A family involvement program can serve as a forum for discussion and a conduit for change. Based on information from ongoing family-involvement programs, it's important to keep in mind the following points:

Remember, there is no "one size fits all" answer to partnerships. Identify, with families, the strengths, interests and needs of families, students, and school staff and work from there.

Set clear and measurable goals based on family and community input.

Develop a variety of outreach mechanisms to inform families, businesses, and the community about family involvement policies and programs. These can include newsletters, flyers, personal contacts, slide shows, videotapes, local newspapers and cable TV, web sites, and public forums.

Provide a varied menu of opportunities for participation geared to the diverse needs of families, including working families. Schedule programs and activities flexibly. Recognize that effective family involvement takes many forms that may not necessarily require parents' presence at a workshop, meeting, or school.

Ensure that families and students have complete information about the standards students are expected to meet, examples of student work that meets these standards, and understanding of how students will be assessed. For example, hold curriculum nights to feature the standards and exhibit student work. Provide workshops about the state's testing program, with a chance for parents to take the test.

Ensure that families and students have access to information about nutrition and health care, after-school programs, and community service agencies.

Recognize how a community's historic, ethnic, linguistic, and cultural resources can generate interest in family-community participation.

Hire and train a family coordinator to act as a liaison between families and schools and to coordinate family activities. This coordinator should be bilingual as needed and sensitive to the needs of families and the community, including the non-English speaking community.

Use creative forms of communication between educators and families that are personal, goal-oriented, and make optimal use of new communication technologies. One idea might be telephones in every classroom with voice-mail capacity.

Find positive messages to send to all families about their child on at least once a month.

In addition to parent-teacher conferences, offer regular opportunities for families to discuss their children's progress, raise concerns, and work as partners with school staff to solve problems that arise. To promote student success, create a support team for each student and include a family member.

Make sure that family members acting as volunteers in the school have opportunities to help teachers in meaningful ways such as assisting with instructional tasks and administrative functions. In addition to being tutors and classroom aides, family members might speak to students about their careers, explain customs from their cultural traditions, or demonstrate a special skill.

Provide professional development opportunities for educators and families to enable them to work together effectively as partners in the educational process.

Involve families in evaluating the effectiveness of family involvement programs and activities on a regular basis and use this information to improve them.