On a blustery St. Patrick’s Day in March 2023, we entered the halls of a midwestern high school, excited to present at a student leadership conference. In developing our remarks on the student role in family-school partnerships, we had initially created one program for educators and another for students. Then, it dawned on us — if students have a leadership role to play in the partnership between home and school, both students and educators should have a similar understanding of what those roles can be.
On the day of the conference, we gave each group some background on the links between strong family-school partnerships and positive student academic outcomes. We followed with some examples of partnerships in practice. The main event, however, provided time for the attendees to share their expectations of students in the partnership between home and school, as well as what skills and knowledge students might need to meet these expectations. What emerged throughout these conversations was a noteworthy mismatch between the students and their teachers regarding students’ roles as leaders. For example, when asked to describe students’ role in the relationship between home and school, educators responded, “The role of a student is to serve as a liaison [between home and school].” Students said, “The role of a student between home and school is to communicate needs and practice leadership.” The differences are subtle, but significant.
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