The School-Family Partnership (SFP) project at the University of Illinois at Chicago is one example of such an effort. The project was initiated in December, 1994 with the dual aim of fostering constructive and consistent communication and collaboration between school personnel and parents and facilitating parental participation in education, both in school and in home learning activities. During the 1996-97 school year, the SFP project collaborated with three inner-city public elementary schools to investigate existing perceptions and practices on school-family relationships and to pilot strategies to promote positive home-school interactions. The results of these assessment efforts point to areas that require particular attention and suggest possible strategies for intervention. On the basis of these results, the SFP project has developed materials for both parents and teachers that offer suggestions on such topics as monitoring of homework, communication between parents and school staff, and participation in parent-teacher conferences.

Assessment of the perceptions and current practices of both parents and teachers is an essential step toward effective implementation of partnerships between families and schools. It is important to assess the status quo prior to the implementation of any school-family programming in order to understand the attitudes and practices that parents and teachers hold. Research has shown that school and teacher practices are instrumental in influencing parent participation. Specifically, teacher outreach to parents plays an important role in influencing parent perceptions positively and motivating parents to be more actively involved in their child's education. By measuring parent and teacher attitudes and practices, schools can make more efficient choices about programming and address the specific points that emerge from the assessment process.

Toward this end, a self-assessment tool was created for the SFP project to measure the perceptions and practices of teachers and parents in participating schools. Both parent and teacher questionnaires were constructed. Versions of the parent questionnaire were presented in both English and Spanish to serve the Latino population of the participating schools.

The parent survey contained 37 items on school-family partnerships and 14 items to elicit demographic informtion. Questions covered the following topics: (a) parent involvement at home; (b) parent-initiated involvement at school; (c) parents' perceptions about teachers' parent outreach efforts; and (d) parents' willingness to expand their involvement

The teacher survey contained 42 items on school-family partnerships and 5 demographic items. Questions covered (a) parent outreach strategies applied by teachers; (b) teacher perceptions of parent responsiveness to parent involvement initiatives; (c) teacher perceptions of current level of parent practices; and (d) teachers' willingness to expand their involvement.

Teacher and parent surveys were distributed in the three project schools. Questionnaires were distributed to parents of prekindergarten through third-grade students in project classrooms at these schools. Many items in the questionnaire are developmentally appropriate for the upper elementary grades as well, but as a starting point the SFP project focused on early grades.

The overall return rate was 64% for the parent surveys and 74% for the teacher surveys. Of the 272 parents who completed the questionnaire, 84% reported that they were the mother or stepmother of the child. On average, there were two adults and three children living in the households surveyed, but in 52% of the cases the child's other parent did not live at the same home with the child. Forty-eight percent of the parents or guardians who were surveyed reported having a high school diploma. Unemployment rates were extremely high, especially if one considers the national average of about 5%. Specifically, 60% of those completing the parent survey reported being unemployed, and 44% said that their child's other parent was unemployed as well. Of the 43 teachers who completed the survey, 73% had more than 5 years of teaching experience; the average number of students in the classrooms they were serving was 24.

Among the major findings of the teacher survey was the report from teachers that most of their students completed homework on an average night, but did not necessarily do a good or thorough job. Educators also agreed that performance would improve if someone at home could help the children with homework. In addition, some teachers were concerned that in certain cases someone else may have completed the homework instead of the child.

The majority of teachers reported that they communicated with parents primarily when the child had a problem at school and much more rarely to convey positive news. Several of the teachers noted that they greeted parents as they dropped off or picked up their children. Fewer claimed to have met with parents at school other than for report card pick-up. The majority of teachers were willing to send personalized notes to students' homes and to call parents to talk about their children.

Many parents reported being involved in their children's homework several days during an average week. Although the children of the parents surveyed were attending early elementary school grades, several parents reported having trouble understanding homework assignments. The majority of parents did not read to or with their child daily, with 20% reading with their child 1 day or less a week.

Many of the parents reported that the teacher usually notified them when their child was having trouble at school. Fewer reported that the teacher notified them when their child did something well. In addition, many of the parents reported that they generally pick up their child's report card, but a significant number of them said that they did not talk to the teacher at other times. The majority of parents said that they had never, or rarely, asked the teacher how to help their child with school work. Several parents also reported that the teacher had never, or rarely, suggested specific ways to help their child at home. An even higher percentage said that the teacher rarely communicated with them about how their child was doing at school in general.

Half of the parents reported that they were willing to come to workshops to find out how they could help their child with homework or with getting along with others. Approximately the same percentage of parents said they were willing to talk to their child's teacher more often by phone

Collecting information on SFP parent and teacher perceptions and practices offers a firm foundation for program development and implementation. The core of the SFP programming involves three intervention foci: (a) two-way home-school communication; (b) parent-teacher conferences; and (c) family involvement in children's learning at home and school. On the basis of this information, various strategies and tools have been developed such as welcome notes; pledges; brochures addressed to both parents and teachers to enhance communication; activities before, during, and after parent-teacher conferences; and specific steps that teachers can take to extend classroom learning and involve parents in a meaningful way.

In response to views expressed by parents and teachers, both in the survey and in conversations with project staff, a series of materials and strategies were shared to enhance communication and expand parental involvement in the project schools. The following are samples of the SFP project activities that have been introduced:

• Parents were provided with tips to assist their child with homework more effectively.
• Parents were encouraged to read to their children and take them to the library often. 
• Teachers received assistance in developing positive notes or certificates to inform parents of something good their child did. 
• Teachers received assistance in creating newsletters and other documents to share classroom routines and expectations with parents. 
• Teachers were offered helpful tips to maximize the benefits of a parent-teacher conference. 

The Partnerships publication series, initiated by the SFP collaborative, offers practical suggestions for parents and teachers to help students succeed. For ordering information, contact the LSS Information Services Coordinator at (800) 892-5550 or check the LSS homepage at http://www.temple.edu/LSS.