Introducing Preservice Teachers to Family-Centered Practices: A Scoping Review

Parental involvement in P-12 education could lead to social and academic success for students; however, parents often experience barriers to their involvement. Different or additional barriers exist for parents of children with a disability. School staff can positively influence parents to become involved in their children’s education. Family-centered practices, common in early intervention under special education law (Part C of IDEIA), may foster parent involvement in P-12 schools. In this scoping literature review, we examined 17 studies of teacher preparation programs (TPPs) in higher education in the US who have implemented programs to prepare preservice teachers (PSTs) to collaborate with parents/families. Studies varied by analytic method, participants, purposes, format, and measures. We present a synthesis of the included articles and discuss recommendations for teacher preparation programs.

not feel motivated to become involved in their children's education. In their study, Allen and White-Smith found that when parents of color volunteered to help in the classroom or asked if they could observe, teachers appeared to be intimidated by their presence.
Parental involvement can take on different dimensions and pose different barriers when the parent has a child with a disability. Parents of children with disabilities may perceive societal judgment and feel as though they are being outcast (Valle, 2018). Additionally, the decision-making processes in PreK-12 education can be daunting for parents of children with disabilities. Parents need to advocate for the services their children need but may feel that asking for too much or too often will make them "pushy parents" (Beauvais, 2017;Bibby et al., 2017). Haley, Allsopp, and Hoppey (2018) found that even when a parent was a teacher at their child's school, there were barriers to their inclusion as full team members in their child's educational decision-making team. This parent cited a "learning curve to special education" (p. 26) along with loyalty and job security issues if she complained or did not do what the school thought was right. Curle et al. (2017) interviewed 12 parents of children who were deaf/hard of hearing after their transition to kindergarten. In this study, some parents "voiced a reluctance to disagree with the school team, fearing damage of the relationship between themselves or their child and the teacher" (p. 59).
School staff often recognize the need for parental involvement, but they may not understand the barriers that parents face or may not see the barriers as legitimate reasons for what they perceive to be low parent involvement. Pemberton and Miller (2015) found that "teachers acknowledged the difficulties associated with a worsening economy, but they did not view such challenges as insurmountable obstacles for parents" (p. 750). Helping teachers understand the challenges of family life may help teachers understand and partner with families.

The Benefit of School-Family Partnerships
School staff can positively influence parents to become involved in their children's education. Curry, Gaëtane, and Adams (2016) surveyed a total of 680 parents from among 56 elementary schools and found that school outreach efforts (e.g., invitations from the school), and parents' social networks (i.e., the number of other parents that participants listed as frequent contacts) accounted for 10% of variance in parents' motivation to become involved at school. This was based on parents' self-reported motivation to become involved and did not measure actual involvement. Jeynes (2007) found that school outreach programs (e.g., invitation sent home with child) had an effect size of 0.29 on parents' self-reported motivation to become involved, indicating that whether involvement is suggested by the school or initiated by parents, there is a positive impact. Similarly, Li and Fischer (2017) found that parent involvement seems to have an iterative effect, leading to networks among parents, which, in turn, foster more parental involvement and school success.
The National Parent-Teacher Association (NPTA; www.pta.org, n.d.) published standards for fostering family-school partnerships. These standards are (a) welcoming all families into the school, (b) communicating effectively, (c) supporting student success, (d) speaking up for every child, (e) sharing power, and (f) collaborating with community. According to the NPTA report, State Laws on Family Engagement in Education (Belway et al., 2010), 40 states have passed legislation requiring professional development to foster family engagement.

Family-Centered Practices to Foster School-Family Partnerships
Early intervention for children birth through 2 (i.e., Part C of IDEIA) has included family-centered services since its inception in 1986. Parents are consulted regarding service delivery decisions, and services are delivered around parent schedules. What is more remarkable is that in early intervention, service providers are expected to treat parents as equal partners with expertise in their children's specific needs and abilities (Division for Early Childhood, DEC, 2014). The DEC has published recommendations for early intervention and early childhood practitioners (2014). Among recommendations for family-centered practices are "build trusting and respectful partnerships with the family through interactions that are sensitive and responsive to cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic diversity; provide the family with up-to-date, comprehensive, and unbiased information in a way that the family can understand; [be] responsive to family concerns, priorities, and changing life circumstances" (p. 10). In the transition from Part C to Part B, parents are consulted less, and the school takes on the role of expert educator (DEC, 2014;Dunst, 2002).
Parental involvement and family-centered practices are not interchangeable terms. Family-centered practices are a set of beliefs and strategies that are guided by the belief that parents are equal partners in educating children, and yet unknown is the extent to which teachers in public schools have adopted a family-centered approach (Dunst, 2002). Teachers with a family-centered approach would share assessment data freely and consult parents regularly with progress updates and to make decisions on future programming (Bruder, 2010). The assumption is that using family-centered practices will lead to increased parental involvement and that teachers who have been trained in family-centered practices will better establish family-school partnerships and include parents in children's education. However, family-centered practices may not be the norm in public PreK-12 schools (Allen & White-Smith, 2018;Cavendish & Connor, 2018;Haley et al., 2018;Lechuga-Peña & Brisson, 2018;Pemberton & Miller, 2015;Valle, 2018).
While the use of family-centered practices may not be the norm within public school settings (Dunst, 2002), groups of people collaborate more effectively when they see each other as equals and find intergroup similarities. Cavendish and Connor (2018) described parent and family realities as "starkly different from those of the school personnel with whom they interact" (p. 81). If school staff seek to positively impact parent-involvement, they may need help understanding the realities that families face. Introducing teachers to family-centered practices early in their career may help them consider family perspectives.
Recently revised standards for elementary teacher preparation programs include statements such as "Candidates work collaboratively with families to gain a holistic perspective on children's strengths and needs and how to motivate their learning" (Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation [CAEP], 2018) and "Candidates work respectfully and reciprocally with families to gain insight into each child" (p. 7). Teacher preparation programs provide foundational educational experiences for preservice teachers. These experiences often simulate the work that preservice teachers (PSTs) will perform as teachers. The theory underlying this practice is that PSTs will perform better in their careers if they are provided opportunities to practice within their teacher preparation program (Holdaway & Owens, 2015;Stoddard et al., 2011). Given that parent involvement is important for student and family outcomes and that partnering with families and using family-centered practices could promote parent involvement, the purpose of this literature review is to examine practices for preparing PSTs to collaborate with families. Because family-centered practices are beneficial for all families, we included studies that targeted PSTs preparing for all K-12 settings.
The following questions guided our review of the literature: 1. What strategies are teacher preparation programs (TPPs) employing to introduce preservice teachers (PSTs) to family-centered practices?
2. How do TPPs' efforts impact PSTs' knowledge, practices, and attitudes toward and efficacy in implementing family-centered practices?

Literature Search
The purpose of this study was to identify and review existing research on the strategies for preparing teachers to implement family-centered practices in PreK-12 settings. Studies were identified by searching electronic databases including Academic Search Premier (1975-Present) and Psycinfo (1877-Present). The last search occurred on January 29, 2020.
We used the following search terms to search the databases: family-centered, teacher, education, family, preparation programs, preservice teachers, and parent. Studies were screened for inclusion by the first author based on a review of titles that mentioned teacher preparation programs, preservice teachers, and family-centered practices or family-focus. Titles and abstracts that on first review met inclusion criteria were set aside for further review.
After a thorough search for articles that seemed to fit our criteria, we eliminated articles that did not fit all inclusion criteria: (a) peer-reviewed article; (b) written in English; (c) involved preservice K-12 teachers; (d) published between 2007 and 2018; (e) include an empirical study; and (f) sought to improve the attitudes, knowledge, and/or skills for working with parents/families of future students. We conducted an abstract review, removing duplicate articles and those that did not meet all inclusion criteria. We then conducted forward and backward ancestral searches using the remaining articles and reviewed the abstracts for items found in these searches. Finally, we conducted a full-text review to ensure that the remaining studies met our criteria.

Creation of Data Extraction Protocol
To standardize data extraction, we developed a data collection form, pilot tested it with two randomly selected remaining articles, and made changes based on these results. The first and fourth authors extracted the data using the data collection form and compared their findings. Disagreements were resolved through discussion and clarifying any misleading instructions in the data collection form. The following data items were sought in each article: (a) methodology, (b) study purpose, (c) description of participants, (d) description of intervention, (e) measures of outcomes, and (f) key findings.

Data Extraction
With the data extraction protocol created, the first and fourth authors separately extracted the data from the included articles. They met to compare their protocols and reached agreement on what was to be included in the final data table. Some disagreements occurred in (a) participant information, typically regarding math errors and pulling accurate numbers from the article; and (b) description of the intervention, where it was difficult to find specific information in the article. To resolve these, we referred back to the articles together and found the relevant information.

Study Selection
The search in Academic Search Premier and Psycinfo yielded a total of 1,682 citations. An ancestral search yielded seven additional studies (three from a backward search and four from a forward search). Two team members reviewed the abstracts and removed studies when it became clear they did not meet the inclusion criteria. The full texts of the remaining 25 studies were reviewed independently by the two authors and eight were removed because they did not meet inclusion criteria, for a total of 17 articles in the final list of included studies (see Figure 1 for further information regarding the search procedures).

Methodology Within Reviewed Studies
We identified 17 articles in this review. Table 1 contains information about methodology, study purpose and focus, and demographic information about participants. Table 2 contains descriptions of interventions and key findings. Each table is organized beginning with qualitative studies and followed by quantitative and multiple methods studies.

Study Purpose
The included studies featured purposes of determining the impact of different activities on PSTs. The studies implemented interventions with goals of preparing PSTs to work with parents. Most studies used the term parent involvement and sought to help PSTs understand parents. While these do not make up the entire philosophy of family-centered practices, they are a portion of them. Eleven studies sought to determine the influence of specific interventions on PSTs' dispositions toward working with families (Able et al., 2014;Amatea et al., 2013;Bergman, 2013;Bingham & Abernathy, 2007;Bofferding et al., 2016;Bottoms et al., 2017;Brown et al., 2014;Collier et al., 2015;Jacobbe et al., 2012;McHatton et al., 2013;Waddell, 2013). In addition to perspectives, studies also sought to report on experiences (Waddell, 2013), changes in approaches to working with parents (Amatea et al., 2013), and changes in knowledge of "six types of parent involvement" (Brown et al., 2014, p. 141).
Four studies stated goals of examining PST resulting preparedness or ability to work with parents and families: (a) impact on parent-teacher conference facilitation, professional communication, and instructional decisions (Accardo & Xin, 2017); (b) PST ability to engage families in a culturally responsive way (McCollough & Ramirez, 2012); (c) impact on PST preparedness with respect to parent/professional partnerships (Murray et al., 2008); and (d) impact on learning and ability to implement community teaching (Zeichner et al., 2016). These studies examined changes in PST attitudes and beliefs. Amaro-Jimenez (2016) sought to understand PSTs' self-reported confidence and subsequent plans for home-school connections and Ramirez et al. (2016) focused on changes in perceptions toward Latino parents. Of the studies included, six took place over an entire semester through course participation (Amaro-Jimenez, 2014; Bingham & Abernathy, 2007;Brown et al., 2014;Collier et al., 2015;Murray et al., 2008;Waddell, 2013). Two studies incorporated field or practicum hours (Able et al., 2014;Waddell, 2013), while five took place at one (Bofferding et al., 2016;Jacobbe et al., 2012;McCollough & Ramirez, 2012;& Ramirez et al., 2016) or two (Bottoms et al., 2017) family nights held at the schools with academics-based activities for children along with preparation for these nights.
Direct interaction with parents/families. Murray et al. (2008) invited families to weekly class sessions where they kept up with course readings and participated in group projects with the PSTs. Within the semester-long course, PSTs in Bingham and Abernathy (2007) interviewed family members and parents of children with disabilities to gain insight into family life. Collier et al. (2015) implemented a Families as Faculty (FAF) program in which PSTs were introduced to family members in class and then were required to visit and interview families in their homes. Similarly, PSTs in Able et al. (2014) visited families in their homes to learn about and provide support to the families.
Family activity nights. Five studies provided direct interaction between PSTs and families through family activity nights centered around academic subjects (Bofferding, 2016;Bottoms et al., 2017;Jacobbe et al., 2012;McCollough & Ramirez, 2012;Ramirez et al., 2016). The family activity nights were activities incorporated into a semester-long course for PSTs but were also the interventions being assessed in the articles.
One-time experiences with no direct interaction with families. Some studies featured a one-time event or class session. McHatton et al. (2013) involved no contact with parents/families and employed a dramatic reading of found poems. Found poems "take existing texts and refashion them, reorder them, and present them as poems" (poets.org, n.d.). McHatton et al. used interviews with parents from a previous study to create their found poems. Accardo and Xin (2017) compared TeachLive TM mixed reality simulation to traditional role-play simulations in class in groups of PSTs. Groups in both mixed-reality and role-play simulations were required to develop 504 plans for fictitious students.
Program-wide intervention. Zeichner et al. (2016) featured a 2-year graduate program with a "Community Teaching Strand" in which panels made up of community elders and family members presented on various topics of interest to PSTs as future teachers and community members.
Technology-based interventions. Brown et al. (2014) used a web-based curriculum to deliver their content and supplemented the web-based component with instructor lecture and discussions. This implementation varied by university participating in the study. Accardo and Xin (2017) employed TeachLive TM to simulate conference facilitation, professional communication, and instructional decision-making.

Study Measures
For studies including quantitative methodology, we noted whether the instrument was standardized, developed by the researchers, or if the researchers used a combination of both. One study employed a standardized measure (McCollough & Ramirez, 2012); five studies employed a measure created specifically for the study (Accardo & Xin, 2017;Bergman, 2013;Bingham & Abernathy, 2007;Collier et al., 2015;Jacobbe et al., 2012); and two studies used both a standardized measure and a researcher-developed measure (Amatea et al., 2013;Brown et al., 2014).

Results from Included Studies
This portion of the results report is divided into qualitative studies and quantitative plus qualitative studies. See Table 2 for a listing of key findings.

Qualitative Studies
Eight studies employed qualitative methodology (Able et al., 2014;Amaro-Jimenez, 2016;Bofferding et al., 2016;Bottoms et al., 2017;McHatton et al., 2013;Murray et al., 2008;Waddell, 2013;Zeichner et al., 2016). Each of these studies reported positive outcomes in the findings based on qualitative analysis. Studies in this section reported changes in understandings of families and their differences and needs, attitudes toward parent involvement, and the importance of outreach efforts to include and engage families at school. Specific outcomes are described below and in Table 2.
Increased confidence. PSTs increased their confidence in interacting and working with families as a result of interventions (Amaro-Jimenez, 2016;Bofferding et al., 2016;Murray et al., 2008;Waddell, 2013). In preintervention, several PSTs expressed fear, anxiety, feeling unprepared, lacking experience, or lacking confidence in their ability to work with families. In each of the studies listed above, outcomes included newfound confidence and feelings of preparedness. • Improved confidence creating a home-school bridge, building rapport with families • Improved understanding of importance of validating students' home language and emphasizing parents' role in education • Improved understanding the linguistic and real-life needs of parents • Believed "fostering parent involvement and engagement" will be "one of the most important tasks they will be responsible for as teachers Only results related to family-centered practices and social validity of interventions were included in table.
Perceptions about parents and families. As a result of some interventions, PSTs shifted their perspectives about families in general. For example, PSTs in Bottoms et al. (2017) and Zeichner et al. (2016) shifted from a deficit perspective to an asset perspective when thinking about families. Rather than seeing differences between school and families as something to work around, they now saw this as something that would enhance the experience. These PSTs also addressed their stereotypical thinking about families, as did PSTs in other studies (McHatton et al. 2013;Murray et al. 2008).
For the majority of PSTs, perceptions of parents and families were positive. "It was really cool how many parents were invested in their children's education" (Bofferding, 2016, p. 22). Some perceptions of parents and families were not positive or transformative. A few PSTs at the family night in Bofferding et al. expressed dissatisfaction with parents who remained distant while PSTs worked with the children.
Families as assets. In Waddell (2013) and McHatton et al. (2013), PSTs recognized the need to change the status quo or the established reality in public schools. This suggests they did not understand the importance of positive practice, but they could identify practices that may be counterproductive. In a few studies, researchers found that PSTs became aware that the work they do to welcome and partner with families will be one of the most important parts of their careers (Amaro-Jimenez, 2016; Bofferding et al., 2016;Waddell, 2013).
Social validity. Only one of the identified studies (McHatton et al., 2013) reported on PST perceptions of the process (i.e., the intervention they participated in). This study delivered content through dramatic reading of poems. Some PSTs felt that this was a beneficial tool, while others thought it needed alteration. Some PSTs reported that they were unable to relate to the presentation. These poems were meant to evoke empathy for families. The poems were read by faculty in a university classroom setting and no families were present.

Quantitative and Combined Method Studies
Nine studies employed quantitative methodologies (Accardo & Xin, 2017;Amatea et al., 2013;Bergman, 2013;Bingham & Abernathy, 2007;Brown et al., 2014;Collier et al., 2015;Jacobbe et al., 2012;McCollough & Ramirez, 2012;& Ramirez et al., 2016). Each of the studies reported improvements for PSTs as a result of the intervention. There were three main categories of growth across these studies: (a) gained understanding of families, (b) increased confidence in working with families, and (c) a more positive attitude about the importance of working with families.
The most impacted area across these studies seemed to be PSTs' understanding of families and family life. The intervention in Bingham and Abernathy (2007) resulted in an improved understanding that teachers need to serve as advocates for children, but also that parents serve an important role in children's education as well. PSTs in two studies reflected a better understanding of the complexity of families' lives (Collier et al., 2015;Ramirez et al., 2017).
Along with improved understanding, PSTs reported improved attitudes or beliefs about families. PSTs gained an understanding of the importance of working with families (Brown et al., 2014). PSTs in Jacobbe et al. (2012) altered their beliefs about parents' motives and intentions regarding their children's education. Only one item (i.e., parents reinforce the importance of homework) was not changed from pre-to post-intervention. Ramirez et al. (2016) reported that PSTs significantly increased their belief that parents value education.
An important factor in whether teachers will implement a practice is whether they are confident in their ability to do so (Holdaway & Owens, 2015). PSTs in several studies increased confidence in working with families. Collier et al. (2015) reported overall increase in confidence toward working with families. PSTs in Accardo and Xin (2017) increased their confidence in facilitating conferences and making decisions. McCollough and Ramirez (2012) found PSTs were significantly more confident engaging parents in children's education.
Only one study reported increases in the area of ability to implement practices for including families. PSTs in Bergman (2013) were able to list more strategies for welcoming parents and families. Notably, PSTs placed in urban settings listed significantly more strategies than PSTs placed in rural settings.

Discussion
The purpose of this literature review was to examine practices for preparing preservice teachers (PSTs) to collaborate with families. We specifically explored the introduction of family-centered practices because these practices could facilitate and promote parental involvement. The first research question that guided this review focuses on the strategies TPPs are employing to introduce PSTs to the concept of family-centered practices.
With one exception (Zeichner et al., 2016), all of the included studies implemented practices within a single course. Zeichner et al. incorporated activities within a 2-year initial licensing graduate program. Interventions varied by length, format, location of work/observation, person delivering the instruction to PSTs, type of assignment/activity, and whether or not PSTs came into contact with family members. A few studies ran the length of the semester, while others included a few events or activities within the semester. None of the studies featured only one day; even if the main event was a family-school night, there was preparation in days before and reflection in class periods after the event.
The activities used to introduce the concept of family-centered practices included lecture, article reading, class discussion and debriefing, group projects, research projects, simulation games, virtual reality simulation, field-based observation, panel discussions, lesson planning, attendance at extracurricular events, facilitating family-school learning events, interviewing and visiting with parents, neighborhood tours, and observing a poetry reading. Each study incorporated more than one of these activities. Work and observations occurred in various locations including university classroom, K-12 classrooms, school neighborhoods, and family homes. Most studies conducted activities in more than one location. Preparation for activities and debriefing discussions typically occurred in the university classroom, and experiences occurred in the university classrooms, K-12 classrooms, neighborhoods, and school neighborhoods.
The use of various teaching strategies and activities (e.g., reading, observing, and practicing) in various environments (e.g., schools and homes) are important for adult, such as PST, learning (Sandlin, Wright, & Clark, 2011;Wang, Torrisi-Steele, & Hansman, 2019) and with the opportunity to receive prompt feedback while in these authentic environments (Woods, Wilcox, Friedman, & Murch, 2011). The effectiveness of professional development programs is significantly related to principles of adult learning (Green & Ballard, 2011). Trivette, Dunst, Hamby, and O'Herin (2009)  In addition, the activities used to introduce the concept of family-centered practices were facilitated by university faculty, K-12 faculty, and families. PSTs were positioned as the observers and learners in all studies. University professors provided information and organized activities, family members shared information and experiences to help PSTs learn their perspectives, and K-12 faculty provided a space for PSTs to observe and practice their craft. One of the key elements of family-centered practice is engaging with family members to understand their lives, goals, strengths, and needs and developing relationships between families and professionals (DEC, 2014). Therefore, including family members in teacher preparation programs is an important component for facilitating PSTs learning.
Studies varied in whether and how directly PSTs interacted with families. Some studies did not provide direct interaction between PSTs and family members, but provided found poetry reading (McHatton et al., 2013), team projects with case study analysis (Accardo & Xin, 2017), written exercises (Amatea et al., 2012), and PTE curriculum modules (Brown et al., 2014).
All other studies did allow for direct interaction between PSTs and families. In two studies, panel discussions or guest speakers included coordinators of local parent resource centers (Bergman, 2013), parents (Waddell, 2013;Zeichner et al., 2016), and school faculty (i.e., teachers & school principals ;Waddell, 2013). In six studies, PSTs interacted with families as they facilitated family-school nights (Able et al., 2014;Bofferding et al., 2016;Bottoms et al., 2017;Jacobbe et al., 2012;McCollough & Ramirez, 2012;Ramirez et al., 2016). In these situations, students were able to observe parents and interact with them briefly. Amaro-Jimenez (2016) required 30 field experience hours which included attendance at family school events. Three studies allowed for PSTs' interaction with families in the home, engaging in conversations, and conducting service hours at parents' request (Able et al., 2014;Collier et al., 2015;Waddell, 2013).
In two studies, PSTs conducted structured interviews with families or listened as families told their stories (Bingham & Abernathy, 2007;Waddell, 2013). In two studies, family members served as faculty, co-facilitating university courses with university instructors (Collier et al., 2015;Murray et al., 2008). One of the six characteristics of adult learning is practicing whereby an adult engages in the use of the information/practice they learned (Trivette et al., 2009). Opportunities to interact with families and practice strategies for working with families is an important component in PSTs' learning.
The second research question that guided this review focuses on how TPPs' efforts impact PSTs' knowledge, practices, and attitudes toward and efficacy in implementing family-centered practices. The studies in this review focused almost exclusively on PST attitudes toward working with families. One exception, Bergman (2013), focused on increasing PST knowledge in a measurable way. No studies measured PST ability to implement family-centered practices. Two categories of outcomes emerged from this review of literature: (a) a new understanding of the importance and benefit of family-centered practices and (b) increased confidence for working with families.
PSTs in Collier et al. (2015) realized the importance of effective, two-way communication, relationship building, and positive language. In McHatton et al. (2013), PSTs learned the need for teachers to listen to families. The Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (2018) created the family-centered practices checklist to help professionals to self-evaluate their use of family-centered practices. This checklist highlights the importance of communicating and building relationship with families, for example "work with family in collaborative manner to obtain family prioritized supports and resources" and "be responsive to the family's unique life circumstances" (http://ectacenter.org).
Similar to the need for improved communication, PSTs in Bingham and Abernathy (2007) perceived a need for teachers to play an advocacy role for students and families. Bingham and Abernathy reported a decreased perception of the importance of the teacher/school role in improving academic outcomes. It seems that the activities in that study highlighted the need to focus on family needs rather than making all decisions from a standpoint of academics, to the exclusion of family concerns. Family-centered practices "treat families with dignity and respect; are individualized, flexible, and responsive to each family's unique circumstances; provide family members complete and unbiased information to make informed decisions; and involve family members in acting on choices to strengthen child, parent, and family functioning" (DEC Recommended Practices, 2014, p. 10).
While reducing the importance of teacher, school, and academics, PSTs in some studies learned to consider families and their individual members as entities that participate in school and academics as part of a larger existence that includes family and societal life experiences outside of school. PSTs realized their own stereotypical thinking about families (Bottoms et al., 2017). PSTs in several studies gained a new understanding of families and the barriers they face (Bingham & Abernathy, 2007;Collier et al., 2015;Murray et al., 2008) and a belief that parents do value education (Ramirez et al., 2016).
Along with changed perspectives about parents' attitudes toward schooling and the reduced importance of the teacher and school, PSTs altered their view of the parent role in education. Parents play the role of partner in education (Amatea et al., 2012;Murray et al., 2008). This viewpoint allows for parents to define involvement for themselves and to help shape their children's educational experiences. Finally, PSTs felt that parents and the diversity across families would be an asset rather than a deficit (Bottoms et al., 2017;Zeichner et al., 2016). Special education from early intervention through adulthood stresses the importance of finding strengths and talents and building on those to foster self-determination. Real experiences with families and reflection may have demonstrated these concepts to PSTs.
A rare exception to the positive reported outcomes came from McHatton et al. (2013) who reported negative perceptions of families after the intervention. PSTs felt that parents were withdrawn or did not seem interested in the academic activities or in their children's participation. As stated in the introduction, families can be reluctant and perceive educators and school staff as intimidating and unapproachable. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for parents to prefer a type of interaction or involvement that is not the specific type that the school staff suggest.
Several studies in this review showed that experience brings confidence; PSTs in Amaro-Jimenez (2016), Bofferding et al. (2016), Murray et al. (2008), andMcCollough &Ramirez (2012) gained confidence and a feeling of preparedness for working with families. PSTs in Accardo and Xin (2017) felt more prepared to facilitate parent-teacher conferences and to make educational decisions. Additionally, in Zeichner et al. (2016), a study of PSTs in a 2-year graduate program, PSTs reported they felt they could translate their knowledge into action.

Limitations and Implications
As with any review, there are a few limitations that need to be considered when interpreting the findings. First, this review is a scoping review and we didn't evaluate the rigor of the studies included. To conduct a systematic review, researchers need to use published quality indicators and standards (Council for Exceptional Children, 2014) to assess the quality of the studies included. Secondly, related to the process of identifying relevant studies, it is possible that we missed studies during our search and that using different key words would have resulted in different findings. For example, in addition to using parent and family we could have used caregiver. Furthermore, not all researchers are using the term family-centered practices and might use different terms such as family-capacity building and help-giving practices. Researchers might want to expand the key words and terms used to identify additional articles in future reviews.
There are also limitations to the studies included. It is not surprising that the majority of participants in the included studies were female and Caucasian; however, to have a better understanding of the range of perceptions and needs, more diverse group of participants should be sought. Additionally, the researchers used varied methodologies, methods, and tools and, therefore, it is difficult to compare and contrast among the different studies. One important finding of this review is that the studies focused almost exclusively on PSTs' attitudes toward working with families. One study assessed changes in knowledge, but none of the researchers evaluated implementation of family-centered practices by the PSTs. We know that shaping knowledge and attitudes is important, but these changes do not necessarily lead to shifts in practices. Therefore, it is important in future studies to evaluate changes in perception, attitudes, knowledge, and practices. Using observations (e.g., parent-teacher conferences and open houses) and permanent records (e.g., newsletters, e-mails, and notes to home) could help researchers identify the family-centered practices PSTs are using and their needed support.