The Power of Family-School Partnering (FSP)

Book excerpt: Ongoing, strategic Family-School Partnering (FSP) is an essential component of every educational community. FSP is a multi-dimensional process in which schools, families, and communities engage in shared actions to ensure a child’s academic, social, and emotional success. With this text, the authors intend to offer a practical guide that demonstrates how this partnering can be strategically implemented in all levels of schooling. The main focus of the text is how to plan, implement, and evaluate FSP within existing school structures and resources. The authors begin with an overview of the foundational and organizational information necessary for successful FSP, including a review of ecological systems theory. FSP theories and strategies are presented at a universal, targeted, and intensive level, giving the school mental health professional insight into working with students and families who have differing needs. A school-based case example illustrates FSP in action and provides a practical roadmap for implementation. Each chapter contains easily adaptable tools and a list of useful web links to resources which can be used in conjunction with the strategies presented and discussed by the authors. An accompanying CD will also contain all the handouts, forms, and other such resources presented throughout the text.