National Standards for Family-School Partnerships

The February 28th National Council for State Title III Directors (NCSTIIID) 2018 Annual Meeting, held in Albuquerque, NM, included a panel discussion titled “Building Strong Partnerships between Families, Schools, and Communities.” One item that was included in the NCSTIIID meeting program packet and discussed by the panel was the National PTA’s National Standards for Family-School Partnerships. This is an excellent resource for schools and districts looking for a model to implement ESSA’s Parent and Family Engagement requirements and includes a means to measure the success of that implementation.

There are six standards with associated goals that are outlined by the National PTA. They include:

Standard 1: Welcoming All Families into the School Community

• Goal 1: Creating a Welcoming Climate
• Goal 2: Building a Respectful, Inclusive School Community

Standard 2: Communicating Effectively

• Goal 1: Sharing Information Between School and Families

Standard 3: Supporting Student Success

• Goal 1: Sharing Information about Student Progress
• Goal 2: Supporting Learning by Engaging Families

Standard 4: Speaking Up for Every Child

• Goal 1: Understanding How the School System Works
• Goal 2: Empowering Families to Support Their Own and Other Children’s Success in School

Standard 5: Sharing Power

• Goal 1: Strengthening the Family’s Voice in Shared Decision Making
• Goal 2: Building Families’ Social and Political Connections

Standard 6: Collaborating with Community

• Goal 1: Connecting the School with Community Resources

The National PTA developed the National Standards for Family-School Partnerships to empower parents, educators, community members and students to work together for the educational success of all students. These standards come with an Implementation Guide as well as an Assessment Guide that can be used to measure the success of a school’s implementation efforts.

TransACT’s products include TransACT Parent Notices, a district-wide parent engagement resource to foster family-school partnerships. TransACT’s Parent Notices are a key component of Standard 2: Communicating Effectively. One of the action steps in the implementation guide for Standard 2 is to “[m]ake sure all information is communicated in languages and formats to reach all parents.” TransACT’s Parent Notices are translated into multiple languages to facilitate communications in a language that parents can understand.

If you have any questions or would like to know more about the parent notices available from TransACT, please contact us at 425.977.2100, Option 3 or email at support@transact.com.