Children thrive when they have caring adults to support their development especially when caregivers, extended family, community members, and teachers work as a team.

Educational Success through Family Engagement

“The way schools care about children is reflected in the way schools care about the children’s families. If educators view children simply as students, they are likely to see the family as separate from the school. That is, the family is expected to do its job and leave the education of children to the schools. If educators view students as children, they are likely to see both the family and the community as partners with the school in children’s education and development. Partners recognize their shared interests in and responsibilities for children, and they work together to create better programs and opportunities for students.”

Joyce Epstein, “School/Family/Community Partnerships,” Phi Delta Kappan

All our research and thought leaders agree that parent engagement is essential for student success:

Family Engagement = Student Success

We know that effective school-family-community partnerships benefit students’ social, emotional, cognitive development. These spheres of and positively or negatively influence reinforce each other.

Reestablishing connections!

When Covid hit, schools shut their doors to parents and community to keep students safe. There is a growing mistrust that goes both ways- lack of respect, communication, and understanding. The students witness this tension of values and strained relationships. They learn from the adults how to treat others, how to problem solve, how to work together for a common goal. Students build their identity, understanding of the world around them, their belief in themselves from connecting with the significant adults in their lives. Most importantly, the experiences in and out of school help students know that these adults see them, cares about them, respects them, and believes in their capacity to succeed.

Many families worry about sending their children to school. Educators can ease their concerns by creating welcoming, safe, and supportive environments, build supportive relationships, and developing opportunities for two-way communication. Be sure to give parents multiple platforms to share their concerns, stories, and insights.

Strengthen Partnerships

There are frameworks to help strengthen the parent, school, community connections, partnerships, and shared commitments for the benefit of our students’ wellbeing. We are sharing two of our favorites here:

Strengthen Partnerships Framework

Joyce Epstein's Framework of Six Types of Involvement

Framework of Six Types of Involvement

The Power of Parental Expectations

“Our families are the experts on their children”. Louise Piper

Parents’ voice and engagement matters! Parents want their children to be happy, healthy, safe, and successful. Their expectations of their child’s capacity to succeed in school and their perceptions of their child’s school environment are predictors of academic achievement and social adjustment. (Kim et al., 2020; Muchuchuti, 2016; Pinquart & Ebeling, 2020).

Culturally Responsive Communication

Promote equity and inclusion that fosters resilience and builds family partnerships. Share important information - Caregivers have an important understanding of the child’s development, unique needs, and experiences outside of the classroom. Parents and teachers can work together to foster a caring and sensitive school climate that respects and responds to students' identities and needs. all families have different backgrounds and experiences identify affirming language and strategies to engage culturally and linguistically diverse caregivers. For a wonderful example of Value language and cultural beliefs:

Value language and cultural beliefs

Trauma Sensitive Approach to Partnerships

Universal trauma-sensitive approaches engage families from all backgrounds in support of their children’s wellness and learning. The partnership works because relationships are established through shared appreciation of the student. Educators seek to respect and appropriately respond to family contexts, culture, and circumstances. They create opportunities for open, honest, and restorative conversations in community.

We understand that families’ have unique cultural lenses around trauma and resiliency and these conversations can be delicate. We have seen teachers use current issue in the news to start talking about trauma and its impact on student learning. A strong partnership between family, school, and community helps approach conversations and find supports when needed.

Teacher tips

You can learn more about Trauma Talks: Including Parents in the Conversation – power point

Culturally appropriate parent tips in the families’ language

· English

· French

· Haitian Creole

· Portuguese

· Russian

· Spanish

· Ukrainian

We believe when parents, teachers, and community work together in multiple ways the entire school benefits, especially the students. We encourage you to build your parent engagement efforts and Increase opportunities for informal parent-teacher interactions. Here is a tool to reflect on your own parent engagement and develop an action plan.

Survey your school community to evaluate parent engagement efforts.

Parent Engagement - Download Free Survey

Great Resources

Bajaj, M., Walsh, D., Bartlett, L., & Martínez, G. (2022). Humanizing education for immigrant and refugee youth: 20 strategies for the classroom and beyond. Teachers College Press.

Comer, J. P., & Haynes, N. M. (1991). Parent involvement in schools: An ecological approach. The Elementary School Journal, 91(3), 271-277.

Cowhey, M. (2022). Families with power: Centering students by engaging with families and community. Teachers College Press.

Kim, Y., Mok, S. Y., & Seidel, T. (2020). Parental influences on immigrant students' achievement-related motivation and achievement: A meta-analysis. Educational Research Review, 30, 100327.

Muchuchuti, N. (2016). The influence of parental involvement on learning: A case study of primary school children in Matabeleland regions. International open and distance learning Journal, 2(2).

Pacino, M. A., & Warren, S. R. (Eds.). (2022). Building Culturally Responsive Partnerships Among Schools, Families, and Communities. Teachers College Press.

Pinquart, M., & Ebeling, M. (2020). Parental educational expectations and academic achievement in children and adolescents—a meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 32, 463-480.