final Research Report
- Public Deliberation: A Tool for Connecting School Reform and Diversity

Resource Lists
- Calling the Roll: A Resource Guide to Education-Related Data in Arkansas
- Calling the Roll: A Resource Guide to Education-Related Data in Oklahoma

Videos
- Calling the Roll: Study Circles for Better Schools (video)