Decades of research on parental involvement strongly suggests that students, of all ages and from all backgrounds, are most successful when they have supportive and actively engaged families. However, many educators leave preparation programs with little or no content relating to family and community relations, and therefore, lack the necessary knowledge, skills, and sometimes belief systems to successfully establish effective home-school partnerships that lead to increased educational outcomes for all children. This qualitative case study examined how the implementation of The Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships (a national model released by the U.S. Department of Education) assisted one elementary school with building a family literacy program. Participants in the study included seven teachers, two administrators, and four parents. Three major themes emerged from the data, indicating that participants utilized the framework to: (a) examine the school’s culture, climate, and communication, (b) examine beliefs and practices, and (c) create a space for building knowledge and awareness. The findings suggest that the success of all family engagement efforts are predicated upon a thorough examination of beliefs and culture, which is the first step in the process of developing effective home-school partnerships.
","abstract_html":"<p>Decades of research on parental involvement strongly suggests that students, of all ages and from all backgrounds, are most successful when they have supportive and actively engaged families. However, many educators leave preparation programs with little or no content relating to family and community relations, and therefore, lack the necessary knowledge, skills, and sometimes belief systems to successfully establish effective home-school partnerships that lead to increased educational outcomes for all children. This qualitative case study examined how the implementation of The Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships (a national model released by the U.S. Department of Education) assisted one elementary school with building a family literacy program. Participants in the study included seven teachers, two administrators, and four parents. Three major themes emerged from the data, indicating that participants utilized the framework to: (a) examine the school’s culture, climate, and communication, (b) examine beliefs and practices, and (c) create a space for building knowledge and awareness. The findings suggest that the success of all family engagement efforts are predicated upon a thorough examination of beliefs and culture, which is the first step in the process of developing effective home-school partnerships.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Terry, JaNiece M"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ed.D. Doctor of Education","degree_level":"Dissertation - Public Access","degree_discipline":"Reading and Language","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Sophie Degener","Dr. Terry Jo Smith","Dr. Susan McMahon"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-06-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-06-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:20:25Z","subjects":["parental engagement","family literacy","home-school partnerships","parental involvement","school culture","Education","Educational Methods","Other Education"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/174","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Sophie Degener","Dr. Terry Jo Smith","Dr. Susan McMahon"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Terry, JaNiece M"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-07-11T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Reading and Language"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation - Public Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ed.D. Doctor of Education"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["parental engagement","family literacy","home-school partnerships","parental involvement","school culture","Education","Educational Methods","Other Education"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/174"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Decades of research on parental involvement strongly suggests that students, of all ages and from all backgrounds, are most successful when they have supportive and actively engaged families. However, many educators leave preparation programs with little or no content relating to family and community relations, and therefore, lack the necessary knowledge, skills, and sometimes belief systems to successfully establish effective home-school partnerships that lead to increased educational outcomes for all children. This qualitative case study examined how the implementation of The Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships (a national model released by the U.S. Department of Education) assisted one elementary school with building a family literacy program. Participants in the study included seven teachers, two administrators, and four parents. Three major themes emerged from the data, indicating that participants utilized the framework to: (a) examine the school’s culture, climate, and communication, (b) examine beliefs and practices, and (c) create a space for building knowledge and awareness. The findings suggest that the success of all family engagement efforts are predicated upon a thorough examination of beliefs and culture, which is the first step in the process of developing effective home-school partnerships.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Establishing Effective Home-School Partnerships by Building Capacity"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Sophie Degener","Dr. Terry Jo Smith","Dr. Susan McMahon"],"dc:creator":["Terry, JaNiece M"],"dc:date.available":["2016-07-11T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Decades of research on parental involvement strongly suggests that students, of all ages and from all backgrounds, are most successful when they have supportive and actively engaged families. However, many educators leave preparation programs with little or no content relating to family and community relations, and therefore, lack the necessary knowledge, skills, and sometimes belief systems to successfully establish effective home-school partnerships that lead to increased educational outcomes for all children. This qualitative case study examined how the implementation of The Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships (a national model released by the U.S. Department of Education) assisted one elementary school with building a family literacy program. Participants in the study included seven teachers, two administrators, and four parents. Three major themes emerged from the data, indicating that participants utilized the framework to: (a) examine the school’s culture, climate, and communication, (b) examine beliefs and practices, and (c) create a space for building knowledge and awareness. The findings suggest that the success of all family engagement efforts are predicated upon a thorough examination of beliefs and culture, which is the first step in the process of developing effective home-school partnerships.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/174"],"dc:subject":["parental engagement","family literacy","home-school partnerships","parental involvement","school culture","Education","Educational Methods","Other Education"],"dc:title":["Establishing Effective Home-School Partnerships by Building Capacity"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Reading and Language"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation - Public Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ed.D. Doctor of Education"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:20:25Z"}