Inventory for Creating Parent-Teacher Connections (ICPTC)

Mutually shared goals across home and school for children’s reading and learning.

Belief that parental involvement in reading and language development activities is paramount.

Belief that working together as partners will benefit the child’s reading and learning, with mutually supported roles and actions to achieve this goal.

Recognition of the value of both in- and out-of-school learning opportunities for children’s reading, learning and school progress.

Recognition that the nature and quality of the parent-teacher relationship influences (positively or negatively) children’s reading and school performance.

Expectation that families will be involved in home support for reading, and recognition that such involvement can mean different things to different families.

Expectation that as the classroom teacher, I will seek ways to invite parents to share in the educational process for their children, recognizing that this may 'look different' to different families.

Presence of a policy statement that promotes the importance and expectation of parent-teacher connections for children’s reading and learning success.

Attempts to understand the needs, ideas, opinions, and perspectives of parents.

A nonblaming, no-fault problem-solving stance in interactions with parents.

Willingness to share perspectives and observations across home and school.

Perception of parent involvement as essential (i.e., bringing a critical element to my work that is otherwise unavailable) rather than simply desirable.

A positive attitude that focuses on teacher, parent, and child strengths, rather than only on problems or deficits.

Willingness to co-construct the whole picture about the child by discussing, exploring, and understanding different perspectives.

Willingness to listen to and respond to concerns across home and school—viewing different perspectives as a way to better understand the student’s needs, and viewing parents’ and teacher’s concerns as a way to offer mutual support.

Mutual respect between parent and teacher.

Understanding that barriers for positive parent-teacher relationships (i.e., constraints of each system) exist for both parties.

Recognition of the value, and active solicitation, of family input regarding important decisions about their child.

Use of parent and teacher input to promote positive outcomes for students.

A welcoming, respectful, inclusive, positive, supportive climate and atmosphere in the classroom for all children and families.

A variety of communication strategies to reach all parents in a manner that is sensitive or responsive to family background (e.g., language, skills, knowledge level), easy to understand, and 'jargon-free.'

A variety of communication strategies to share information and/or monitor children’s performance.

Parental and teacher trust in each other (including motives, objectives, and communications).

Mechanisms for listening to and responding to concerns across home and school.

Meaningful ways and flexible options for parents and students to be involved.

Opportunities for parents and teachers to learn from one another (e.g., cross-cultural communication opportunities).

Information is provided to families about classroom policies and practices, parents’ and students’ rights vis-à-vis education, and ways to foster students’ engagement with reading.

Opportunities or mechanisms are provided for the parent and teacher to plan jointly and collaborate to resolve a shared concern or to improve reading and learning experiences for the student.

A process exists for creating mutually supportive roles for parents and teachers.

Supports and resources exist for creating and maintaining parent-teacher partnerships.

Policies and practices support a coordinated, collaborative approach (i.e., shared responsibility) for enhancing students’ reading progress.

Parents and teachers (i.e., partners) routinely review the availability, accessibility, and flexibility of parent-teacher roles and responsibilities for fostering children’s reading and school engagement.