Collaborations
Center on School, Family, & Community Partnerships
The mission of this Center is to conduct and disseminate research, development, and policy analyses that produce new and useful knowledge and practices that help families, educators, and members of communities work together to improve schools, strengthen families, and enhance student learning and development.
Research is needed to understand all children and all families, not just those who are economically and educationally advantaged or already connected to school and community resources. The Center's projects aim to increase an understanding of practices of partnership that help all children succeed in elementary, middle, and high schools in rural, suburban, and urban areas.
Current projects include the development of and research on the Center's National Network of Partnership Schools. This Network guides school, district, and state leaders, and teams of educators, parents, and others to improve school, family, and community partnerships. Studies are being conducted on the structures and processes used to "scale up" programs of partnership to all schools in a district or state, and the results of these programs.
Research is conducted in collaboration with the Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk (CRESPAR) at Johns Hopkins University. Studies focus on the effects of school, family, and community partnerships, and on the development of preservice, inservice, and advanced courses in partnerships for teachers and administrators.
The Center also organizes an International Network of Scholars including researchers from the U. S. and over 40 nations who are working on topics of school, family, and community partnerships. International roundtables, conferences, and opportunities for visiting scholars are supported by the Center.
For a listing of documents available from the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships, please see the Publications Lists.