The Partnership Model: Introducing a Powerful Strategy for Strengthening School-Family Partnerships

How can we make it easier for schools to develop strong partnerships with families to improve educational outcomes for all students?

The Right Question School-Family Partnership Strategy is an evidence-based approach that strengthens parents’ capacity to ask better questions, participate more effectively in decisions and partner more productively with schools.

Parents who can confidently ask better questions and participate in decisions affecting their children’s education begin to play three roles that allow them to partner more constructively with educators: They support their children’s education, monitor their progress and advocate for them when necessary.

In this session, participants will have the opportunity to learn to use one component of the Right Question Strategy; the Question Formulation Technique, a process for producing one’s own questions, improving the questions and strategizing on how to use them.

Participants will also:

• Be introduced to the other components of the strategy including a framework for decision-making and the Support, Monitor and Advocate model of three key roles for parents to play.

• Explore how the Right Question Strategy can be integrated into the ongoing work of educators and schools without creating a new program nor requiring additional resources or personnel.

• Identify how to immediately integrate the strategy into their work.

• Reflect on the value of the strategy for strengthening partnerships with families and improving outcomes for all students.