Home-School Pathways

Abstract

Teachers who are informed about the children, families, and communities where they teach are better prepared to share resources and advocate for gaps in literacy and other services in rural communities. Despite the importance of home-school partnerships for children's academic success, aspects of parent involvement and community engagement are often omitted from teacher preparation programs. As a result, many new teachers do not feel adequately prepared to work with families. A variety of strategies are needed for teachers to successfully engage families from diverse cultures and in communities where they teach but not live. Included in this chapter are practices that university teacher preparation programs can initiate to better train teachers to look for engagement opportunities in their school communities.