ABSTRACT
This chapter presents data from teachers, parents, and students on the nature and results of school-based partnership programs. It illustrates why it is important to measure and account for teachers', parents', and students' views to identify gaps in knowledge that each has about the other. In 1991, we started a series of field studies to learn how to define, organize, and study school, family, and community partnerships at the high school level. This research in urban, suburban, and rural settings identified how to expand the language and actions of partnership for educators, parents, and students through the twelfth grade. These studies reinforced and extended our understanding of the important roles students play in school, family, and community partnerships. The chapter examines how often and in what ways teachers and their schools involved parents, whether and how parents' social class and marital status affected their involvement, and how elementary school students understood and reacted to connections between their families and teachers.
