Joyce L. Epstein is director of the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships and the National Network of Partnership Schools, principal research scientist in the Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk (CRESPAR), and professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins University. She has over 100 pub­lications on the organization and effects of school, classroom, family, and peer environments, with many focused on school, family, and community connec­tions. In 1995, she established the National Network of Partnership Schools to demonstrate the important intersections of research, policy, and practice for school improvement. She serves on numerous editorial boards and advisory panels on family involvement and school reform and is a recipient of the Academy for Educational Development's 1991 Alvin C. Eurich Education Award and the 1997 Working Mother's Magazine Parent Involvement in Education Award for her work on school, family, and community partnerships. Her most recent book, School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Preparing Educators and Improving Schools (Westview Press, 2001), aims to add the topic of family and community involvement to courses for future teachers and admin­istrators. She earned a PhD in sociology from Johns Hopkins University.

Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Introduction
1. A Comprehensive Framework
1.1. School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Caring for the Children We Share
1.2. School-Community Partnerships: The Little Extra That Makes a Big Difference
1.3. Improving Student Outcomes with School, Family, and Community Partnerships: A Research Review
2. Use the Framework to Reach School Goals-Stories from the Field
Six Types of Involvement to Improve School Climate and Student Success
3. Take an Action Team Approach
Organizing an Effective Action Team for Partnerships: Questions and Answers
4. Conduct Workshops
One-Day Team-Training Workshop
Components of a One-Day Team-Training Workshop
Planning an End-of-Year Celebration Workshop
5. Select Materials for Presentations and Workshops
Presentations and Handouts
Small Group Activities for Workshops
6. Strengthen Partnership Programs in Middle and High Schools
Improving School, Family, and Community Partnerships in Middle and High Schools
Predictors and Effects of Family Involvement in High Schools
A Goal-Linked Approach to Partnership Programs in Middle and High Schools
7. Strengthen District and State Leadership for Partnerships
Tools for District Leaders
Tools for State Leaders
Tools for District, Organization, and State Leaders
District and State Leadership for School, Family, and Community Partnerships
8. Implement Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork (TIPS)
TIPS Interactive Homework
TIPS Volunteers in Social Studies and Art
How to Implement Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork (TIPS) Processes
9. Evaluate Your Partnership Program
Evaluate Partnership Programs: Critical Considerations
Index