Policy Guidelines

The policy development process should include input from teachers, administrators, families, students, and key community-based organizations and businesses. Policies are needed not only at the school level but also at the state and district level to promote family and school partnerships.

State/district policies should recognize the following:

• The critical role of families in their children's academic achievement and social well being.
• The responsibility of every school to create a welcoming environment, conducive to learning and supportive of comprehensive family involvement programs that have been developed jointly with families.
• The need to accommodate the diverse needs of families by developing jointly, with families, multiple, innovative, and flexible ways for families to be involved.
• The rights and responsibilities of parents and guardians, particularly in their right to have access to the school, their child's records, and their child's classroom.
• The value of working with community agencies that provide services to children and families.
• The need for families to remain involved from preschool through high school.

Good school policies should also add the following:

• Outreach to ensure participation of all families, including those who might lack literacy skills or for whom English is not their primary language.
• Recognition of diverse family structures, circumstances and responsibilities, including differences that might impede family participation. Policies and programs should include participation by all persons interested in the child's educational progress, not just the biological parents.
• Opportunities for families to participate in the instructional process at school and at home.
• Opportunities for families to share in making decisions, both about school policy and procedures, and about how family involvement programs are to be designed, implemented, assessed and strengthened.
• Professional development for all school staff to enhance their effectiveness with diverse families.
• Regular exchange of information with families about the standards their children are expected to meet at each grade level, the objectives of the educational programs, the assessment procedures, and their children's participation and progress.
• Links with social service and health agencies, faith-based institutions and community groups to support key family and community issues.