Family-School Partnerships: Promoting Family Participation in K-3 Teacher Professional Development

Sixty-three teachers in a K—3 mathematics specialist certificate program conducted family projects to improve their skills in partnering with families around mathematics. Past studies have indicated that family involvement in children’s education has many positive influences on academic achievement; however, parents’ discomfort with math, and teachers’ discomfort of working with parents, may be obstacles. The purpose of the present study was to examine 2 years of teachers’ mathematical family projects and describe the types of projects chosen, the risks and benefits of these projects, and the quality of the parent-child interaction.