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Farrell, A. & Collier, M. (2010). School personnel’s perceptions of family-school communication: a qualitative study. Improving Schools, (13)1, 4-20.

Family involvement contributes to student success and family—school communication (FSC) is intended to promote parent involvement; however, little is known about the communication processes that enlist that involvement. There are unanswered questions about how elementary educators perceive, prepare for, and engage in communication with families. Using an ecological framework and qualitative design, this study explored educator perceptions of FSC at elementary schools serving a US military population. Individual interviews were analyzed for thematic content, resulting in six themes: the critical importance of communication; its types and formats; school climate; teacher preparation; roles and skills; and contextual influences including considerations for military families. Teachers described effective and ineffective approaches and skills, role and time pressures, and recommended practices. Participants lacked formal preparation for FSC and constructed their skills based on experience. The authors discuss implications for personnel preparation and staff development, school and classroom policies and practices, and ecological considerations unique to military contexts.

Walker, J.M.T, & Dotger, B.H. (2012). Because Wisdom Can’t Be Told: Using Comparison of Simulated Parent–Teacher Conferences to Assess Teacher Candidates’ Readiness for Family-School Partnership. Journal of Teacher Education, (63)1, 62-75.

This study used text-related, video-based case materials to assess teacher candidates’ readiness to communicate with families. Participants (N = 141) rated their efficacy for home–school communication and then responded to a description of a classroom-based challenge regarding one student’s behavioral and academic performance. Next, they evaluated two videos, each capturing how a teacher addressed the challenge in a parent–teacher conference. Cases offered contrasting models of communication effectiveness along two dimensions: structuring and responsiveness. Finally, candidates chose which model did the better job and justified their choice. Findings revealed that candidates had high self-efficacy for communicating with families but generated a small number and range of strategies for dealing with the situation; could discriminate between the models’ effectiveness; and their reasons for choosing one model as best centered on their valuing of structuring or responsiveness and their conceptions of partnership. Content validity and reliability assessments of the research materials are described