National PTA Standards for Successful Family-School Partnerships: In an effort to build and sustain positive family-school partnerships, the National PTA has developed six standards focused on ensuring that schools are welcoming, supportive, collaborative, and responsive to families’ needs. This resource outlines the six national school-family partnership standards and provides an implementation guide for each as well. Additional resources, such as A Parent Checklist, Tips for Teachers, and a National Standards Assessment Guide are available as well.
Formed Families Forward is the family partner to the Virginia Tiered Systems of Supports project, an initiative of the Virginia Department of Education, and supports divisions and schools in their efforts to engage families and community partners. Formed Families Forward is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting foster, kinship, and adoptive families of children and youth with disabilities and other special needs.
Assistive Technology is designed to help students with special needs, to increase, maintain, or improve their functional capabilities. It should be considered for all students with an IEP. The VDOE’s Assistive Technology Network provides a guide to assist educators and families in understanding assistive technology (AT) and discussing possible AT Tools for students from preschool through high school. This guide, The AT Tools in Schools Booklet is available in both English and Spanish.
The National Center on Improving Literacy (NCIL) aims to increase access to, and use of, evidence-based approaches to screen, identify, and teach students with literacy-related disabilities, including dyslexia. Resources for Parents & Families present practical ideas, tips and strategies to use at home and during everyday routines with struggling readers. Among the many resources, NCIL offers an Implementation Toolkit to assist parents and families in understanding reading development and how they can support children both at school and at home.
VCU ACE Lunch and Learn Series provides weekly opportunities for families to participate in interactive sessions on a variety of topics related to supporting their children with ASD. Families can register to attend the one hour Zoom sessions or can view past sessions in the archives. Previous sessions have included topics such as Communication Strategies for Families, Parent Engagement, and Helping Your Child Make Successful Transitions at Home
The Virginia Department of Education’s I’m Determined Project offers a wealth of resources for family members of youth with disabilities. You will find informational modules on topics including Pathways to Success and Critical Decision Points. The I’m Determined Project site also includes downloadable tools that support the development of self-determination skills, informative videos for parents, and information on upcoming events.
The Office of Head Start provides a Series of Simulations for effectively engaging families from the start. The series explores the practice of everyday strategies to develop Positive Goal-Oriented Relationships with a family. These relationships are key to our work with children and families, including the journey toward school readiness.
This plan is designed to take advantage of the partnership between teachers and families. It asks parents to talk about home activities or routines where they could use help from the teacher.
