Creating home–school partnerships: examining urban and suburban teachers’ practices, challenges, and educational needs

Abstract

This study examines suburban and urban teachers’ family involvement practices, challenges they face in involving families, and their educational needs. A questionnaire was administered to 89 teachers. Data were coded using a constant comparative analysis. Codes were analyzed to determine the number of teachers whose responses fell into each category and by comparing suburban and urban teachers’ responses. Results of this study suggest that although urban and suburban teachers share some similarities in terms of their practices, challenges, and needs, a number of differences were evident. Overall, suburban teachers’ responses were more detailed and included specific strategies. We also found that urban teachers’ interests in further education did not necessarily align with the areas in which they reported challenges.

Keywords:

• teacher thinking and knowledge
• community partnership and service
• teacher education curriculum

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.