Abstract
During challenging sociopolitical times, equity-focused school–family–community partnerships are a powerful strategy that school counselors and other educators can use to provide equitable resources, information, and programs to meet their students’ academic, college and career, social/emotional, and mental health needs. Yet school counselors rarely evaluate these initiatives systematically, leaving an important evidence gap that this article addresses. Programs that are evidence based and demonstrate student success are harder to dismiss as ideological and more likely to be seen as legitimate educational interventions. This conceptual article provides a practical, evidence-based roadmap to help school counselors and other educators develop, implement, and evaluate school–family–community partnerships across supportive and restrictive climates, demonstrating impact and sustaining equity-focused work. The article builds on the seven-step Equity-Focused School–Family–Community Partnership Model, grounded in four pillars: democratic collaboration, empowerment, strengths focus, and social justice. School counselors enact these principles through liberatory praxis in supportive settings and subversive praxis in restrictive ones, generating resilience-focused social capital that connects students to protective resources and justice-focused social capital that empowers families to challenge inequitable structures. Evaluation is integral to partnership development. We describe needs assessment, formative, outcome, and summative approaches alongside culturally responsive tools, bilingual surveys, equity walks, family data cafés, and equity dashboards, adaptable across supportive and restrictive climates. School counselors can embed partnership steps within ASCA annual plans, and counselor educators can integrate the model across evaluation, supervision, and internship coursework. Future research should examine liberatory and subversive praxis across contexts and explore how emerging technologies, including AI-enabled tools, may expand family participation and strengthen equity-centered evaluation.
Amid anti-DEI policies and polarized educational climates, school counselors are grappling with how to engage in equity-focused work (Brezicha et al., 2023). Some school counselors work in supportive school climates, where administrators and educators support and celebrate equity-focused initiatives; others work in restrictive school climates, in which district and school administrators have eliminated or forbidden equity- or DEI-focused work (Bryan et al., in press). School counselors and educators who are committed to equity work may feel fearful engaging in that work given the scrutiny they may experience. In restrictive environments, they wrestle with how to continue serving the needs of marginalized families and students. As counselor educators, we write from that tension, alongside school counselors who continue this equity work with courage and quiet resolve. Consistent with the applied focus of this special issue, we examine how school counselors may continue this work through equity-focused school–family–community partnerships in both supportive and restrictive sociopolitical school contexts.
Across school districts, recent anti-DEI policies have reshaped curriculum and school climate in ways that affect students, families, educators, and school counselors. The rollback of civil rights guidance has coincided with renewed use of exclusionary discipline practices, disproportionately affecting Black students and students with disabilities (Tabron et al., 2024; U.S. Department of Education, 2025). At the same time, restrictions on race-conscious curricula and equity-focused programming have limited students’ access to learning environments that affirm their identities and lived experiences (Tabron et al., 2024; Vue et al., 2024). Families often experience these shifts through the disappearance of trusted programs, such as bilingual family leadership initiatives, culturally responsive courses, special education services, and student affinity spaces. These losses strain trust and weaken supports critical to students’ success, especially for low-income and marginalized students and families.
During challenging sociopolitical times, equity-focused school–family–community partnerships are a powerful strategy that school counselors and educators can use to provide equitable resources, information, programs, and initiatives to meet their students’ academic, college and career, social/emotional, and mental health needs (Bryan et al., 2020; Bryan & Henry, 2012). However, if school counselors are going to establish valuable partnership programs, they should evaluate them to demonstrate that what they are doing is making a difference (Zyromski &Dimmitt, 2023). Too often, school counselors do not evaluate the programs they develop (Kim et al., 2024). Indeed, the literature reveals a notable gap in evaluating programs and interventions in school counseling, but clearly, evaluation matters (Zyromski &Dimmitt, 2023). School counselors’ ability to demonstrate the ways in which their programs and interventions make a difference for children and families can strengthen their professional legitimacy and shared accountability during these challenging times. Programs that are evidence based and demonstrate student success are harder to dismiss as ideological, political, or agenda-driven and more likely to be seen as legitimate and important educational interventions (Dimmitt, 2009; Dimmitt & Zyromski, 2020; Zyromski &Dimmitt, 2022, 2023; Zyromski et al., 2023). This article offers a practical, evidence-based roadmap to help school counselors and educators navigate the everyday realities of developing, implementing, and evaluating school–family–community partnerships in varying sociopolitical climates.
Why Partnerships and Their Evaluation Matter
School–family–community partnerships matter. As Henry et al.’s studies (2017, 2021) demonstrated, school-counselor-led partnerships can be effective interventions for delivering comprehensive, equity-focused school counseling services to children with complex needs, resulting in positive academic and social/emotional outcomes for students. Through collaboration with families, educators, and community members, partnerships enable school counselors to share the responsibility for meeting their students’ academic, postsecondary, social/emotional, and mental health needs (Henry, 2014; Henry et al., 2017, 2021). Partnerships connect schools and their students to valuable programs, mentors, volunteers, and resources that school counselors could not possibly provide alone, allowing them to develop a coordinated system of support that reaches every student. Indeed, partnerships make a difference in the capacity and impact of school counselors and their programs, making them more effective and far reaching (Bryan, 2005; Bryan & Henry, 2012).
Over the past 2 decades, research has consistently shown that school–family–community partnerships improve multiple student outcomes, including academic achievement, attendance, resilience, and college and career readiness, and provide protective networks and developmental assets for students who are navigating poverty, racism, and other systemic inequities (Bryan, 2005; Bryan et al., 2020; Bryan & Henry, 2008, 2012; Henry et al., 2017, Henry & Bryan, 2021). Despite the benefits of school–family–community partnerships, to date, a lack of evaluation has resulted in limited studies and information about the effectiveness of partnership interventions (Su & Li, 2025). School counselors should use evidence-based program evaluation that demonstrates the impact of their partnerships while centering equity and culturally responsive practices (Dimmitt & Zyromski, 2020; Ishimaru, 2019).
Given their unique advocacy and systemic collaboration roles in schools, school counselors can play a critical leadership role in initiating and sustaining evidence-based school–family–community partnerships (Bryan et al., 2017, 2019, 2020; Griffin et al., 2021). The ASCA National Model® (American School Counselor Association [ASCA], 2025) emphasizes the importance of program evaluation and use of data in school counseling programs. School counselors who take the time to document evidence regarding family engagement, student outcomes, and school climate changes demonstrate accountability and provide leadership in systemic reform (Young & Bryan, 2015). In these evolving sociopolitical times, collaborative leadership is both wise and protective. Partnering with a leadership team of school, family, and community stakeholders may serve as a professional safeguard for school counselors, making clear that decisions about which students to serve, and how to serve them, are collaborative, not the actions of a single school counselor. This collective responsibility protects individual school counselors from being singled out for equity-focused decisions in restrictive climates and from bearing the full weight of political or institutional backlash.
The Equity-Focused School–Family–Community Partnership Model centers school counselors as leaders and systemic collaborators who convene families, staff, and community partners to support students (Bryan and Henry et al., 2012, Bryan et al., 2017, 2018). The model aligns with evidence-based school counseling (EBSC), which promotes school counselors intentionally embedding evaluation and accountability within partnership activities and interventions (Carey &Dimmitt, 2012; Dimmitt, 2009). Concerning partnerships, school counselors often ask two evaluation questions: How do I implement school–family–community partnerships step-by-step in my school? And how do I know if it is working? In this article, we address both questions by presenting an evidence-based guide for implementing and evaluating the Equity-Focused School–Family–Community Partnership Model (Bryan and Henry et al., 2012; Bryan et al., 2019; 2020, in press) across different school climates. We offer program evaluation strategies at every step of the partnership process.
The Equity-Focused School-Family-Community Partnership Model: Principles, Praxis, Social Capital
Before moving to the program evaluation of partnerships, we describe the Equity-Focused School–Family–Community Partnership Model, including the principles or core pillars, the process of building partnerships across restrictive and supportive school climates, and two forms of social capital as partnership outcomes. We define school–family–community partnerships as collaborative initiatives and mutual relationships among school personnel, families, and community members who function as equal and mutual partners in planning, implementing, and evaluating partnership programs (Bryan, 2005; Bryan et al., 2019, 2020; Bryan & Henry, 2012). Building on 2 decades of scholarship on school–family–community partnerships (Bryan, 2005; Bryan & Henry, 2012; Bryan & Holcomb-McCoy, 2004, 2007), we extend the Equity-Focused Seven-Step Partnership Model into evidence-based practice.
Principles as Pillars
Equity-focused partnerships rest on four interlocking principles: democratic collaboration, empowerment, strengths focus, and social justice (Bryan et al., 2019, 2020; Bryan & Henry, 2012). Through democratic collaboration, school counselors and school staff invite family and community members as equal and mutual co-leaders, rather than token participants, in designing, implementing, and evaluating partnership initiatives. School counselors and other school staff practice empowerment when they amplify students’ and families’ voice, agency, and advocacy as they collaborate with school and community stakeholders. A strengths focus helps educators and stakeholders to challenge their deficit perspectives about students and families and to recognize students’ and families’ assets, affirming their cultural wealth and resilience. For example, school counselors should view students’ and families’ multilingualism or faith as an academic strength and community resource (Stanton-Salazar, 2011; Yosso, 2005). Social justice is centered when school counselors and school, family, and community partners work intentionally to dismantle inequities and create opportunity- and asset-rich environments for students (Henry et al., 2017, Henry & Bryan, 2021). For example, school counselors may co-lead restorative justice circles with youth and community organizations to reduce conflict and disproportionate referrals (Bryan et al., 2020; Ladson-Billings, 2021).
Partnership Praxis or Action Based on the School Climate
School counselors may find themselves in restrictive schools that embrace anti-DEI mandates from government and school district administration or in supportive schools that embrace DEI and equity work. Recently, Bryan et al. (in press) delineated two different approaches or strategies for building partnerships based on the school’s sociopolitical climate: liberatory praxis, or action for schools that are supportive of equity work, and subversive praxis, or action for schools that are restrictive of equity-focused practice. Praxis refers to the process of putting reflection and values into action to make schools and communities more just (Freire, 1970).
In supportive settings, school counselors and educators engage in liberatory praxis: visible advocacy and leadership that includes activities such as centering equity within the school’s mission, partnering with cultural brokers, and developing public programs (e.g., family listening circles, community conversations, restorative justice initiatives) that encourage the active engagement of marginalized families and community members in school governance and leadership roles. On the other hand, in restrictive or politically tense environments, school counselors and educators rely on subversive praxis: quiet, relationship-centered strategies or actions that protect students and families while sustaining equity work (Bryan et al., 2022; Williams & Cholewa, 2025). Subversive praxis is protective equity work that employs discreet communication, trusted intermediaries and circles of care, and low-visibility convenings, often framed around neutral goals such as student wellness, engagement, or belonging (Henry & Fears, 2025; Kohli et al., 2017; Stanton-Salazar, 2011). Henry and Fears (2025) described the discreet, under-the-radar activism that rural social justice leaders, teachers, and school counselors engage in to support marginalized students while in politically conservative districts. In practical terms, this often means involving trusted intermediaries or cultural brokers (e.g., bilingual liaisons, faith leaders, promotoras) and low-visibility convenings (e.g., small-group coffee conversations, after-hours meetings in community spaces, invitation-only virtual circles). To reduce risk, written artifacts are kept minimal, private, and focused on student support, with careful attention to confidentiality and consent. Whether enacted visibly or quietly, both forms of praxis require courage as school counselors and educators attempt to sustain equity work across diverse climates in turbulent sociopolitical times.
Social Capital as Partnership Outcomes
Bryan et al. (in press) emphasized that partnerships generate two types of social capital: resilience-focused social capital and justice-focused social capital. By building equity-focused school–family–community partnerships, school counselors and other educators do more than create programs; they cultivate relationships, trust, and networks of support that provide students with access to programs, information, encouragement, and resources that foster positive academic, college and career, social/emotional, and mental health outcomes. See Bryan et al. (in press) for a full explanation of resilience-focused social capital and justice-focused social capital.
Resilience-focused social capital refers to partnership networks and relationships that give students access to resources, programs, information, opportunities, and supports that help them cope with adversity, feel safe and connected, and overcome challenging school or community conditions (Bryan, 2005; Stanton-Salazar, 2011). For example, school counselors strengthen resilience social capital when they partner to build mentoring and after-school programs; these create safe spaces and belonging for students and connect them and their families to culturally responsive supports that foster hope, connectedness, and resilience (Bryan et al., 2020; Griffin et al., 2021; Henry et al., 2017, Henry & Bryan, 2021). Resilience social capital may also emerge through supportive programs for parents (e.g., immigrant parent WhatsApp groups, bilingual family liaisons, promotoras who regularly check in with immigrant parents).
Justice-focused social capital describes the networks and relationships that provide students and families with opportunities and supports to influence school decisions and policies, which in turn result in more equitable practices (e.g., reduced disciplinary actions). Justice social capital develops when students, families, educators, and community partners join to create and lead shared advocacy and reform programs (e.g., family leadership councils, equity policy initiatives, school-based restorative justice programs) that challenge inequities and attempt to shift or transform school structures (Bryan & Henry, 2012; Griffin et al., 2021). For instance, these partnerships may result in fairer discipline practices, broader access to advanced courses, and school cultures where students and families feel valued. Parents and family members feel empowered and heard when they engage in decision making and advocacy with educators and school counselors. They may serve on district equity councils, in partnerships that replace exclusionary discipline with restorative practices, and in collaborative campaigns that expand access to advanced coursework for underrepresented students. Both forms of social capital are essential and interconnected; resilience-focused partnerships protect while justice-focused partnerships transform. Together, they help create caring and equitable environments where students and families can thrive.
Program Evaluation: Tools for Evaluating School–Family–Community Partnerships
EBSC is defined as “an exploration of the nature of the situation we hope to impact, investigation into what is known about how best to create change in that situation, and then thoughtfully assessing to determine if change has occurred” (Zyromski &Dimmitt, 2022 , p. 2). Consistent with EBSC, program evaluation should be an essential aspect of implementing partnerships, allowing school counselors and their partners to examine the outcomes of school–family–community partnerships and whether they are effective and equitable for students and families (Astramovich, 2016; Geesa et al., 2024). Evaluation helps school counselors and their partners answer practical questions: Is our program working? For whom? How do we know? (Bryan et al., 2020; Ishimaru, 2019). Indeed, evaluation allows school counselors and partners to demonstrate the effectiveness of partnership work, share accountability for the work, and sustain motivation and momentum due to seeing visible evidence of progress (Astramovich et al., 2013; Carey &Dimmitt, 2012 ).
Evaluation of Partnership Implementation and Impact
School counselors and partners should assess two important aspects of their partnership programs: implementation and impact. Implementation evaluation focuses on the partnership process: whether school counselors carried out the strategies as intended and whether the process remains inclusive and equitable (Zyromski &Dimmitt, 2022). For example, school counselors implementing the Equity-Focused School–Family–Community Partnership Model (Bryan et al., 2019, 2020; Bryan & Henry, 2012) would assess fidelity to the model, the quality of participation, and the inclusiveness of the process using tools such as readiness or fidelity checklists, school counselor reflection logs, or short feedback forms that capture how participants experience partnership activities.
Impact evaluation, on the other hand, focuses on the partnership outcomes: what difference the partnership makes. School counselors track student and family outcomes such as trust, engagement, belonging, attendance, academic performance, or participation in leadership activities. They use tools such as surveys (e.g., bilingual family surveys), student or parent focus groups, and school data (e.g., attendance, discipline, achievement). Impact evaluation sustains momentum by highlighting small wins and providing data to justify continued support and resources.
Equity-Focused Partnership Evaluation Tools and Methods
Effective partnership evaluation uses both quantitative and qualitative methods (Prosek, 2020). School counselors may use quantitative tools such as surveys, network maps, and school data reports to document changes in participation, communication, or access to resources. Qualitative methods, including focus groups, interviews, reflective journals, and photo-voice, capture how students and families experience partnerships and reveal whether students and families feel heard, respected, and valued in the partnership process (Ishimaru, 2019; Warren et al., 2009). When school counselors and other educators conduct evaluation with cultural humility involving families and community members as evaluators, evaluation becomes a trust-building process, demonstrating that family and community member voices and experiences matter in the data collection and analysis process (Bryan & Henry, 2012; Henry et al., 2017; Su & Li, 2025).
Evaluation is a developmental process (Peterson et al., 2020) that evolves through cycles of inquiry, reflection, and improvement. Evaluation involves assessing needs, planning and implementing interventions, measuring outcomes, and using results to refine future practice. A key advantage of the Equity-Focused Partnership Model is its alignment with this evaluation cycle. Each step of the partnership model, from preparation to sustainability, offers opportunities for reflection and evidence gathering, from assessing readiness to documenting impact.
Several program evaluation types are relevant for partnership work, including needs assessment, formative, outcome, and summative evaluation (Peterson et al., 2020). Needs assessment is the foundation of partnership work, providing school counselors and other educators with a picture of student, school, family, and community members’ perspectives, strengths, challenges, and priorities. Equity-focused evaluation involves listening to and with stakeholders, especially students and families, rather than merely gathering data about them. School counselors may use tools such as bilingual surveys, focus groups, or family data cafés in which families and educators collaborate to interpret disaggregated school data. Complementary tools, such as community scans, community asset maps, and equity walks, help partners identify strengths, resources, and areas for growth (Arriero & Griffin, 2018; Bryan et al., 2019, 2020; Griffin & Farris, 2010). The tools help ensure that partnership goals represent student, family, and community-defined priorities and strengths.
Formative evaluation occurs during early and ongoing implementation of the partnership process and asks: How are we doing so far? How are we working together? And are our strategies inclusive and responsive? School counselors and partners gather real-time feedback from families, students, and educators using tools such as brief exit surveys, observation logs, or reflection circles conducted during or shortly after partnership activities. Equity walks and informal partner check-ins can also function as formative tools, allowing school counselors and partners to observe how equity is experienced in classrooms, hallways, and other school spaces and to make midcourse adjustments that sustain trust and shared ownership (Green, 2017; McNair et al., 2020; Skrla et al., 2004).
Outcome evaluation examines measurable results of partnership efforts, providing evidence of how partnership work benefits students, families, and schools. Outcomes may include changes in attendance, academic achievement, college-going behaviors, school climate, belonging, or family engagement (Zyromski &Dimmitt, 2022). School counselors and partners use surveys, interviews, and school records to examine whether outcomes are improving and whether gains are equitably distributed. Equity audits are useful at this stage, allowing school counselors, other educators, and partners to scrutinize school policies, programs, and outcomes data to identify disparities in discipline, academic outcomes, access to opportunities, resource allocation, and staff interactions across student groups. Outcome evaluation provides concrete evidence that demonstrates the value and equity outcomes of school counselors’ partnership work (Astramovich et al., 2013; Bryan et al., 2020).
Finally, summative evaluation synthesizes what has been learned at the end of the partnership cycle (Prosek, 2020). It asks: What difference did our partnership make, and how should the work continue or change? School counselors and partners use tools such as family data cafés, equity dashboards, or summary reports that combine quantitative trends with qualitative stories. Family data cafés, adapted from parent cafés (Dafilou et al., 2023), bring families and educators together to analyze data collaboratively, examining disaggregated data together and co-interpreting patterns and potential solutions. Readiness and sustainability checklists can also support summative evaluation. Readiness checklists assess attitudes, capacities, and relational conditions for partnerships, while sustainability checklists examine whether partnerships are institutionalized through policy alignment, budget and resource commitments, and leadership development and succession planning.
To evaluate school–family–community partnerships in meaningful and equity-focused ways, school counselors need tools that are practical, equity centered, and culturally responsive to participants’ backgrounds. Equity-focused program evaluation is participatory and collaborative, involving students, families, and community partners as co-evaluators, linking data to their lived experiences. In equity-focused evaluation, tools are more than checklists or data forms; they are relationship-building processes that create space for shared interpretation, reflection, and authentic participation among school counselors, families, and community partners. Used together, these tools help school counselors capture both the quantitative evidence and the qualitative meaning of partnership progress, strengthening accountability, trust, and sustainability in equity-focused partnerships (Bryan et al., 2019, 2020; Bryan & Henry, 2012).
A Step-by-Step Guide to Building and Evaluating the Partnership Model
The Equity-Focused School–Family–Community Partnership Process Model (Bryan et al., 2019, 2020, 2022, in press; Bryan & Henry, 2012) equips school counselors and educators with a flexible roadmap for building, evaluating, and sustaining partnerships that provide school counselors, their students, and families with valuable programs, supports, information, and resources. These partnerships develop resilience-focused and justice-focused social capital that protects students and families while transforming schools into more inclusive systems. Evaluation is integral to every step, ensuring programs remain effective and sustainable (Zyromski &Dimmitt, 2022). Maintaining equity requires courage in all school climates, advancing it visibly through advocacy and collaboration (liberatory praxis) in supportive schools and sustaining it quietly through trust-based action (subversive praxis) in restrictive ones. Because school climates are fluid rather than fixed, school counselors often draw from both liberatory and subversive partnership strategies, continually adjusting visibility, language, and forms of action as local conditions and perceived risks shift. Although the seven steps are presented sequentially, they are enacted iteratively rather than linearly, with school counselors moving flexibly across steps and recalibrating partnership practices as school contexts evolve over time.
Strategies for Implementing and Evaluating the Equity-Focused Partnership Model Across School Climates.
Step 1: Preparing to Partner in Supportive and Restrictive Schools
Strong partnerships begin with intentional preparation (Bryan et al., 2019, 2020). School counselors focus on their own readiness, clarifying their purpose for partnerships, reflecting on their beliefs about families and communities, and aligning partnership goals with the school’s and school counseling program’s mission. In supportive schools, partnership preparation is open and invitational. Administrative leaders visibly endorse partnerships as part of the school’s mission, creating an environment where collaboration can thrive. School counselors meet with families and community partners to learn their hopes for students and reach out to engage cultural brokers to build communication and trust. For example, school counselors can organize bilingual listening breakfasts to provide space for families to share their hopes for students. These gatherings may evolve into a family–staff partnership group endorsed by school leadership.
In restrictive schools, preparation for partnerships is quieter and more relational, especially when marginalized groups are involved. School counselors build trust quietly with parents, faith leaders, and community liaisons, often framing their conversations around student wellness or belonging, language that keeps equity work moving forward while avoiding undue scrutiny. For example, a school counselor could host informal coffee and conversation meetings with a few parents or conduct brief listening interviews (10–15 minutes each) with a family member, a community partner, and one school-based ally to identify shared priorities and safe language for their partnership work. Over time, these quiet conversations may evolve into a mentoring network for newcomer students, small beginnings that foster trust, connection, and collective care.
Step 2: Assessing Needs and Strengths in Supportive and Restrictive Schools
Assessment gives school counselors and their partners a clear picture of student, family, and community strengths and needs (Bryan et al., 2019, 2020). During this phase, school counselors collect data to identify inequities and assets that inform partnership goals. Assessment is participatory, with school, family, and community members generating and interpreting information about needs and strengths. Across settings, the focus is on listening with families rather than collecting data about them. In this step, school counselors assess whether diverse voices are represented and whether findings reflect student and family-defined priorities.
In supportive schools, school counselors might involve families in the assessment process by facilitating family data cafés where families and educators examine disaggregated data; identify barriers to student success; and highlight student, family, and school strengths. One practical option is a 60-minute family data café with (a) a brief welcome and discussion of norms for community-building and safety; (b) a few visuals of disaggregated data; (c) small-group interpretation with prompts; and (d) a co-generated list of what we notice, wonder about, and propose. Community walks and community asset mapping are also valuable tools school counselors and partners may use to identify local resources and networks of support, such as uncovering mentors for multilingual youth (Arriero & Griffin, 2018; Griffin & Farris, 2010). School counselors and families might co-lead a bilingual community data night, where students, parents, and teachers review survey results and map neighborhood supports, an act of liberatory praxis that turns assessment into shared ownership.
In restrictive schools, school counselors may partner with trusted cultural brokers—such as promotoras in Latinx communities, faith leaders and church-based advocates, or community elders in African American communities—to gather information discreetly. School counselors may use short bilingual surveys, phone interviews, or coded “student well-being” questionnaires (e.g., “I know who to contact when my child needs support”) that surface equity-related barriers without explicitly naming equity. These cultural brokers bridge families and schools through trust, shared culture, and care (Bryan et al., 2019, 2020; Bryan & Henry, 2012). For instance, school counselors may gather feedback through anonymous WhatsApp surveys or small home-based discussions, an act of subversive praxis that quietly surfaces families’ insights while protecting safety and trust.
Step 3: Coming Together (Forming the Partnership Leadership Team) in Supportive and Restrictive Schools
At this step, school counselors bring together cultural brokers, family and community members, and other potential partners to form a team. The heart of every partnership is the Partnership Leadership Team (PLT), a collaborative group of families, students, educators, and community partners who serve as co-leaders (Bryan & Henry, 2012; Stefanski et al., 2016). The PLT shares governance and collective responsibility for planning, implementing, and sustaining partnership programs and initiatives. Throughout this step, school counselors attend carefully to equitable participation, inclusiveness, and shared ownership.
In supportive schools, school counselors may launch PLTs openly through community gatherings or storytelling events that build visibility and enthusiasm. Meetings emphasize trust, mutual respect, and shared voice. Together, members establish group norms, rotate leadership roles, and alternate meeting spaces between school and community sites to symbolize equity and reciprocity (Stefanski et al., 2016). For example, a family–student co-chair team may lead the first PLT meeting, sharing their own stories and initiating discussion of potential initiatives such as a mentoring program aligned with their shared priorities. In these contexts, school counselors can document consistent participation and co-leadership by families and students from diverse cultural or linguistic backgrounds, clear signs of liberatory praxis.
In restrictive schools, PLTs often begin as small advisory pods or virtual groups to protect participants’ safety and privacy. School counselors can begin with a minimum viable PLT (e.g., five to seven members) recruited through trusted, relationship-based invitations, such as a personal call from a school counselor or community liaison). Roles can be clarified verbally, facilitation rotated across meetings, and documentation kept brief and private through deidentified notes. Meetings emphasize trust, mutual respect, and shared voice, with school counselors nurturing relationships through consistent communication while minimizing documentation and using neutral language (e.g., “family engagement,” “student support”) to frame the work. Rotating facilitation, listening circles, and private digital spaces help sustain collective voice and belonging. For example, in a restrictive context, a small virtual circle of parents and educators may meet privately to share their stories and discuss co-designing culturally safe communication channels.
Step 4: Creating Shared Vision and Plan in Supportive and Restrictive Schools
PLTs use visioning to transform priorities into a shared action plan. At this step, the PLT turns their aspirations into a shared vision statement and action plan that outlines goals, roles, logic models, timelines, desired student and family outcomes, and their measures (Bryan et al., 2020). In supportive schools, school counselors may facilitate visioning workshops or story circles that invite partners to imagine what success looks like for their students and communities. Through dialogue and creativity, participants identify shared priorities and translate them into concrete goals, timelines, desired outcomes, and indicators of progress. For example, families, teachers, and students may collaborate to paint a bilingual “Belonging, Opportunity, Justice” mural that captures their collective vision and becomes a guide for future projects (Wager et al., 2017). A practical deliverable at this step may include a one-page partnership action brief or plan summarizing goals, roles, timelines, and two to three indicators (e.g., discipline referrals, attendance patterns). Shared with partners in accessible, bilingual formats, this action brief supports transparency and shared accountability.
In restrictive schools, the visioning process may occur in small, private settings, such as brief conversations in community centers, faith-based spaces, or informal gatherings connected to existing school events, using non-threatening labels such as “family engagement” or “student wellness.” Rather than producing a formal vision statement at the outset, school counselors and partners may co-construct shared priorities incrementally through listening and follow-up conversations. For instance, a small circle of families and teachers may co-write a Wellness for All statement that outlines priorities and next steps for tutoring and family outreach, with the vision embedded quietly within broader school plans. Whether public or private, the listening, negotiating, and co-writing process is as valuable as the final document because it strengthens shared ownership and purpose.
Step 5: Taking Action in Supportive and Restrictive Schools
Action translates vision and plans into tangible partnership programs and experiences that support student and family success. This is the step when the PLT and their partners move partnerships from planning to equity-focused action. In supportive schools, school counselors collaborate with the PLT and other partners to implement visible initiatives such as restorative circles, dual-language family workshops, college and career readiness activities, mentoring or tutoring programs, career-connected learning opportunities (e.g., internships, apprenticeships), and other community-based programs. For example, in a supportive high school, the PLT may host a family-led FAFSA night where alumni share college experiences and assist parents of first-generation students and students of color with applications. School counselors can track immediate indicators such as FAFSA completion rates, workshop attendance, or follow-up college information and advising appointments scheduled, signs of liberatory praxis translating shared vision into visible action.
In restrictive schools, action often takes quieter forms but carries equal meaning and impact. Small wellness circles, peer tutoring groups, or family-led cultural clubs meet on school grounds, in community centers, or in virtual spaces to maintain safety and continuity. Even when visibility is limited, these activities build belonging and reinforce hope by showing that partnership can thrive under constraint. For instance, a quiet Saturday study circle of students and mentors/tutors may meet weekly at a local community center, blending mentoring/tutoring with conversation and snacks.
Step 6: Evaluating and Celebrating Progress in Supportive and Restrictive Schools
School counselors and their partners recognize that evaluation is integral and ongoing, taking place before, during, and after program implementation. At this step, school counselors collaborate with school, family, and community partners to gather evidence of progress, honor everyone’s contributions, and use findings to refine partnership efforts and strengthen motivation (Bryan et al., 2019, 2020). When school staff, families, and partners see progress, evaluation becomes an act of empowerment and celebration.
In supportive school climates, school counselors might compare participation and student outcome data over time (e.g., increases in event attendance, improved student attendance or GPA, more positive student school climate survey results), signs of liberatory praxis producing visible progress. School counselors and partners could host family data nights to look at results together, showcase student projects, and recognize those who contributed. Celebrations might include bilingual newsletters, murals, digital storyboards, social media posts highlighting progress and pride, or school-wide dinners or gatherings to share and reflect on partnership outcomes.
In restrictive climates, school counselors may track small but steady gains, such as consistent family engagement through informal networks, individual student improvements in attendance or behavior, or anecdotal reports of increased belonging, signs of subversive praxis strengthening relationships and early student outcomes even under constraint. School counselors can share results in clear, relational ways, through short family reports, celebration circles, or data murals. When families help interpret findings, they often uncover new insights and ideas for next steps, turning data into dialogue and action. In restrictive schools, reflection and celebration happen more quietly. School counselors and families might hold small gratitude circles, private dinners, or share brief digital updates. Even when not public, these moments build trust and affirm shared purpose.
Step 7: Maintaining Momentum in Supportive and Restrictive Schools
The final step, maintaining momentum, centers on sustainability. This step ensures that partnership practices last beyond one school counselor or administrator and become part of the school’s culture, embedded in the school improvement goals rather than merely remaining short-term projects (Bryan et al., 2022). In supportive schools, PLTs are written into school improvement plans, family engagement budgets are secured, and leadership pipelines prepare new family and student co-chairs each year. School counselors help formalize a community agreement (or memorandum of understanding [MOU]) with each of their partners so that partnership goals remain visible and funded. Leadership development is central to maintaining momentum. School counselors and the PLT intentionally identify and mentor new leaders and engage experienced members in leadership development. To illustrate, in a supportive district, one practical mechanism is a yearly role rotation plan (e.g., co-chair, communications lead, community liaison) with shadowing for one meeting cycle before transitions. PLTs may grow into formal committees with budget lines and stipends for family liaisons, ensuring the work continues across years and leadership transitions.
In restrictive schools, sustainability relies on trusted relationships that can endure change. Faith communities, neighborhood nonprofits, and parent associations often help carry the work forward when school climates shift. School counselors and families anchor activities in community spaces, rotate leadership to prevent burnout, and document their progress quietly but consistently. Even small acts, such as saving meeting notes, sharing leadership stories, or maintaining a contact network, help preserve partnership memory. In a restrictive district, a local nonprofit could become the partnership’s home base, hosting mentoring circles and family-led learning pods even as school staff changed. In both contexts, school counselors can focus on passing the torch, building systems and relationships strong enough to keep the work alive.
Together, the seven steps offer school counselors a practical, equity-focused process for building and sustaining school–family–community partnerships across diverse school contexts. The steps are not meant to be rigid or linear, but to support thoughtful, responsive action as conditions shift and partnerships evolve. By embedding evaluation within each step, school counselors and their partners can learn from their work, make adjustments, and demonstrate how partnerships are making a difference for students and families. Across both supportive and restrictive climates, effective partnership work requires professional judgment; that is, knowing when to act visibly through advocacy and shared leadership (liberatory praxis) and when to work more quietly through relational, trust-building strategies (subversive praxis). When used iteratively, the seven steps help move partnership efforts beyond isolated activities toward enduring, evidence-informed practices that strengthen schools and expand opportunities for students and families.
Implications
The Equity-Focused School–Family–Community Partnership Model enables school counselors to integrate data-informed accountability with the moral imperatives of equity and care. School counselors can begin by embedding partnership goals within their annual school counseling plans. In particular, the ASCA Standards Delivery Plan encourages including school–family–community initiatives that strengthen Tier 1 supports and advance student standards (see ASCA National Model® templates: https://videos.schoolcounselor.org/asca-national-model-fifth-edition-templates/). School counselors may start with implementing one or two steps (e.g., Step 1: Preparing to Partner or Step 2: Assessing Needs and Strengths) using Table 1, a guide with practical implementation and evaluation strategies for each step. School districts can further support this process by offering professional development or continuing education that strengthens school counselors’ capacity to implement and evaluate partnerships effectively.
Counselor education programs can position partnership development and evaluation as core elements of evidence-based and equity-focused practice. The Equity-Focused School–Family–Community Partnership Model offers a framework for experiential learning, reflection, and ethical decision making across diverse educational contexts. Counselor educators might integrate the model into courses on evaluation, supervision, and internship. In evaluation courses, counselor educators can frame partnership assessment as relational work that links data use with cultural humility and collaboration, emphasizing that collecting evidence is as much about listening as it is about measuring. In supervision, they can model reflective evaluation practices that guide students to consider who participated, what outcomes changed, and how data reveal both progress and persistent inequities. During internships, counselor educators can mentor school counselor interns in designing hands-on partnership projects aligned with their school climates, whether supportive or restrictive.
In research, collaboration between universities and K–12 schools can strengthen the evidence base for school-counselor-led partnerships. Such collaborations can advance both knowledge and practice by examining how implementation fidelity, context, and evaluation affect social capital and student outcomes. For example, university–school teams might co-design and co-evaluate partnership initiatives in which counselor educators, school counselors, and graduate students collect mixed-method data in real time (Zyromski &Dimmitt, 2023). Using validated instruments such as the School Counselor Involvement in Partnerships Scale–Revised (Bryan & Holcomb-McCoy, 2004, 2007; Bryan & Griffin, 2010, 2018) and belonging or trust scales, researchers can examine how partnerships foster resilience- and justice-focused social capital. These efforts can yield longitudinal findings on attendance, belonging, and discipline trends, complemented by rich qualitative insights from participant narratives.
Future research should also explore how school counselors enact liberatory praxis in supportive environments and subversive praxis in restrictive ones, identifying contextual factors that sustain equity-driven work. Further, researchers can investigate technology- and AI-supported evaluation tools, such as translation platforms (e.g., Google Translate, Apple Translate, WhatsApp, Microsoft Translator), virtual family data cafés, and digital dashboards, which can expand family and community member participation, streamline the workload of school counselors and their partners, and support authenticity and trust throughout the partnership process.
Conclusion
For the school counseling community, integrating EBSC and equity-centered partnership practice represents the next evolution of our profession, one in which data and justice move together to protect, empower, and transform students, families, and schools. The Equity-Focused School–Family–Community Partnership Model equips school counselors, other educators, and researchers with a roadmap for partnership work across both supportive and restrictive climates. Across contexts, equity work takes many forms, sometimes visible and public, other times quiet and relationship centered, but its purpose remains constant: to protect, empower, and create opportunity for all students and families. By embedding evaluation into every step, school counselors ensure that progress is both measurable and meaningful. For counselor educators and researchers, this model offers a framework for preparing and studying the next generation of evidence-informed, justice-focused leaders who will carry this work forward with integrity, courage, and care.
Footnotes
Declaration of conflicting interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
