Reflecting on Past and Future: Proposing a Lakatosian Research Programme for Towards Advancing Family-School Partnerships

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Abstract

Family-school partnerships have been studied as strategy to improve an array of student outcomes for over 30 years. Recent evidence points to the role of pre-existing family-school partnerships in mitigating absenteeism and learning loss during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. With this promising literature, however, the field has lacked substantial conceptual focus and has rarely produced a liner progression of ideas. Though Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory and Joyce Epstein’s Overlapping Spheres of Influence laid the foundation, agreed upon key elements of effective partnerships remain unclear in the field. This paper advocates for a focused, cooperative research agenda, drawing on Imre Lakatos’ concept of Research Programmes to strengthen and systematically study and implementation of effective family-school partnerships in education.

Author

• Thomas J Capretta, The Ohio State University