Improving Home-School Collaboration with Disadvantaged Families: Organizational Principles, Perspectives, and Approaches

Abstract

Although it has been well-established that home-school collaboration benefits all children, it appears to be particularly important for children whose backgrounds include risk factors such as economic impoverishment, limited parental education, stressful home situations, and/or cultural discontinuities between home and school. Unfortunately, it is with families experiencing such social and economic disadvantages that successful home-school collaboration seems least likely to occur without systematic planning by school personnel. In this article, we review the research on parent involvement among families who historically have been disenfranchised from the educational system and suggest that schools can improve home-school collaboration with these families through adopting an ecological perspective and focusing upon organizational change. A five-phase plan for improving home-school collaboration based upon strategic planning principles is described, and a role for the school psychologist in this process is outlined.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Linda M. Raffaele

Linda M. Raffaele, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the School Psychology Program at the University of South Florida. Her primary research interests are in the areas of home-school-community collaboration, gender equity in education, early adolescent development, and behavioral interventions for disruptive behavior disorders.

Howard M. Knoff

Howard M. Knoff, PhD, is a Professor of School Psychology and past Director of the School Psychology Program at the University of South Florida. He specializes in organizational development and strategic planning, comprehensive school reform processes, social skills and school safety strategies, and professional issues in our field. A recipient of the Lightner Witmer Award for early career contributions and a Past-President of NASP, Dr. Knoff is the Co-Director of Project ACHIEVE, a nationally recognized school reform program that is in over 25 schools across the country and has received more than $8 million in external grants.