Martine van der Pluijm

93 How can teachers build partnerships? INTRODUCTION There is growing evidence that the home environment is an important domain where young children acquire language and literacy skills. The parental role in supporting young children’s oral language development at home is crucial for children’s language and literacy development (Aikins & Barbarin, 2008; Beals, De Temple & Dickinson, 1994; Sénéchal & LeFevre, 2002; Storch & Whitehurst, 2002). Young children’s language and literacy skills are affected by the Home Language Environment (HLE). This is defined as the way parents engage their children in daily interactions (e.g., exchanges about what to cook, eat, or what had happened during the day) and activities (e.g., playing games, shared reading) (Bus, Van IJzendoorn, & Pellegrini, 1995; Leseman & De Jong, 1998; Mol & Neuman, 2014). Research has shown the diversity of these HLEs (Van Steensel, 2006), and how lower-educated parents are challenged in providing a rich HLE for their children (Curenton, Craig, & Flanigan, 2008; Gilkerson et al., 2017; Hoff, 2013; Mistry, Biesanz, Chien, Howes, & Benner, 2008; Rowe, Denmark, Harden, & Stapleton, 2016). Limited HLEs can put children at a disadvantage and can be at the core of language and literacy delays that impact children’s future school performance (Gilkerson, Richards, & Warren et al., 2018; Hart & Risley, 1995). The evidence that the home environment is critical for child development has led to two movements. First, the number of Family Literacy Programs (FLPs) has increased. These programs aim to prevent the intergenerational transfer of language and literacy problems by involving lower-educated parents with low literacy skills in activities to enhance parents’ and children’s language and literacy skills (Wasik & Van Horn, 2012), or focus on child outcomes with active engagement of family relationships and practices at home (Hannon, 2003). Second, there has been an increase in the number of initiatives to enhance goal-directed School- Family Partnerships (SFPs). These are collaborations between teachers and parents based on equality (Epstein, 2011) that contribute to children’s language development (Bakker, Denessen, Denissen, & Oolbekkink-Marchand, 2013; Epstein, 2018; Van Voorhis, Maier, Epstein, Loyd, & Leung, 2013). These SFPs aim to align child education at school with the roles of parents at home, acknowledging the importance of both domains for child development (Bronfenbrenner, 1977). Research shows that inviting teacher behavior (i.e., attempts to engage parents) can lead to more involvement of all parents in their child’s education, regardless of their education levels (Epstein, 1992; Hoover-Dempsey, Walker, Sandler, Whetsel, Green, & Closson, 2005). However, there is little evidence that these FLPs or SFPs are effective for the language development of children of lower-educated parents (Manz, Hughes, Barnabas, Bracaliello, & Ginsburg-Block. 2010; Mol, Bus, De Jong & Smeets, 2008; St. Pierre et al., 2003; Van Steensel, McElvany, Kurvers, & Herppich, 2011; Goodall & Voorhaus, 2011; Sheridan, Knoche, Kupzyk, Edwards, & Marvin,