JoBeth Allen gathers specific practices to focus on the importance of a family-school partnership. These practices are gathered throughout the contents of her book to successfully provide specific key foundations to build in your own classroom. She has labeled these foundations as:
1. Partnerships to Foster Learning
2. Develop Trusting Relationships
3. Build on Family Knowledge, Languages and Literacies
4. Partner Through Photography
5.Partner Through Journals
6. Invite Family Voices Into Literacy Practices
7. Engage Families in Critical Literacy Inquiry
8. Make the Most of Conferences
9. Strengthening Partnerships: What Will We Do Next Year?
Allen has provided effective strategies that educators can adopt in their own classroom.
In Chapter 1, Partnerships to Foster Learning, Allen stresses the importance that including families in the education of students is a group process. It is important for a group of teachers, school staff and faculty, and parents to work together to find ways to incorporate family members in the learning process of children. Once a group of people dedicated to the idea get together, the programs of the school should be evaluated first, and then should be adapted so that they can better get family members involved in the learning of literacy. Because there are often many changes that can be made to improve the involvement of parental figures in the learning process, it cannot be done by a single teacher, parent, or school faculty member: it takes a group of committed people to help get it done.
