Click Here for Family School Partnership Form
Click Here for Family School Partnership Digital Form
Form is Due October 31 Annually
Transformative Family Engagement
PTAs across Ohio have embraced the National Standards and made family engagement the heart of the PTA mission. We have done a great job at welcoming all families to PTA and schools, providing opportunities for families and staff to participate in events together and speaking up for all children in our schools, state and the nation. However, we can do more. We can deepen our understanding of family engagement and make it truly transformative, positively impacting the success of every child.
How can PTAs get to the next level – the transformative level? PTAs can make their family engagement efforts transformative by refocusing their programs to include more links to student learning, developing parents’ skills and building personal relationships between staff and families. These concepts are embedded in the Six Standards but are more explicitly defined in the United States Department of Education Dual Capacity Framework. The Dual Capacity Framework is based on the idea that families and staff need to work together and learn from each other in order for them both to gain the confidence, capacity, cognition and connections to impact student success.
Family engagement opportunities need to be interactive and collaborative and part of all PTA events and programs. To learn more about the Dual Capacity Framework, click here. Pages 8-11 elaborate on the basic concepts and are a good place to start. These pages plus the Six National Standards shown below are great resources for PTAs who want to transform their family engagement program or apply for an Ohio PTA Family Engagement Grant.
Building Family-School Partnerships
Supporting student success in your PTA involves collaboration between parents, schools and communities. The National Standards for Family-School Partnerships provides a framework to use to help build FSP in your school. Talk with your PTA unit to see which of the standards below you feel you are meeting and which areas need strengthening. Check out the new Family-School Partnership e-learning workshop now available at www.pta.org/elearning for fresh ideas on how you can implement the Standards in your PTA.
Standard 1 – Welcoming All Families
This is the first of six National PTA Standards for Family-School Partnerships. Interactions among teachers, students, parents and others set the tone for everything else. Families say the number one reason behind their school involvement is that they were greeted with warmth and respect.
Standard 2 – Communicating Effectively
Regular opportunities for open, honest dialogue helps families to feel they are informed about important issues and that they can easily communicate feedback to teachers, the principal, and other staff. Many schools deliver information through handouts, newsletters, handbooks and websites.
Standard 3 – Supporting Student Success
Every student should be afforded every opportunity to graduate from high school while being adequately prepared for and encouraged to pursue postsecondary education, including vocational education.
Standard 4 – Speaking Up for Every Child
All children need an advocate—someone to speak out and stand up for them. Most likely that “someone” will be a parent, guardian, or close family member.
Standard 5 – Sharing Power
Shared decision making needs to exist among all parties involved in a child’s education. In a true partnership, all parties have an equal say in important decisions.
Standard 6 – Collaborating with the Community
Partnerships that connect a school with businesses, hospitals, colleges, service clubs, social service agencies, youth organizations, public housing projects, churches, other faith-based organizations, and other community groups can turn a neighborhood into a thriving place to live, work, and raise a family.
More Information
- National PTA School Of Excellence Program Information
- Take Your Family to School Week February 12-16, 2024
- Parent Guide to Success
- Ohio Family-School Partnership Award – PTA members can earn this award by taking part in family, school and community partnership activities at the local, state, and national levels within a one year time period (October 1 – September 30). PTA members who accumulate 150 or more FSP points will earn an Ohio PTA Family-School Partnership Certificate of Achievement Award. The award consists of a pin and certificate as well as recognition at the Ohio PTA Convention.
- Every Child in Focus Calendar
- September – Hispanic Indian Child
- October – Urban Child
- November – American Indian Child
- December – Child w/ special needs
- January – Suburban Child
- February – African-American Child
- March – Foster Child
- April – Military Child
- May – Asian American/Pacific Islander Child
- June – Rural Child
- July – American Child
