Supporting Students Through School-Family-Community Partnerships

Abstract

Our partner organization, a Catholic elementary school based in Livingston, NJ, provides coeducational preschool through eighth-grade education for 234 students, many of whom live under challenging socioeconomic conditions. Over the past two years, the school leadership perceived increased student disruptive behavior and identified a lack of parent engagement and collaboration as significant impediments to addressing students’ behavioral issues. We employed a parallel mixed-method approach to data collection through parent and staff surveys, interviews, and focus groups. Our findings suggested that forming collaborative school, family, and community partnerships would improve the school climate and student success, creating the conditions for addressing student misbehavior.