Handbook of School-Family Partnerships

Family-school partnerships are increasingly touted as a means of improving both student and school improvement. This recognition has led to an increase in policies and initiatives that offer the following benefits: improved communication between parents and educators; home and school goals that are mutually supportive and shared; better understanding of the complexities impinging on children’s development; and pooling of family and school resources to find and implement solutions to shared goals. This is the first comprehensive review of what is known about the effects of home-school partnerships on student and school achievement. It provides a brief history of home-school partnerships, presents evidence-based practices for working with families across developmental stages, and provides an agenda for future research and policy.
Key features include:



provides comprehensive, cross-disciplinary coverage of theoretical issues and research concerning family-school partnerships.


describes those aspects of school-family partnerships that have been adequately researched and promotes their implementation as evidence-based interventions.


charts cutting-edge research agendas & methods for exploring school-family partnerships.


charts the implications such research has for training, policy and practice especially regarding educational disparities.


This book is appropriate for researchers, instructors, and graduate students in the following areas: school counseling, school psychology, educational psychology, school leadership, special education, and school social work. It is also appropriate for the academic libraries serving these audiences.

Sandra L. Christenson is Birkmaier Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Minnesota.
Amy L. Reschly is Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology & Instructional Technology at the University of Georgia.

Part I: The Backdrop: Theoretical and Empirical Bases of Partnerships. Application of a Developmental/Ecological Model to Family-School Partnerships. Motivation and Commitment to Family-School Partnerships. Elements of Healthy Family-School Relationships. Diversity in Families: Parental Socialization and Children's Development and Learning. Culturally-based Worldviews, Family Processes, and Family-School Interactions. Part II: Partnerships Across Children’s Development/Schooling Levels. The Home Learning Environment and Achievement During Childhood. Parent Involvement in Early Education. Partnering to Foster Achievement in Reading and Mathematics. A School-Family Partnership: Addressing Multiple Risk Factors to Improve School Readiness and Prevent Conduct Problems in Young Children. Stormshak, Dishion, Falkenstein, Family-centered, School-based Mental Health Strategies to Reduce Student Behavioral, Emotional, and Academic Risk. School-Family Partnerships to Promote Social and Emotional Learning. School Connectedness and Adolescent Well-being. Family-School Partnerships and Communication Interventions for Young Children with Disabilities. Creating School-Family Partnerships in Adolescence: Challenges and Opportunities. Part III: Driving the Research Agenda to Inform Policy and Practice. Debunking the Myth of the Hard-to-reach Parent. Family-centered Helpgiving Practices, Parent-professional Partnerships, and Parent, Family and Child Outcomes. Mapping Family-School Relations in Comprehensive School Reform Models and Charter School Designs: A Call for a New Research Agenda. Future Directions in Family-School Partnerships. Methodological Issues in Family-School Partnership Research. From Periphery to Center: A New Vision and Strategy for Family, School, and Community Partnerships. Moving Forward in School-Family Partnerships in Promoting Student Competence: From Potential to Full Impact.