Perspective on Parent Involvement
Joyce Epstein's Framework of
Schools, Family & Community Partnerships

"Parent Involvement means different things to different people. How do we sort it all out?" Parent Involvement staff, 1992

When the Parent Involvement Program began in 1992, one thing was clear—the term "Parent Involvement" can be confusing!

Dr. Joyce Epstein, world's foremost authority on partnerships between schools, families, and community, has developed a framework that describes the different kinds of involvement, or "school-family-community partnerships" that can lead to increased student achievement. Here are the six types of involvement:

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The basic obligations of parents.
  • Parents help ready their children to learn at all ages by keeping them healthy and safe, and by supervising, disciplining and guiding them.
  • They help children feel good about themselves and confident with others.
  • They teach them a positive attitude about learning and school.
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    Communications between home and school.
  • Schools provide information to parents about students' progress and school programs.
  • They also provide ways for parents to share with school staff information important to their chiildren's learning. (phone calls, notes, conferences, open houses, newletters, and report cards are examples.)
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    Parent involvement at school.
  • Parents assist teachers, administrators, and children in the classroom and school building by volunteering.
  • They support their children by attending student performances, sports or other events, or attending workshops or classes for their own learning as parents.
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    Parent involvement in learning activities at home.
  • Families learn together by talking and listening to each other, playing games, reading, going on trips, visiting museums, telling stories, singing and working on homework.
  • Parents help children connect family learning to school learning.
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    Parent involvement in governance and advocacy.
  • Parents help make decisions in the school through parent groups, building leadership teams and other local school organizations.
  • Parents work for school improvement at the district, state, and national level.
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    Parent involvement through community collaborations.
  • Citizens in community agencies, businesses, service groups, cultural organizations, governmental units, faith communities, and other groups work together with schools in the best interests of children's learning.
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    Why are "the types" important? They lead to a better understanding of the many kinds of partnerships that contribute to students' success. Often important partnerships such as learning in the family, family-school communication, and "basic obligations" are not readily acknowledged. Knowing their importance encourages schools and parents to undertake them along with the more traditional partnerships of volunteerism and advocacy.



    Revised from J. L. Epstein, et al., Partnership-2000 Schools Manual, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, 1996.