AN ECOLOGICAL MODEL OF HOME, SCHOOL, AND COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS - IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH AND PRACTICE

Examination of home-school-community partnerships is important to broa dening our understanding of the ways in which these multiple entities may work together. More is known about the types of family factors tha t influence parent involvement, but little research has examined the c ombined impact of family, teacher, school, and community factors. In t his article, we describe a study in which an ecological model was used to investigate parent involvement in a medium-size, urban, southeaste rn school district. A home-based interview with a stratified, random s ample of 201 parents provided information on potential influences. A p ath model of involvement was tested incorporating perceived parent, te acher, school, and community factors hypothesized to influence home-an d school-based parental involvement. Results indicate that parent back ground and attitudes, teacher practices, school, and neighborhood clim ate all provide ecological contexts under which involvement can be enc ouraged. Implications for research and consultation practice are discu ssed.