American School Counselor Association

Fostering Educational Resilience and Achievement in Urban Schools Through

School-Family-Community Partnerships
Author(s): Julia Bryan
Source: Professional School Counseling, Vol. 8, No. 3, SPECIAL ISSUE: PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL
COUNSELING IN URBAN SETTINGS (FEBRUARY 2005), pp. 219-227
Published by: American School Counselor Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/42732462
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JuliaBryan,Ph.D.,isan
assistant in
professor
School and
Psychology
Counselor Education,
Educational Resilience
School ofEducation, Fostering
CollegeofWilliam and
Mary , and
, Williamsburg Achievement in Urban
E-mail:
jabrya@wm.edu Schools
Through School-Family-

Community Partnerships
In thisera ofeducationreform, schoolcounselors are Racialandethnicminority students inmanyurban
among educators being held accountable for the academ- schoolsoften feel in a
powerless majority-dominated
ic achievement ofminority and poorchildren. School school culturewherelanguage,class,and culture
counselors in urbanschools servea disproportionatedifferences are seen as deficits(Cummins,1986;
number and
ofminority poor children at riskfor school Noguera,1996, 2001). Thesechildren areoverrep-
.
failure Urban school counselors can play critical roles
in resented in special education programsand under-
engaging their school's stakeholders in implementingrepresented in gifted and talented programs
partnership that
programs foster student achievement &
(Ferguson,Kozleski, Smith,2001). Not onlyare
and resilience.Thisarticlediscusses teamfacilitator, col- thelivesof a disproportionate numberof racialand
laborator; and advocacy rolesand strategies for urban ethnicminority children characterized byoppression
schoolcounselors and specific types ofpartnership pro- and a lackofprivilege, buttoo often,theyare"neg-
gramsthey needtopromote tofoster academicachieve- lected,labeled,andleftto wither in thelowesttracks
mentand resilience in minority and poorstudents. in our schools" (Lewis & Arnold,1998, p. 60).
Effortsby schoolsto reducethe minority achieve-
thiscurrent eraof schoolreform, educatorsare mentgap oftenfocuson blamingminority students
beingheldaccountablefortheacademicachieve- forwhat are perceivedas individualand cultural
Inmentof minority and poor students.This is of deficitsresidingin them,theirfamilies, and their
particular concern to urban educators because urban communities (Herbert,1999). Oftentimes, parents
schoolsservea disproportionate numberof minori- areregardedbyschoolofficials as adversaries instead
tyand poor students, who invariably are at riskfor of supporters of theirchildren'seducation(Huang
school failure(Wang,Haertel,& Walberg,1998). & Gibbs,1992; Noguera,1996, 2003). Schooloffi-
Of the7 millionstudentsservedbythe GreatCity cialsblamedifferences in culturalvaluesand family
Schools- whichconsistsof 61 of thelargesturban structure forpoor academicachievement whilepar-
schooldistricts in thecountryincludingBaltimore, entsinturnblamediscrimination andinsensitivity by
Cleveland,andPhiladelphia - over75 percentofthe schoolpersonnel(Atkinson & Juntunen, 1994).
students areminority students (CounciloftheGreat For manyeducators,the minority achievement
CitySchools,2003). School counselors are being gap, especiallyin urban areas, has come to be
urgedto takeleadershiprolesin educationreform acceptedas normative and theyperceivelittlehope
aimedat reducingthebarriers to academicachieve- fortransformation in theseschools.Littleattention
mentforsuchstudents (American SchoolCounselor is paid to the mannerin whichschoolcultureand
Association[ASCA], 2003; Bemak,2000; Butler, organizational practicesunconsciously act to main-
2003; Taylor & Adelman,2000). Many urban taintheracialinequities in academicachievement or
minority and poor studentstendto have multiple to the effectof the assumptions, fears,and stereo-
precipitating factorsand stressors thatput themat typesof schoolpersonnelon theirinteractions with
riskforschoolfailure(Atkinson & Juntunen, 1994; urban minoritychildrenand families(Noguera,
Walsh,Howard,& Buckley,1999). Urban school 1996, 2001, 2003). The socio-cultural-political
counselorshave the challengeof helpingstudents stressors and forcesthatminority studentsin urban
who dailyfaceriskfactors, suchas poverty; home- schoolsfaceinteract to present verycomplex,subtle,
lessness;neighborhoods characterized bycrime,vio- and seemingly insurmountable barriers to bothstu-
lence, and drugs; and sociocultural factors such as dentachievement and partnerships amongschools,
discrimination and racial and language barriers families, and community members. Theseforcesare
&
(Atkinson Juntunen;Holcomb-McCoy,1998, equallyharmful forboth low-achievingand high-
Schorr,1997). performing minority students(Herbert,1999). In

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 spiteofthisdrabpicture,recentresearchon thesuc- Despitethefactthatschool-family-community part-
cessesof morethan4,500 high-performing, high- nerships arenot a panaceaforsolvingstudents'and
minority,and high-povertyschoolsshouldelicitthe schools'problems, theyfostertheprotective factors
hope in educatorsthaturbanschools,families,and thathelp overcomesome of the barriers and risks
communities canworktogether to foster
theeduca- thatmanyurbanstudents face.
tionalresilienceand academicsuccessof students School-family-community partnerships establish
(EducationTrust,2001). supportive relationships,such as parent-teacher sup-
port, and involvefamily, school, and community
DYNAMICS OF RESILIENCY membersin implementing programsthatpromote
academicsuccessforstudents. Whenschools,fami-
Resilienceis the capacityof an individualto over- lies,and communities foster protective factors,
they
comedifficult andchallenging lifecircumstances and are puttingrisk-reducing mechanisms in place that
riskfactors.Educationalresilience is the abilityof mediaterisksin fourways: (a) Childrenare less
childrento succeedacademically despiteriskfactors impactedbytheeffects ofriskswithwhichtheyhave
thatmakeit difficult forthemto succeed(Benard, come in directcontact;(b) thedangerof exposure
1991; Wang, Haertel,& Walberg,1997, 1998). to theriskis reducedor theriskitself is modified; (c)
Resilientchildrenexperienceone or moredifficult children's and
self-efficacy self-esteem areenhanced;
lifecircumstances or traumatic eventsbutsomehow and (d) children areprovidedwithopportunities for
Manyurban findthepowerto overcometheiradverseimpact. meaningful involvement in their environments
Resiliencein childrencan be fosteredand pro- (Benard,1991, 1995).
minorityand poor moted by establishing protectivefactorsin their
environments (Benard,1991, 1995; Wang et al., THE RATIONALE FOR SCHOOL-FAMILY-
studentstend to 1997). Protective factorsreducethenegativeeffects COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS
of adversity and stressfullifeevents.The mainpro-
have multiple tectivefactors thatfamilies, schools,and communi- The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act (U.S.
tiescan fosterto increaseresiliency in childrenare Department ofEducation,2001) has mandatedthe
precipitating caring and supportive adult relationships,opportu- development of school-family-community partner-
nitiesformeaningful studentparticipation in their ships in Title I schools. Under NCLB, Tide I
factorsand schools and communities, and high parentand schoolsarerequiredto workjoindywithfamily and
teacherexpectations regarding student performance community members to a
develop school-family-
stressorsthat put and futuresuccess(Benard,1995, 1997; Wanget community involvement policy.Ferguson(2003)
al., 1997, 1998). A study(Herbert,1999) of18 cul- notedthattheprovisionconcerning school-family-
them at riskfor turally diverse,high-achieving studentsin an urban community partnerships is being overlooked;yet,
high school revealedthat a numberof factors suchpartnerships hold thekeyto meetingtheover-
schoolfailure. enhancedthesestudents'abilityto be resilient amid archinggoalofNCLB, thatofreducingtheachieve-
poverty,familycrises,and adverseenvironments. mentgapbetweenWhiteandpoorandminority stu-
Among thesewere supportiveadultsat home, at dentsin publicschools.Educationreform initiatives
school,and in thecommunity; extracurricularafter- over the past threedecades,such as Goals 2000,
school, Saturday, and summer enrichment pro- havefocusedon parentinvolvement or school-fami-
grams;challenging educational experiences; net- ly-community
a partnerships(Simon & Epstein,
workof achieving peers;and a strongbeliefin and 2001). Inherentto NCLB and previousreform ini-
senseofself. tiatives
is thebeliefthatparents,families, and com-
Overwhelmingly, school-family-community part- munity members arecriticalcontributors to improv-
nershipsare promotedas potentialsourcesof the ingacademicachievement.
protective factorsthatfoster educational resilience
in Schools alone lack the necessaryresourcesto
children(Benard,1995; Christenson & Sheridan, addressthe largenumberof obstaclesto learning
2001; Epstein,1995; Wang et al., 1997, 1998). that manyminority and poor studentsin urban
School-family-community partnerships are collabo- schools confronton a dailybasis. Schorr(1997)
rativeinitiativesor relationships amongschoolper- argued,"Schoolscanbecomeislandsofhopein oth-
sonnel,parents, family members, community mem- erwise devastatedneighborhoods.When schools
bers, and representatives of community- based and communities worktogetherto givepoor chil-
organizations suchas businesses, churches, libraries, drenthe supportstypically enjoyedby childrenin
and social serviceagencies.All partnersinvolved middle-classneighborhoods,they help children
worktogetherto coordinateand implement pro- avoida cultureoffailure"(p. 289). Familyandcom-
gramsand activities aimedat theincreasedacadem- munitymemberscan contribute extensively to the
ic, emotional,and socialsuccessof studentsserved workof theschool,to theplanningand implemen-
by the school (Davies, 1996; Epstein, 1995). tationofcurricular and extracurricular activities
that

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enhancelearning, and to theinfusion oftheculture tices,schoolculture, anddiscrimination, maynegate
ofstudentsand families withintheschool(Brewster thepositiveeffects ofparentinvolvement on student
& Railsback,2003; Fergusonet al., 2001; Hender- achievement.
son & Mapp,2002).
Partnerships and Empowerment
Partnerships and Educational Outcomes Parents and family membersoftenemergeempow-
Researchhasindicatedthatschool-family-communi- eredbytheprocessof participation in partnerships
typartnerships improve school programs and school with schools (Davies,1995, 1996; Winters,1993).
climate,increaseparents'skillsand leadership, con- They gain skills,knowledge,and confidencethat
nectfamilies withothersin theschooland thecom- help themin rearingtheirchildren,in improving
munity, improvechildren's
and chancesofsuccessin theireconomiccondition,and in beinggood citi-
schoolandlife(Epstein,1995; Henderson& Mapp, zens(Davies,1996). After yearsofworking withini-
2002). In a longitudinal study of 293 third and fifth tiatives
to involve parents in schools in New Haven,
gradersin 14 classrooms in BaltimoreCityschools, CT, Milwaukee, WI, and otherurbanpublicschool
teachers'efforts to involveparentswere foundto systems, Wintersobservedthatlow-income, single
have significant positive effects on student reading mothers seemto emergefromtheseprograms with
achievement fromfallto spring,evenaftercontrol- strengthened new
self-competence, skills, and a
lingfor teacher quality,students' initialachievement, determination to alter the direction of their lives.
parents'education,parents'improvedunderstand- She reportedthattheseparentsenteredthesepro-
ing of the schoolprogram,and the qualityof stu- gramsfeelingpowerlessness (believingthat one's
dents' homework (Epstein & Dauber, 1991). behaviorcannotaffectoutcomesor resultin what
Notably,Comer's School DevelopmentProgram, one desires),a senseof anomieor meaninglessness,
which was implementedfirstin troubled,low- socialisolation, and self-estrangement. As a resultof
income, urban areasin New Haven, ČT's schools their in
participation school-family partnership pro-
and subsequendyin manysimilarurban schools grams,parentsreapeda numberof benefits includ-
nationally, has had over40 yearsof successin help- ing an increasedsense of well-beingand personal
ingminority and poorstudents to reachand exceed competence.
national achievementnorms (Comer, Haynes, Similarly,CochranandDean (1991), in a studyof
Joyner, & Ben- Avie, 1996). Relatedly, Henderson 160 urban families overa 3-yearperiod,concluded
andMapp havesynthesized 51 studiesthathighlight thatefforts to involveparents, neighborhood mem-
the positiveinfluencesof familyand community bers,teachers,and school administrators in pro-
involvementin schools on student academic gramsthatfocuson parentempowerment willhave
achievement. Whenfamily membersareinvolvedin positiveimpactson family-school relationships and
theirchildren'seducation,childrenare morelikely on children'sschool performance. Like Winters
to earnhighergrades,enrollin rigorousclasses,go (1993), Cochran and Dean found that parents
on to college,and have betteracademic-achieve- emergedfromtheirempowerment-focused school-
ment-related behaviors, such as good social skills family-community partnership programhavingbet-
and regularattendance at school. ter self-perceptions, gainingstrongersocial net-
Recentstudieshavesoughtto dispelthemyththat works,and beingmorewillingto initiate changesin
students in high-poverty, high-minority schools can- theirneighborhoods.
not performwell academically(CharlesA. Dana
Center, 1999; Education Trust, 2001). The Partnerships and Social Capital
EducationTrusthasidentified 4,577 high-perform-School-family-community partnerships build social
or
ing schoolsthatservehigh-minorityhigh-pover- capital or networks of trust that families drawfrom
or
tystudents, both.Among the criticalcomponents to help their children succeed &
(Epstein Sanders,
that these high-performing, high-poverty/high-2000). More formally, social capital is further
minority schoolshavein commonarehighexpecta- definedas "resourcesstoredin humanrelationships
tionsandstandards forallstudents, accessforallstu- whethercasualor close . . . thestuff we drawon all
dentsto rigorouscurricula, extrasupportforstu- the time,throughour connectionsto a systemof
dentswho need it, and strongpartnerships with humanrelationships, to accomplish thingsthatmat-
familiesand community members.However,one terto us and to solveeveryday problems"(de Souza
musttakenoteoftheresearch thatindicates thatthe Briggs,1997, p. 112). Partnerships amongschools,
effectof parentinvolvement on minority student families, and communities createavenuesbywhich
achievement maybe mediatedby school-level vari- relationships or networksof trustcan be formed
ablesthattendto affect minority and poorstudents amongadministrators, teachers, family,andcommu-
more than White students(Desimone, 1996). nitymembers.These relationships providea source
School-levelvariables,such as organizational prac- of connections,information, and understandings

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 thatparentscan drawon to helptheirchildren suc-
moreinvolvedin some partnership roles(thoseof
ceed. Such partnerships facilitatethe exchangeofadvocate, team leader, and consultant) thanin oth-
knowledgeacrossculturesand lead to a bridging of
ers (facilitator, school-homeliaison,coordinator,
thegap betweenhome and schoolcultures, andtrainer).
values, Theyalsoperceived sometypesofpart-
and expectations (Huang & Gibbs, 1992; Schorr, nerships and
(e.g., mentoring parenteducationpro-
1997). as
grams) more importantthan others(Bryan&
Positiverelationshipsbetweenschoolsandfamilies Holcomb-McCoy, 2004).
in manyurbanschoolsare infrequent becausepar- In anotherstudyofschoolcounselors drawnfrom
entsoftendo not trusttheschoolsand schoolpro- ASCA, counselors reportedbeing at least moderate-
fessionalsin turndo not trustminority and low-
lyinvolved in 18 school-family-community partner-
incomefamilies and communities (Cummins,1986; shiprole behaviors prescribed forthemin thepro-
Goddard, Tschannen-Moran,& Hoy, 2001). fessionalschool counselingliterature(Bryan &
Noguera(1996, 2001, 2003) highlighted thenega-
Holcomb-McCoy, 2005). Forexample,theyreport-
tiveattitudesthatprincipals and teachersin urban ed beingfrequently involvedin locatingservices and
schools frequently have towardlow-incomeand resources forstudents and theirfamilies in thecom-
minority students and families.
Some ofthebarriers munity, collaborating withcommunity agencypro-
to trustare parents'pastnegativeexperiences with and
fessionals, workingwitha teamof schoolstaff,
schools, poor school-home communication, par-
family,and/orcommunity members andprofession-
ents'experiences ofdiscrimination, andincongruentals. Furthermore, the same studyindicatedthat
teacher and parent expectations(Brewster & school counselors'involvement in school-family-
Railsback,2003). School administration, teachers,
community partnerships was influenced bytheirrole
and counselorsmaybe rigidand defensive in rein-
perceptions, their confidence in the abilityto build
forcing ruleswith thesefamilieswhom theyperceive
partnerships, and their attitudes about partnerships
as "problems."Suchinteractions resultin theaccru-
over and above school norms of collaboration
ing of negativesocialcapitalto thesefamilies who
(Bryan& Holcomb-McCoy, 2005).
feel alienated and marginalizedfrom schools Urbanschoolcounselorsare in a keypositionto
(Epstein& Sanders,2000; Noguera,2003). assistschoolsin theireducationreform mandatesto
It has been demonstrated thatamong children reducetheachievement gap among low-income and
whose backgrounds and parentalexpectations are
minority children (Butler,2003; Holcomb-McCoy,
inconsistent with school expectations and values,
1998, 2001). ASCA's (2003) National Model
strongfamily-school relationships make a positive
specifically outlineda leadershiprole for school
difference to studentachievement (Comer et al.,
counselorsin school-family-community partner-
1996). The creation of positiverelationships and
ships: "The school counselorprovidesproactive
transformative amongschools,families,
partnerships leadership,whichengagesall stakeholders in the
and communitiespresupposesa paradigmshift. deliveryof activities and servicesto help students
Theremustbe a shiftfromseeingparentsas periph- achievesuccessin school" (p. 17). Because urban
eralto education,and as deficient,to seeingthemasschoolcounselors workon a dailybasiswitha large
valuableresourcesand assetsto the school and as proportion of students who feel alienatedfrom
havinga sharedresponsibility and equal capacitytoschooland areat riskforacademicfailure and drop-
contribute to theeducationoftheirchildren. pingout,theyhavea responsibility to facilitatethese
students'academicachievement (Butler,2003). It is
THE SCHOOL COUNSELOR'S ROLES IN imperative thatschool counselorsunderstand how
PARTNERSHIP BUILDING IN URBAN to deviseprograms andinterventions to assistfailing
SCHOOLS studentsin overcomingsystemicbarriersthat
impede their academic progress.Furthermore,
School-family-community involvement school counselorsmust be willing to become
partnership
is considereda centralaspectof the school coun- involved invariouspartnership rolesin orderto con-
selor'srole (ASCA, 2003; Bemak,2000; Bryan& nectschools,families, and communities in address-
Holcomb-McCoy, 2004, 2005; Taylor& Adelman, ing barriersto learningand promotingstudent
2000; Walshet al., 1999). Schoolcounselorsarein resilience and achievement (Bemak,2000; Taylor&
an idealpositionto promoteand provideleadership Adelman,2000).
forpartnerships amongschool,families, and com-
munities (Colbert,1996). Recent studies
haveindi- Partnership RolesforSchoolCounselors
catedthatschoolcounselors agreethattheirrolesin The school counselorcannot do it all (Erford,
school-family-community partnershipsare impor- 2003). Rather, itis suggestedthatschoolcounselors
tant(Bryan& Holcomb-McCoy,2004, 2005). In be activelyinvolvedin activitiesto engage their
one study,schoolcounselors reportedthattheywere schools' stakeholders; thisidentifies school coun-

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selorsas teamfacilitators, advocates,and collabora- processor act of arguingor pleadingfora causeor
torswithmembersof theirschools,families, and proposal"(p. 8). An advocatepleadsor arguesthe
communities (Bemak,2000; Colbert,1996; Taylor cause of another.School counselorsare advocates
& Adelman,2000). These roles allow the school who workwithschoolpersonnel, family, and com-
counselorto facilitate andassistin coordinating such munity members to removesystemic barriers to stu-
partnership programs without taking on the sole dent success, especially for students who have been
for
responsibility partnership building in schools. disenfranchised due to racism and discrimination
Team facilitator. Enhancing studentachievement (House & Martin,1998). School-family-communi-
in urbanschoolswillnotbe accomplished in a piece- typartnerships arean effective meansof combating
mealfashionor byengagingparentsin a fewtoken systemic barriers in urbanschools(Noguera,1996;
activities(CharlesA. Dana Center,1999; Christen- Schorr,1997). Successin establishing supportfor
son & Sheridan,2001; Fergusonet al., 2001). suchpartnerships willbe predicated on schoolcoun-
Schoolsthatembracefamilies andcommunity mem- selors'willingness to advocateforsuchpartnerships.
bers as valued partnershave comprehensive pro- This commitment to advocacyis likelyto be fueled
of
grams partnerships that move beyond traditional by school counselors' understanding of thebenefits
partnership roles forparents, such as involvement in that such partnerships have for minority and low-
theparent-teacher to
association, engagefamily and income children. Convincing educators that urban
community members in working as a team at multi- families and communities can provide valuable Overwhelmingly,
ple levelsin the school (Christenson & Sheridan). resources to theschoolis one ofthefirst challenges
Partnershipteams- referredto as family-school thatschoolcounselors willfacegiventhestereotypes school-family-
teams (Christenson& Sheridan),school mental and fearsthat school personnelmay have about
healthteams(Keys& Lockhart,1999), and action thesefamilies andcommunities. In orderto getprin- community
teams for partnerships (Epstein,1995) - are sug- cipal and teacher "buy-in," school counselorswill
gested as the best way to facilitate the designing, need to collect and use data and stories aboutsuc- partnershipsare
planning, and evaluation of partnership programs. cessful partnerships and their impact on student
These teamstypically are composedof schoolper- achievement to elicitschool-wide supportforbuild- promotedas
sonnel(e.g., administrator, teachers, school coun- ingpartnerships.
selor,librarian, school psychologist), parents,and Urbanschoolcounselorscan increaseadministra- potentialsourcesof
community members. torandstaff awareness ofthebenefits ofschool-fam-
Teaming is the of
process working with a group of ily-community partnerships for student achievement the protective
individuals to accomplish commongoalsand objec- throughstaffdevelopment Staff
trainings. develop-
tives. Team facilitators assist teams in running mentworkshops arealsoforums inwhichcounselors factorsthat foster
smoothly and moving forward in their efforts to can help teachers examine their beliefsand stereo-
accomplish a task. Facilitators must have effective types about culturally diverse students and urban educational
communication, problem-solving, and conflict reso- communities and awaken awareness of the negative
lutionskills,as well as an understanding of team effects ofviewingstudents froma deficit perspective. resiliencein
dynamics.Giventheirtraining in groupworkand Combinedworkshopsforschool staff,family, and
more specifically in workingwith teams,school community members cancreateopportunities forall children.
counselorscan playa criticalrole as facilitators of stakeholders to examinetheirviewsabouthow they
partnership teams.It is imperative thatschoolcoun- can worktogetherto build partnerships to foster
selorsuse theirteamfacilitation skillsto helpadmin- academicachievement and the protectivefactors
istratorsand teacherswork collaboratively with thatbuildeducationalresilience in children.
stakeholders who are representative of the children Collaborator.As urbanschool counselorswork
thatmostneed help,thatis, minority and low-in- withschoolpersonnel, family, andcommunity mem-
come students(Fergusonet al., 2001). Oftentimes, bersto buildpartnerships, they will have to use their
minority parentsmay not voice their ideas because and
knowledge expertise lay to the groundwork for
of theirfearof theteam'sreactionto them.School successful collaboration. Collaborationis a process
counselorscan use group processskillsto ensure forreachinggoalsthatcannotbe reachedalonebut
that minority and low-incomeparents'voices are are reachedthroughsharedvision,responsibility,
heard in the collaborationand decision-making and resources;parity; jointwork;mutualexpertise;
&
process (Brewster Railsback,2003; Cicero & and shared outcomes in accomplishing the goals.
Barton,2003; Henderson & Mapp,2002). In addi- Successful collaboration among members of urban
tion, school counselors can help create an environ- schools,families, and communities will take place
mentinwhichteammembers appreciate theexpert- whentheysee each otheras equals,sharecommon
ise and diverseperspectives thatpoor and minority goals, and contributeequallyto developingand
parentsbring to the problem-solving process. implementingpartnershipplans (Keys, Bemak,
Advocate. Lee (1998) definedadvocacyas "the Carpenter,& King-Sears,1998; Noguera, 1996,

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 2003). School counselorscan playa criticalrolein 1995; Herbert,1999; Wang et al., 1997, 1998).
fostering collaboration bymodelingopen dialogue. Two typesofpartnership programs aresuccessful in
Open dialogue, a critical component of successful facilitating educational resilience and academic
collaboration,involvespartnerslisteningto each achievement: (a) family-centered partnerships such
otherrespectfully, valuing each other's opinions, and as family centers, parent education programs,and
respecting the views of diverse partners with differ- family outreach (Comer et al., 1996; Epstein,1995;
ent experiences. Such dialogueprovidesa starting Ritchie& Partin,1994); and (b) extracurricular
point for partnershipsthroughwhich cultural enrichment partnership programs suchas tutoring,
understandings and trust can be built and school- mentoring, and after-school enrichment programs
family-community differences can be bridged. (Christiansen, 1997; Herbert;Walshet al., 1999).
As urban school counselorscollaboratewith Family-centered partnerships.Throughfamily
schoolpersonnel, families, and communities, a nec- outreachprograms, family centers, and parentedu-
first
essary step is that they become familiar with the cation programs,many urban schools have been
community that the school is located in, with the effective in involving and
parents guardians in their
that
understanding community maygo beyond the children's education (Johnson,2001; Simon &
neighborhoodsurrounding the school (Dorfman, Epstein,2001). Throughfamily-centered programs,
1998). Community assetmappingis a usefultool schoolcounselorscan helpfamily membersbecome
Underthe No Child thaturbanschoolcounselors canutilizeto learnwho more involvedin workingto keep theirchildren
arethe"point"peopleor peopleofinfluence in the engagedin school.Supportive family memberscan
LeftBehindAct, local community, which persons and organizations help coordinate parent education and family centers,
havetherespectofthepeople(e.g., pastors,priests, because parentsreach parentsmore effectively
Title I schoolsare 4-H club), and who are the activeadvocatesand (Atkinson& Juntunen, 1994). Some schoolsmay
"voices"of the community. School counselorscan payfora parentliaisonor coordinator out of their
use community asset mapping to learn where budget, while in others,parentsmay volunteer. In
requiredto work
resourcesare located(e.g., the socialserviceagen- urbanareas,wherethereare a largeproportionof
jointlywithfamily
cies,mentoring program,libraries)and wherethe raciallyand ethnicallydiversefamilies,including
community meetingplacesare. immigrant families, it is imperative thatparentedu-
Getting to know the community is a first step in cation and family outreach programsidentify the
and community
marshaling valuable community resources. Parents needs of family members and students and tailor
membersto and family membersfromthelocal community are partnership programs to meettheirneeds(Cicero&
valuableresourcesin helpingurbanschool coun- Barton,2003). The school counselorshouldcon-
selorslearnaboutthecommunity. Schoolcounselors duct needs assessment and focusgroupsto deter-
develop a school- needspriorto designing
should enlistthe supportof "point" parentsand mineparents'andstudents'
members so that they can build a bridge parentworkshops.
family-community community and memberswho do Parenteducationis alreadya role that school
to otherparents community
involvementpolicy. not usually venture into the schools. If school coun- counselors embrace,often implementing parent
selorsaregoingto be successful in theirattempts to workshops to educateparentsaboutwaysin which
collaboratewithfamilyand community members, to helptheirchildrensucceedin school(Ritchie&
they will need to examine their own attitudes and Partin,1994). Parentworkshopscan help many
stereotypes about poor and minority persons be families,
and such as immigrant and minority families,
to
willing accept cultural norms that are different understand the school's policiesand rulesand how
fromtheirown.To do so, theywillneed to be cul- to advocatefortheirchildren in theschool.In order
turally competent. to reach "hard-to-reach" parents,urban school
counselorsmayhave to takeparentworkshopsto
Partnership ProgramsforEnhancingAcademic community meetingplaces such as churchesand
Achievement community centers. Theyalso can network withthe
It is not enough justto build partnerships. Urban largestemployers of their students' familiesto organ-
school counselorsmustfacilitate the establishment ize "ParentDays" or parentmeetingsat the work
of partnerships that fosteracademicachievement site.Home visitsare powerfulwaysof connecting
and resilience in poor and minority children.Such withfamilies whomayfinditdifficult to cometo the
partnerships providestudents with caring and sup- school. Parents respondpositively to visitsfrompar-
portiverelationships, offerthemopportunities for ent or teacher liaisons of the same culture (Hiatt-
meaningful involvement in theirschool and com- Michael,2001). Whereverpossible,school coun-
munity environments, offerafter-school enrichment selorsshouldaska parentliaisonor volunteer ofthe
activities, incorporate high expectations to
regarding sameethnicity accompany them on a home visit.
studentperformance and success,and enhancestu- Thiswillhelpto reducecultural barriers because the
dents'senseofself-efficacy and self-esteem (Benard, parentmaybetterunderstand accepted the cultural

224 I PROFESSIONAL
ASCA COUNSELING
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traditions and practices ofthefamily. demic preparationand orientationprogramsto
Findingwaysto reduceparents'feelings of alien- reducestudentattrition in middleand highschools,
ationin theschoolnecessitates thattheschoolcoun- enhancestudentachievement, and preparestudents
selor advocatefor a space for all parentsin the for college (Fenske,Geranios,Keller,& Moore,
school. School counselorsare oftenadvocatesfor 1997).
theestablishment offamily andparentresourcecen- Also,urbanschoolcounselors canliaisewithbusi-
ters(Cicero & Barton,2003). Familycenterspro- nessesand professional corporations to facilitate
the
videa welcomingspacein theschool,createa feel- implementation ofCadetprograms and careerclubs
ing of belongingness amongparents,and providea in theschoolsin orderto arousechildren's interest
place whereparentscan come to meetwithother in variouscareers,enhancetheirknowledgeabout
parents,find parentresources,and have parent careeroptions,build theircareerself-efficacy, and
group meetings(Cicero & Barton). In schools provideaccuratecareerinformation to dispelmyths
wherefamilycentershave been implemented, par- aboutcareers.
entsreportedfeelinglikeinsidersratherthanout-
siders(Johnson, 2001). As schoolcounselors collab- CONCLUSION Because urban
oratewithschool staffto incorporate the various
culturesof studentsrepresented in the schoolinto Partnerships amongtheschool,home,and commu- schoolcounselors
thefamily center(e.g., throughbooksand posters), nityincreasestudents'chancesofsuccessbyremov-
and throughout the school,urbanfamily members ing some of the stressors and systemic barriersto workon a daily
willfeelmoreacceptedin theschoolculture. academicand personalsuccess,especiallyforpoor
Extracurricularenrichmentpartnershippro- and minority students(Taylor& Adelman,2000; basis witha large
grams. Research has the
highlighted positive influ- Walsh et In
al., 1999). preparing school counselors
ences of mentorsand tutorsin children'slives to workin urbansettings, counseloreducatorsmust proportionof
(Benard, 1992; Dubois, Holloway, Valentine, & seek to address their specialtrainingneeds within
Harris,2002). After-school enrichment andtutoring the existingCouncil for the Accreditationof studentswho feel
are
programs reported to be successfulin fostering Counseling and Related Educational Programs
academic achievementand resiliencein children (2001) schoolcounseling curriculum. Schoolcoun- alienated from
(Hock, Pulvers, Deshler, & Schumaker,2001). selorswho work with urban families and communi-
Similarly,tutoringprogramsare effectivewhen tiesmusthaveknowledge andskillsin collaboration, schooland are at
tutorsreceivesometraining et
(Hock al.). As school and
advocacy, leadership(Bemak,2000; Taylor&
counselorsadvocateforthe establishment of men- Adelman,2000); collaborative consultation (Keyset riskforacademic
and
toring tutoring and
programs encourageparents al., 1998); and multicultural competency (Holcomb-
to involvetheirchildren in theseprograms, theywill McCoy,1998, 2001). failureand
need to ensurethatcoordinators of suchprograms In addition,counseloreducatorswill need to
are implementing best practicessuch as providing infuseknowledgeaboutschoolculture,community droppingout,they
training fortutors and mentors. assetmapping,and urbaneducationissuesin the
In urban schools, school counselorsmust be schoolcounselingcurriculum (Bryan& Holcomb- have a
awareofthecommunity organizations that can serve McCoy,2005). Some of these knowledgeand skill
as resourcesand provideacademicsupportservices areaswouldbe betterexploredin greater depthin a responsibilityto
for students and their parents (Atkinson & coursefocusingon school-family-community part-
Juntunen, 1994). This willenablethemto identify nerships,collaboration,consultation,and school facilitatethese
and partnerwith reputablementoring,tutoring, restructuring.Additionally,school counseling
faith- based,and othercommunity programs to pro- traineesshouldbe placedin internships wheresite students'academic
vide academicenrichment experiences for students. are in
supervisors engaged school-family-communi-
It is imperativeinworking withurbanminority fam- typartnerships so as to providethemwithpractical achievement.
iliesthatschoolcounselorsrecognizethefocalrole understandings of urbanissuesand how to build
ofthechurchwithintheAfrican-American, African, strongpartnerships amongurbanschools,families,
Caribbean, and Hispanic communities (Day-Vines, and communities. I
Patton,& Baytops,2003). Churchesoftenare a
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