In Context: Family Involvement and No Child Left Behind

"In the best of all possible worlds," write Adams and Christenson (2000), "the family-school relationship would be based not only on two-way communication, cooperation, and coordination, but also on collaboration" (p. 478). The 2001 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), No Child Left Behind (NCLB), signals a move in that direction. The inclusion of several new provisions related to family involvement reflect the gradual shift in U.S. educational policy and practice from viewing parents as important players to full partners in the formal education of their child.

The new provisions under NCLB, particularly those under Titles I and III, expand schools' obligations to inform parents and to reach out to families who have traditionally been underrepresented in school activities and decisionmaking, such as parents of English language learners. Schools that receive Title III funding, for example, are required to:

implement an effective means of outreach to parents of limited English proficient children to inform such parents of how they can—(A) be involved in the education of their children; and (B) be active participants in assisting their children—(i) to learn English; (ii) to achieve at high levels in core academic subjects; and (iii) to meet the same challenging State academic content and student academic achievement standards as all children are expected to meet (Title III, 3302 (e) cited in Gomez & Greenough, 2002, p. 4).

Past provisions of the ESEA related to family involvement, "such as school-parent compacts, parental involvement policies, and the parental involvement funding formula,"also remain in effect (Gomez & Greenough, 2002, p. 1). In short, NCLB establishes that:

• Parents have the right to be informed of the content and quality of their children's education
• Parents have the right and responsibility to participate in decisionmaking and learning at the school
• Parents have the right to make educational choices in the best interest of their children*

Although the legislation provides guidelines and provisions for schools to follow as they develop family involvement policies, schools may also face challenges in complying with the law, especially in how to strengthen relationships with families whose needs and concerns have not been addressed. Clearly, if families and schools are to form partnerships that work, there must first be a foundation of mutual trust, confidence, and respect. The goal of this booklet is to provide some starting points for schools to address these challenges.

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*For the full text of Title I and III guidelines see the NCLB Web site at www.ed.gov/nclb/overview/intro/progsum/index.html