Links in a Professional Development Chain: Preservice and Inservice Education for Effective Programs of School, Family, and Community Partnerships

Abstract

This paper summarizes lessons learned from studies of preservice education and inservice programs of family and community involvement. The research and interventions suggest that a chain of professional development events is needed to prepare educators to conduct and sustain effective programs of school, family, and community partnerships. This starts with college courses and continues with inservice education, ongoing technical assistance and support, and external networking. There are required links, missing and weak links, interconnected links, and ways to strengthen the professional development chain. The discussion yields a blueprint for a professional development system that should produce more and better programs of school, family, and community partnerships. This work was supported by grants from NICHD and the U. S. Department of Education (IES). The opinions expressed are the author’s and do not necessarily represent the positions of the funding agencies. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the European Research Network (ERNAPE) conference on Parents in Education, Gdansk, Poland, September 2003.