Many teachers find their work isolating. Laboring as the sole adult in their classrooms, teachers have limited opportunities to interact with other adults. Professionalization and teacher collaboration have been put forth as solutions to this problem of isolation. Educational philosopher Maxine Greene has asserted that teacher collaboration is necessary to build democratic communities for themselves and their students. The George H.W. Bush administration supported teacher collaboration and professionalization; these efforts where embraced and extended by the Clinton administration.
Teachers enjoy face-to-face communication all day long with their students and between classes with their colleagues and administrators, but communication between teachers and families disrupts the unity of time and space. A study funded by the Johns Hopkins University Center for Social Organization of Schools found that teachers who communicated clearly and frequently with parents enjoyed higher ratings and greater confidence of the parents. Students also showed greater motivation and higher achievement when their teachers maintained effective communication habits.
The primary goal of teachers and schools is the education of young people; thus, investigating the role of family and community involvement on student achievement shows the importance of building good relationships between teachers and the community. Several studies conducted under the auspices of the National Network of Partnership Schools have found that involving the whole family in educational matters leads to higher achievement, better attendance and improved preparation.
Teachers connect to families and communities in the primary grades through literacy partnerships, where parents and community members actually read to children in schools. In addition, teachers have worked with parents in building a home environment that builds on the literacy practices of the classroom. Parental and community involvement in math and science education must overcome the fear and lack of confidence many parents express in realtion to these subjects. Nonetheless, teachers have seen achievement in these areas grow with the assignment of interactive homework requiring students to seek input and feedback on their math and science lessons from family and community members.