CES 302 - Family, School, and Community Partnerships

Prerequisite, Junior standing, and CES major or CES minor. This course examines the role of school, family, and community partnerships as crucial components of student success, education reform, and community empowerment. This course will address strategies used by effective education leaders to build and sustain reciprocal family and community partnerships. It will also explore approaches designed to leverage these partnerships to cultivate inclusive, caring, and culturally responsive learning communities and opportunities. Students will interrogate their beliefs about the role of families and community members in education and student development, analyze the research on the impact of home-school and community-school partnerships on student learning, and explore the various theoretical frameworks about these partnerships. Students will also investigate “promising practice” strategies being implemented by schools, districts, out-of-school spaces, and community organizations to cultivate and sustain school, family, and community connections that support children’s learning and development. Through case studies, lectures, readings, guest presentations, site visits, and class discussions, students will probe the benefits and challenges of these partnerships. Letter grade. This course may be repeated for credit. (Offered as needed.) 3 credits