ABSTRACT
Educators must understand all six major types of involvement (parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision making, and collaborating with the community) to implement, evaluate, and sustain comprehensive programs of school, family, and community partnerships. This chapter examines two research-based approaches to involve families in their children's education in ways that are important to teachers, students, and parents; these approaches have not been well implemented in most schools. The descriptions and examples of Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork materials in this chapter may be particularly helpful in courses on curriculum and instruction, methods of teaching specific subjects, practice teaching seminars, and related instruction for future teachers and administrators. The chapter suggests that when teachers design homework to meet specific purposes and goals, more students complete their homework and benefit from the results, and more families remain involved in their children's education through the middle grades.
