Equity Partnerships: A Culturally Proficient Guide to Family, School, and Community Engagement

“Raising the next generation is a shared responsibility and privilege. These authors have been first responders for decades by pro­moting Cultural Proficiency as a means to ensure equity and access for all. In Equity Partnerships, they identify the powerful and critical link of family, school, and community engage­ment to strengthen families, build community support, and increase student success.”

FOREWORD BY TRUDY T. ARRIAGA
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Introduction
PART I. THE BASICS OF CULTURAL PROFICIENCY AND ENGAGEMENT
CHAPTER 1. The Cultural Proficiency Framework: Tools for Family, School, and Community Engagement
Overcoming the Barriers to Cultural Proficiency
The Guiding Principles of Cultural Proficiency
The Cultural Proficiency Continuum
The Essential Elements of Cultural Proficiency
The Family, School, and Community Engagement Rubric
Going Deeper Reflection
Going Deeper Dialogic Questions
Summary
Looking Ahead: Chapter 2
CHAPTER 2. The Why of Engagement
Changing Times and Terminology
Informed by Related Studies: From Strain to Inclusion
What Parents Want to Know and What Parents Want Educators to Know
Benefits of Partnering for All
Family and Community Engagement and Link to Student Achievement
Culturally Proficient Leadership and Engagement
A Moral Imperative and Shared Responsibility for Creating Culturally Proficient Engagement
Our Why
Going Deeper Reflection
Going Deeper Dialogic Questions
Summary
Looking Ahead: Chapter 3
CHAPTER 3. The Moral Imperative for Partnerships: Historical, Legal, and Educational Policy Contexts
Family, School, and Community Engagement Has Evolved Over Time
Twentieth Century and Beyond
Federal and State Court Decisions and Legislative Actions That Foster Family, School, and Community Partnerships
Educational Rationale for Family, School, and Community Engagement
Importance of Educational Research in Building Family, School, and Community Engagement in Diverse Communities
Going Deeper Reflection
Going Deeper Dialogic Questions
Summary
Looking Ahead: Chapter 4
PART II. EMBRACING TO ENGAGE
CHAPTER 4. How Cultural Proficiency Intersects With Family Engagement
Alignments
Cultural Proficiency’s Guiding Principles Provide a Moral Base for Essential Elements
Using Our Assets of Moral Authority, Reflection, and Dialogue
Guiding Principles of Cultural Proficiency: Surfacing Our Assumptions, Beliefs, and Values
Being Intentional in Valuing Students’ Cultures as Assets
Valuing Leads to Doing
Constantino’s Five Simple Principles
Dual Capacity-Building Framework
Dialogic Questions
Summary
Looking Ahead: Chapter 5
CHAPTER 5. The 7 Cs of Engagement
Collaboration
Communication
Caring
Culture
Community
Connectedness
Collective Responsibility
Going Deeper Reflection
Going Deeper Dialogic Questions
Courageous Engagement
Summary
Looking Ahead: Chapter 6
PART III. FROM MARGINALIZATION TO INCLUSION
CHAPTER 6. Barriers to Family, School, and Community Engagement
Barriers to Cultural Proficiency
Barriers to Family, School, and Community Engagement
Author’s Analysis
Using the Family, School, and Community Engagement Rubric
Author’s Analysis
Using the Family, School, and Community Engagement Rubric
Author’s Analysis
Using the Family, School, and Community Engagement Rubric
Author’s Analysis
Using the Family, School, and Community Engagement Rubric
Going Deeper Reflection
Going Deeper Dialogic Questions
Summary
Looking Ahead: Chapter 7
CHAPTER 7. The Guiding Principles Foster Essential Elements as Educator and School Action
From Barriers to Constructive Action
Essential Elements
Essential Elements
Essential Elements
Essential Elements
Going Deeper Reflection
Going Deeper Dialogic Questions
Summary
Looking Ahead: Chapter 8
PART IV. COMMIT TO ACTION
CHAPTER 8. The 8th C—Commit to Action
Building Family and Community Capacity
Using Pre-assessments to Get Started
Planning to Plan
From Negative to Constructive
Your Cultural Proficiency Family, School, and Community Engagement Action Plan
Components of a Culturally Proficient Family, School, and Community Engagement Plan
Summary
Looking Ahead: Chapter 9
CHAPTER 9. Resources: Culturally Proficient Planning for Inclusive Partnering and Capacity Building
Resources: Inclusive Partnering and Capacity Building Learning Strategies
Academic Parent-Teacher Teams (APTT)
Parent/Family Universities
Community-Based Organizing Efforts
Resources: Technology Supported Strategies
Resources: Practical Learning Strategies
Summary
Be Intentional About It
RESOURCE A: BOOK STUDY GUIDE
RESOURCE B: CULTURAL PROFICIENCY BOOKS’ ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
RESOURCE C: AUTHORS, ORGANIZATIONS, AND WEBSITES
REFERENCES
INDEX

Dr. Angela Clark-Louqueis Professor and Department Chair of Educational Leadership and Technology at California State University, San Bernardino. She has served in several educational capacities during her career. This year, she was chosen as the Outstanding Faculty in Research and Scholarly Activities and in 2015 she was the Outstanding Faculty in Teaching

At the university level, she has served as an associate dean of academic affairs, director of graduate studies, department chair of doctoral studies, director of educational administration, and director of teacher education. At the community college level, she served as a counselor and mathematics faculty, and at the K-12 level, she served as an administrator and mathematics/social science teacher.

Dr. Clark-Louque continues to teach advanced human resources, qualitative research methods, and leadership courses to aspiring and practicing school leaders. Her research activities include peer-reviewed publications, grants, and reports. She has co-authored a book entitled,¿Exposing the `Culture of Arrogance¿ in the Academy: A Blueprint for Increasing Black Faculty Satisfaction in Higher Education¿(2005), and served as the co-editor and editor of theJournal of Urban Learning, Teaching, and Research(2007-2010) through the American Educational Research Association (AERA).

Her qualitative and quantitative research has focused on culturally proficient leadership, African Americans in educational leadership, developing and mentoring culturally proficient school leaders, and parental engagement. In 2010, she graduated from the Thomas Lakin Institute for Mentored Leadership, a national network of African American Community College CEOs. She was appointed the Committee Chair of Political Activism for the NAACP ¿ Southwest Riverside Region and was asked to serve on theLos Angeles Committee of Honorfor theFreedom¿s Sistersexhibit and tour, which pays homage to a group of extraordinary African-American women who have shaped the spirit and substance of civil rights in America.

Dr. Louque is a native of Memphis, Tenn. and is a graduate of George Washington Carver High School, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and Loyola Marymount University (LMU). She earned her doctorate in Educational Leadership: Institutional Management from Pepperdine University and has credentials and certifications in teaching: mathematics and social science; and administration: preliminary and professional (Tier I and Tier II).

How often do you hear, “The only parents who showed were the parents who didn’t need to be here.” 

But how often do you consider time of day, lack of child care, cost of dinner, transportation, lan­guage of the presentation, even relevance of the topic—all real-world barriers for families of our historically underserved students. 

Here at last is a resource that will open up access and reveal all-new ways to forge more culturally inclusive partnerships with families and communities . . .  partnerships that extend well beyond parent-teacher conferences, PTA meetings, and the occasional bake sale. 

The two big services Equity Partnerships provides? Using the Tools of Cultural Proficiency, you’ll

1. Discover new concepts and strategies to engage families and communities—and reduce, if not eliminate, barriers--through four essential principles: communication, connection, collaboration, and community
2. Engage in frequent opportunities to reflect on your own assumptions and values, then collaborate with colleagues to co-create systemic practices and policies for devising, implementing, and assessing family and community engagement actions in your schools and districts

We know inherently that family and community engagement is critical to the success of our stu­dents. Let Equity Partnerships be your go-to tool for breaking down the walls that for too long have limited all of us.
“Raising the next generation is a shared responsibility and privilege. These authors have been first responders for decades by pro­moting Cultural Proficiency as a means to ensure equity and access for all. In Equity Partnerships, they identify the powerful and critical link of family, school, and community engage­ment to strengthen families, build community support, and increase student success.” 

--TRUDY ARRIAGA, Associate Dean for Equity and Outreach, California Lutheran University, and Coauthor of Opening Doors