Module 3: Assignment
Required Media
- Walden University. (2020). Your early childhood community Links to an external site.[Interactive media]. Walden University Canvas. click on “What I Have Learned About Partnering With Families.”
Required Readings
- National Association for the Education of Young Children. (n.d.). Principles of effective family engagementLinks to an external site..
- Battista, L. (2018, March 30). Building reciprocal relationships with communitiesLinks to an external site.. National Association for the Education of Young Children.
- Nemeth, K., Koralek, D., & Ramsey, K. (2020, January 13). Building a system to support family engagementLinks to an external site.. National Association for the Education of Young Children.
- Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center. (2022, March 18). Getting started: Family engagement and positive goal-oriented relationshipsLinks to an external site.. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.
- Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center. (2018, March 5). Family engagement – ToolsLinks to an external site.. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families. on the “Tools” link on this site to learn more. Review all three options: Strength-Based Attitudes, Relationship-Based Practices, Attitudes and Practices Summary
- Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center. (2019, December 3). Family engagement – Reflective strategies: Sustaining effective practiceLinks to an external site.. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families. on the “Reflective Strategies” link on this site to learn more. Review all four options: Reflective Practice, Self-Reflection, Reflective Supervision, and Reflective Strategies Summary
- Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center. (2019, August 3). Family engagement – Guide to developing relationships with families: ResourcesLinks to an external site.. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families. on the “Guide to Developing Relationships With Families: Resources” link on this site to learn more. Review all five options: Culture and Language; Relationship-Based Competencies to Support Family Engagement; News You Can Use; Parent, Family, and Community Engagement Simulation; and Relationship-Based Practices
- National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement. (n.d.). Encouraging strong parent-child relationships.Links to an external site. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.
- National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement. (n.d.). Family engagement and cultural perspectives: Applying strengths-based attitudesLinks to an external site.. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.
- National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement. (2020). Preparing for challenging conversations with familiesLinks to an external site.. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.
- National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement. (n.d.). Talking with families about their child’s developmentLinks to an external site.. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.
- Edmonton Regional Learning Consortium. (n.d.). Creating communities of practiceLinks to an external site..
- Avery, M. W., Beardslee, W. R., Ayoub, C. C., & Watts, C. L. (2008, January). Self-reflection and shared reflection as professional toolsLinks to an external site.. Children’s Hospital Boston.
Assignment: Evaluating Family Partnerships in Early Childhood and Community Programs
For this Assignment, you will identify an early childhood program and a community organization that both serve families with young children in your community. Your goal is to interview a key person in each setting whose work involves building family partnerships in order to understand how the program defines and builds family partnerships, how families are currently engaged in these programs, and future goals regarding family partnerships.
After you complete your interviews, you will use the information you gleaned from the interviews and the resources in this module to evaluate and offer recommendations specific to each program related to building meaningful and effective partnerships with families.
Note: Someone who works with families in a community organization might have a title such as “family outreach worker,” “family advocate,” or “family partnerships director.” Just remember you are looking to interview someone who works directly with families. If you have an opportunity to conduct the interview in the organization and observe the setting, it could add to your understanding of the caliber of family engagement. However, this observation is optional.
Review the questions for the key person you are interviewing in each setting. Feel free to add questions of your own.
Read the last section of this Assignment, “Writing Up Your Evaluation and Recommendations,” so you can have the bulleted points in mind as you do your interviews.
Be prepared to take notes. If you would like to record the interviews, be sure to ask permission.
Early Childhood Program Interview Questions
1. Please tell me about family partnerships in your program. What do you do to build effective family partnerships? Also, why are family partnerships important to you?
2. What strategies do you use to invite your families to participate in decision making and goal setting for their child?
3. How do you engage families in two-way communication? Such strategies allow for both family-initiated as well as school-initiated conversations that are continuous and timely and are truly reciprocal.
4. What opportunities does your program provide for families to share their unique knowledge and skills and participate actively in the life of your program?
5. How do your teachers seek information about children’s lives, families, and communities and integrate this information into their curriculum and teaching practices?
6. What forms of communication do you employ to reach families? How do these methods reflect each family’s language preferences?
7. How does your program regularly provide learning activities for the home and in the community?
8. How does your program invite families to actively participate in program-level decisions and advocate for early childhood education in the wider community?
9. What are some of the challenges you have or are experiencing with family partnerships, and how have you overcome any of them?
10. What goals do you have related to family partnerships that you are looking forward to working on in the future?
Community Organization Interview Questions
1. Please tell me the ways you involve families and partner with them in your organization.
2. Could you share some of your most successful family partnership efforts and why you think these efforts have worked?
3. What resources does your organization provide as a resource directory for parents/family members with information on community services, programs, and agencies? Are high-quality health and wellness services for families included?
4. How does your organization involve families in locating and using community resources, especially those resources in which a service-gap has been identified?
5. What strategies does your organization employ to communicate with parents and families who do not read or speak English?
6. How do families benefit from shared resources and information provided by your program?
7. How does your program invite families to share their unique knowledge and skills and encourage active participation in the life of the school?
8. How does your organization engage in continuous, high-quality professional development to ensure building and maintaining effective family partnerships? Does this include regular meetings with all participating stakeholders (school staff and community partners)?
9. How does your organization work to develop relationships based on trust and mutual respect with participating stakeholders, including building a common vocabulary, and developing the same content and best practices around school/community partnerships?
10. Does your organization have a designated person to lead the coordination of multiple school and community partnerships in order to maintain partnerships with other community agencies and schools and facilitate effective communication and collaboration among school personnel, service providers, parents, families, and community members? What are some key activities and responsibilities of the role?
11. What are some of the challenges you have or are experiencing with family partnerships, and how have you overcome any of them?
12. What goals do you have related to family partnerships that you are looking forward to working on in the future?
To Complete Your Assignment
Writing Up Your Evaluation and Recommendations
Describe the role of each person you interviewed as well as the early childhood program and the community organization with which each person is affiliated. Then, summarize what you learned from each of the interviews.
Explain the strengths and challenges of each program regarding effective and meaningful family partnerships.
Based on what you learned from your interviews and the resources for this module (or other credible resources you identify), suggest five recommendations for the early childhood program and five recommendations for the community organization regarding ways to foster and sustain effective and meaningful family partnerships. Be sure to cite your sources in APA formatting.
Assignment Length: 6–8 pages
