An Ecological Model of Home, School, and Community Partnerships: Implications for Research and Practice

Abstract Examination of home-school-community partnerships is important to broadening our understanding of the ways in which these multiple entities may work together. More is known about the types of family factors that influence parent involvement, but little research has examined the combined impact of family, teacher, school, and community factors. In this article, we describe a study in which an ecological model was used to investigate parent involvement in a medium-size, urban, southeastern school district. A homebased interview with a stratified, random sample of 201 parents provided information on potential influences. A path model of involvement was tested incorporating perceived parent, teacher, school, and community factors hypothesized to influence home- and school-based parental involvement. Results indicate that parent background and attitudes, teacher practices, school, and neighborhood climate all provide ecological contexts under which involvement can be encouraged. Implications for research and consultation practice are discussed.