Application: Advocating for Family Involvement and Effective Partnerships Strong relationships that develop and blossom into mutually respectful partnerships with families are a foundational component to effective programs within the early childhood field. Consider the following scenario: You have just been hired as the director of an early childhood education program serving children between the ages of birth and 5. In your first weeks on the job, you spend an extensive amount of time visiting each classroom and getting to know the teachers. When you ask about the relationships they have developed with children and their families, one response you receive seems to encapsulate the general attitude: "We are very busy making sure our curriculum meets state standards; we like to get to know the children but have to stay focused on getting these children to learn what the standards say so they will be ready in every way for kindergarten." When you ask about building partnerships with families, you receive a related response: "Families are most concerned that their children are learning and that they will do well in kindergarten. In fact, the families of the children in my class don't seem to want to be bothered with what's happening on a day-to-day basis; they're interested in 'end results.'" Based on these conversations, you know that you need to work with staff to cultivate a shared understanding regarding the importance of building relationships to ensure family involvement and effective partnerships. To that end, you decide to develop an engaging workshop that provides information on current research and theory, practical applications, and benefits and challenges staff may encounter as they work to engage families; develop rich, respectful partnerships; and involve families in the lives of their children at your school. For this Application Assignment: Review the Required Resources on the topic of Partnering with Families Print and complete the Workshop Outline form below Complete the Reflection below Required resources: Partnering With Families Article:  Weiss, H., Caspe, M., & Lopez, M. (2006).  Family involvement makes a difference . Retrieved from  http://www.hfrp.org/publications-resources/browse-our-publications/family-involvement-in-early-childhood-education Article:  Halgunseth, L., Peterson, A., Stark, D., & Moodie, S. (2009).  Family engagement, diverse families, and early childhood education programs: An integrated review of the literature.  Retrieved from  http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/research/FamEngage.pdf Article:  Gallagher, K. C., & Mayer, K. (2008). Enhancing development and learning through teacher-child relationships.  Young Children, 63 (6), 80 - 88. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the  ProQuest Central  database. Article:  Halgunseth, L. (2009). Family engagement, diverse families, and an integrated review of the literature.  Young Children, 64 (5) ,  56 - 58. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the.

1. Application: Advocating for Family Involvement and Effective
Partnerships
Strong relationships that develop and blossom into mutually
respectful partnerships with families are a foundational
component to effective programs within the early childhood
field. Consider the following scenario:
You have just been hired as the director of an early childhood
education program serving children between the ages of birth
and 5. In your first weeks on the job, you spend an extensive
amount of time visiting each classroom and getting to know the
teachers. When you ask about the relationships they have
developed with children and their families, one response you
receive seems to encapsulate the general attitude: "We are very
busy making sure our curriculum meets state standards; we like
to get to know the children but have to stay focused on getting
these children to learn what the standards say so they will be
ready in every way for kindergarten." When you ask about
building partnerships with families, you receive a related
response: "Families are most concerned that their children are
learning and that they will do well in kindergarten. In fact, the
families of the children in my class don't seem to want to be
bothered with what's happening on a day-to-day basis; they're
interested in 'end results.'"
Based on these conversations, you know that you need to work
with staff to cultivate a shared understanding regarding the
importance of building relationships to ensure family
involvement and effective partnerships. To that end, you decide
to develop an engaging workshop that provides information on
current research and theory, practical applications, and benefits
and challenges staff may encounter as they work to engage
families; develop rich, respectful partnerships; and involve
families in the lives of their children at your school.
For this Application Assignment:
Review the Required Resources on the topic of Partnering with
Families

2. Print and complete the Workshop Outline form below
Complete the Reflection below
Required resources:
Partnering With Families
Article:
Weiss, H., Caspe, M., & Lopez, M. (2006).
Family involvement makes a difference
. Retrieved from
http://www.hfrp.org/publications-resources/browse-our-
publications/family-involvement-in-early-childhood-education
Article:
Halgunseth, L., Peterson, A., Stark, D., & Moodie, S. (2009).
Family engagement, diverse families, and early childhood
education programs: An integrated review of the literature.
Retrieved from
http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/research/FamEngage.pdf
Article:
Gallagher, K. C., & Mayer, K. (2008). Enhancing development
and learning through teacher-child relationships.
Young Children, 63
(6), 80
-
88.
Retrieved from the Walden Library using the
ProQuest Central
database.
Article:
Halgunseth, L. (2009). Family engagement, diverse families,
and an integrated review of the literature.
Young Children, 64
(5)
,
56
-

3. 58.
Retrieved from the Walden Library using the
ProQuest Central
database.
Article:
Souto-Manning, M. (2010). Family involvement: Challenges to
consider, strengths to build on
. Young Children
,
65
(2), 82-88.
Retrieved from the Walden Library using the
ProQuest Central
database
AFTER REVIEWING SOURCES COMPLETE WORKSHOP
OUTLINE ATTACHMENT
AFTER COMPLETING WORKSHOP WORKSHEET
COMPLETE REFLECTION
Reflection
After you have completed the Workshop Outline, reflect on the
process you experienced while developing it, as well as how
building relationships and partnering with families is a critical
component of effective early childhood programs. Envision a
program of your own and what you would like to develop in
terms of engagement and partnership between teachers and
families and in terms of your own relationships/partnerships
with families of the children in your program. With this in
mind, articulate:
Three goals related to building relationships and partnering with
families
Ways in which you would help staff recognize positive
outcomes of building relationships and partnering with families,
work with challenges, and realize possible biases
Related areas and issues you would like to learn more about
For this assignment, submit:

4. Your completed
Workshop Outline
A summary of the Reflection
Assignment length
: approximately 3 pages
Submit this assignment by
Sunday
of this week.