Purpose of the Working Meeting

This working meeting is intended to launch numerous important and meaningful collaborative activities to advance the scientific foundation (both conceptual and empirical) related to family-school partnerships. As such, the meeting is the first of several events and opportunities for researchers to work together in new and exciting ways, through the generation and execution of innovative research lines. The specific purposes of this interdisciplinary meeting are to foster linkages among researchers, identify what is known and not known in the field of family-school partnerships, create common understandings, and explore areas that are impeding progress in the field.

Central Goals and Issues of the Working Meeting

The central goals of this working meeting and associated activities are numerous and ambitious. The choice to focus on the issues below was made in response to a series of telephone interviews conducted with leaders in the field of family-school partnerships (see the thematic paper, Future Directions for Family-School Partnerships Research, for a summary). At the meeting, we will act on the following issues through presentations, discussions, and focused questions: Central Issues to Address Action Plan for the Working Meeting What are family-school partnerships? Take steps toward developing an agreed upon definition of family-school partnerships. How do family-school partnerships work? Delineate a preliminary framework outlining the processes by which family-school partnerships affect children's academic and social-emotional functioning. Under what conditions do family-school partnerships work? Explore the influence of contextual variables (e.g., culture, geography) on family-school partnerships and the process by which they operate. How do we put research-based family-school partnerships into practice? Identify research needs and challenges associated with the translation of evidence-based partnership models to field settings. How do we best capture family-school partnerships and how they work? Highlight methods for measuring and modeling the effects of family-school partnerships. What do we need to do next? Form a national research agenda to enhance empirical and scientific understandings of variables and outcomes associated with family-school partnerships. How do we carry this research agenda forward? Establish the Interdisciplinary Alliance for Partnerships Research (IAPR) to unite researchers from diverse disciplines to carry the goals of this meeting into the future.

Expectations for Participants

This meeting represents a dynamic, interactive forum for creating new directions in the area of family-school partnerships research. Thus, the best outcomes will be achieved when all participants contribute freely, openly, and critically. Many of us have thought for a long time – over a career -- about challenges and opportunities to advance the scientific bases for this line of work. This working meeting is the starting place for specifying important conceptual, structural, procedural, and methodological needs and directions. To fully advantage ourselves and maximize our time together, it will be essential that participants be willing to think about issues in advance, vocalize their best ideas, and make thoughtful contributions regarding important next steps that will formulate a research agenda for the field. Beyond time at the meeting, to fully experience the power and potential of our collective knowledge, wisdom, and expertise, we will benefit from ongoing dialogue and action. We envision the publication of edited proceedings, presentations of papers or symposia, and research grant proposals and studies conducted by interdisciplinary, nationally defined teams. We hope you will join us in these ambitious, achievable goals.