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Family
Engagementin Education
Seven Principles
for Success
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Family Engagement in EducationSeven Principles for Success 1
Acknowledgements
W e would like to thank the leaders rom the charter schools across the nation whowe interiewed or this study1. Without their willingness to share their stories, thisguidebook would not oer the richness and authenticity aorded by their experiences.
This guidebook on amily engagement was written by researchers rom the Uniersity
o Southern Caliornias Center on Educational Goernance (CEG). CEG combines
research aimed at building new theories about what makes schools work with action
research and dissemination actiities to spread best practices broadly and deeply. With
this guidebook, we aim to proide useul inormation to the many educators and amily
members across the country who seek ways to work together or the mutual benet o
students, amilies and communities.
The guidebook was created as part o a three-year initiatie, the National Resource
Center on Charter School Finance and Goernance (NRC). The NRC was established
in all 2006 with unding rom the U.S. Department o Educations Oce o Innoation
and Improement (Grant No. U282N060012). The NRC is a collaboratie eort among
USCs Center on Educational Goernance, The Finance Project and WestEd. We thank
the department or its support and acknowledge that the contents o this guidebookdo not necessarily represent the policies o the U.S. Department o Education;
endorsement by the ederal goernment should not be assumed.
We would also like to thank Eileen Ahearn rom the National Association o State
Directors o Special Education, Alice Miller rom the Caliornia Charter Schools
Association and Joe Nathan rom the Center or School Change or proiding insights
and additional examples o amily engagement practices to include. Their eedback
helped strengthen the guidebook in numerous ways and we are grateul or their passionand expertise.
We dedicate this book to the school leaders eerywhere who inuse amily engagement
as undamental to the success o their schools, and to the amily members whose time
and dedication contribute to improing public education.
Joanna Smith, Ph.D., Chuan Ally Kuzin, Kris De Pedro and Priscilla Wohlstetter, Ph.D.
Center on Educational Governance, Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif.
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Family Engagement in EducationSeven Principles for Success 3
Introduction
F amilies hae helped schools and students in schools across the nation in a numbero ways. Family members help in classrooms, in the school oce, and on eld trips.They tutor students, act as mentors, and translate materials or other amilies. They
raise unds or the school, help write grants, and organize actiities to promote the
school in the community. In the charter school arena, amilies hae helped write charter
applications and sere on charter school goerning boards.
As a school leader, you may be trying to gure out how to engage parents and amilies
in authentic, mutually benecial ways at your school. Doing so has been shown to hae
a range o positie outcomes or students, their amilies, and the schools. Research has
ound that when amilies are inoled with their childs school, the school outperorms
similar schools without amily engagement; teacher morale improes; amily members
rate teachers more highly; and the school has a better relationship with the community2.
IMPROvED
REDUCEDStudent eects Family eects School eects
Dropout rates
Retentions
Special-education
placements
Reluctance to approach
school or needs
Feelings o us s. them
Need to nd olunteers or
school actiities
Student benefts Family benefts School benefts
Grades
Attendance
Attitude/behaior
Homework completion
State test results
Ability to sel-regulate
Social skills
Sel-ecacy
Empowerment
Communication
Collaboration
Ability to problem-sole
Sta morale
Parent Engagement
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Smith, Kuzin, De Pedro and Wohlstetter4
Despite the numerous benets o amily engagement, barriers continue to exist,
particularly or urban, low-income, immigrant, minority and working-class amilies.
Language barriers, work schedules and a sense o disenranchisement hae generally
resulted in lower leels o engagement by working-class parents in urban schools; in
particular, those rom ethnic and racial minorities. At the same time, research shows the
best predictor o urban amily inolement at the K8 leel is what the school does to
promote this inolement. Knowing what to do will help educators be more eectie in
promoting amily engagement.
The growth o the charter public school moement has been seen as an opportunity or
parents and amilies to play a more central role in their childs education. In 15 o the 41
states with charter school legislation, the opportunity or enhanced parent and amily
participation is one purpose behind the adoption o the charter school law. In addition,
many state charter school laws include additional proisions around parent engagement,
such as:
Requiring signatures rom a certain percentage o parents in order to conert a
traditional public school to a charter public school;
Requiring eidence o parent support during the application phase;
Including parent engagement plans in the charter application;
Requiring the schools to be in regular communication with parents;
Giing enrollment preerence to students whose parents were actie during the
application phase;
Requiring schools annually to assess parent satisaction with the school;
Giing parents a ote on decisions related to school closure; and,
Requiring the schools goerning board to include parents.
Although these laws would seem to acilitate amily engagement, a recent study ound
that many charter school leaders struggle to engage amilies, despite the legislatieintent and their own hopes3. With these challenges in mind, and the many benets
associated with amily engagement, researchers rom the Uniersity o Southern
Caliornias Center on Educational Goernance interiewed leaders rom 18 charter
schools across the county with notable amily engagement practicesnominated by the
authorizers who oersee the schoolsin order to identiy strategies or how to inole
amilies in meaningul and inclusie ways.
All school leaders interiewed were rom charter schools, but many o these strategies
are applicable to traditional public schools as well as to independent schools. The aim
o proiding the best educational opportunities or all students is uniersal; nding new
ways to engage amilies can help schools attain that goal. Further, many schools hae
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Family Engagement in EducationSeven Principles for Success 5
strong participation rom a small number o amilies: the strategies included here can
help schools moe rom ad hoc inolement to a robust and meaningul set o structures
and processes that enable amily engagement. As you consider your plans and ideas, you
can learn rom others experiences to help guide your practice.
Beore we begin, it is important to note that the term amily engagement
encompasses a wide range o actiities conducted at the school, at home and in the
community and is oten called parent or amily inolement. We use the term amily
engagement to include anything that better prepares students to learn, and amilies and
schools support o that learning.
The school leaders we interiewed reported a range o amily engagement actiities,
but elt that more important than any specic actiity were the strategies used to oster
high leels o participation. Rather than adopting a i you build it , they will come
approach, the school leaders in our study attributed their success to their methods o
making parents and other amily members eel welcome at the school, proiding multiple
opportunities or amilies to get inoled, and enabling participation rom amilies who
juggle the many responsibilities and pressures o work and amily. This guidebook
ocuses thereore on strategies or engagement, not specic actiities.
Specically, this guidebook explores the ollowing seen amily engagement principles:
These principles emerged rom our interiews with leaders rom charter schools around
the countryand we know they work because they come straight rom the schools
that use them. We hope their experiences help you create opportunities to engage the
amilies o all children at your school in meaningul eorts to benet children, amilies,
schools and communities.
Principle One: Be Prepared
Principle Two: Be Respectul
Principle Three: Be Specic
Principle Four: Be StrategicPrinciple Five: Be Flexible
Principle Six: Be Creatie
Principle Seven: Be Collaboratie
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Principle One
Be Prepared
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Family Engagement in EducationSeven Principles for Success 7
Be Prepared
T he rst step in ostering amily engagementis understanding that the school can hae amajor positie impact on participation. For example,
Minnesota New Country School in Henderson, Minn.
starts eery school year with indiidual student-
amily-aculty conerences to plan or the upcoming
year, to learn more about the student and amily, and
to insure that the ery rst contact between home
and school is a positie one. Questions asked in these
conerences include:
What are major things the student and amilya.
did in the summer?
What is one thing the student wants to learnb.
this coming year?
What is a major priority or the amily, in termsc.
o what this student needs to work on in the
coming year?
What is one thing that the amily can do to helpd.the school?
Starting o by building rapport between the school and
amily helps establish a spirit o collaboration. Some
amilies ace numerous challenges when it comes to
getting inoled, howeer. Schools should be prepared
to meet and address these challenges. Preparation or
amily engagement includes the ollowing strategies:Address language barriers;
Proide amilies with resources and
support; and,
Utilize a amily coordinator.
Many schools communicate primarily in English, while
their students amilies may not. Language barriers
are one o the most common hindrances to parent
engagement, but also one o the easiest to bridge.
Translating materials sent home into the amilies
Address LanguageBarriers
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Smith, Kuzin, De Pedro and Wohlstetter8
natie language and proiding translators or school
meetings is an easy yet powerul solution. Family
members, teachers, or een students can act as
translators, minimizing the cost to the school. As one
principal reported, We hae a newsletter that goes
to the parents once a week, which is translated into
six languages. Another principal described the use o
headsets during school meetings so that interpreters
can do real-time translation. Other schools tailor
their oicemail messages and e-mails to the amilies
natie languages.
Addressing language barriers not only ensures better
communication but also allows dialogue between the
school and amilies about how best to support student
learning. At the beginning o the school year, Donoghue
Elementary Schools sta conducts a needs assessment
and an asset assessment with amilies. Not only do they
nd out what they can do to support the amilies but
they also learn ways in which amilies can support theschool. Similarly, other charter schools surey parents
(in the parents home language) at the start o the year
to determine their aailability in order to plan meetings
and actiities.
Once you are able to communicate better with parents,
you may nd some struggle to meet their childrensbasic needs. In response, seeral o the schools we
studied oered wrap around serices. [I amilies]
hae housing needs or ood needs, we proide them,
said the leader o a charter school started by a social
serice proider. Some schools hold discussions on
topics releant to amilies needs, such as qualiying or
home loans, setting up a college saings plan, resum
writing, interiewing skills, disciplining children, and
creating the necessary enironment at home or
homework. As one principal noted, Wee ound that
just haing a space where parents can communicate
Provide Families with
Resources and Support
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Family Engagement in EducationSeven Principles for Success 9
their needs with other parents has been a really
ital resource. This also helps the amily members
become more comortable in their childrens school
enironment, encouraging their engagement and
increasing their sel-ecacy.
Seeral schools oer GED, English as a second language,
college-credit and parenting classes or amilies ater
school hours. One principal described a book study
created by the school that ocused on parenting
techniques: We hae gotten one o our Hmong sta
people who will be acilitating the Hmong group, and
well also hae a group thats in Spanish, and an English
group, and were going to be oering seeral nights
when amilies can come in to discuss arious portions o
the book. Another principal described the opportunity
or networking: So many new amilies hae moed
into the neighborhood, and so the school has really
become a hub to answer questions like, How do I nd
a good grocery store? What are the child care optionsater the school day? Seeral schools in the study also
proide transportation to school meetings and oer
child care and meals to increase the accessibility o
engagement opportunities.
Proiding amilies with resources and support can
be acilitated by utilizing a amily coordinator. Familycoordinators, also called amily liaisons, come in arious
maniestations. Some schools include in their operating
budget a designated sta member to sere as the point
person between the school and amilies. Other schools
nd a olunteer who is willing and able to sere in
that role. One school in our study splits the position
among teachers and assigns bilingual teachers to
amilies with specic language needs in order to proide
support accordingly.
Utilize a Family
Coordinator
We have gotten one of our
Hmong staff people who will
be facilitating the Hmong
group, and well also have agroup thats in Spanish, and
an English group, and were
going to be offering several
nights when families can
come in to discuss various
portions of the book.
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Question: What is the family coordinators role in facilitating familyengagement at your school?
A: In the past, parents were
able to get together once
a month, but we really elt
like it was important to hae
somebody on our sta who
was a parent who could
be the liaison between the
school itsel and the parents.
So last year we budgeted
a position or a parent
coordinator.
A: Our parent coordinatorhas been essential in
that it is somebody who
can relate to parents,
who understands that
some parents need to be
working, that they may
not be able to make it [to
school eents] and who
can accommodate that.
A: I know its a luxury to hae somebody whose sole position is
dedicated to parent engagement, but its great to hae somebody
who part o their time can be dedicated to that, to really getting
parents inoled, and somebody who is a parent hersel, who can
relate to the diculties and challenges that parents are acing.
A: The parent coordinator really acts
as an adocate or parents to come
and be part o their kids education by
encouraging parents to olunteer at
the school. We hae a lot o school-
wide eents that happen during the
day and in the eenings where we need
a lot o olunteers, and so the parent
coordinator does a lot o outreach to
parents to get them to come in and
olunteer or those eents. And that
person does a lot o communication:
newsletters and things like that that go
home to amilies.
A: She is a critical link to the amilies,and shes critical in helping us to build
relationships with them. The parents
all trust her and loe her; shes been
working in that position since we
started this school in 2002, and so that
is one o the reasons why parents eel
comortable being inoled.
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Family Engagement in EducationSeven Principles for Success 11
Generally speaking, the purpose o a amily coordinator
is to be the bridge between the school and amilies by
actiely seeking parent input and participation rather
than hoping parents will approach the school on
their own. This persons responsibilities may include
conducting a needs assessment, creating aenues or
amily members to get inoled at the school, tracking
participation, and creating opportunities to meet the
needs o both the school and the amilies. In order
or the amily coordinator to be eectie, he or she
must understand the community being sered and be
committed to building lasting relationships with amilies.
Seeral schools we studied noted that the importance
o the amily-coordinator role merits inesting in
comprehensie, ongoing training so that they are
eectie communicators with amilies and hae a clear
understanding o their role.
In some cases, schools opt to hae room parents in
addition to or instead o a amily coordinator. Roomparents are more directly connected with the needs o
one classroom; they may be present in the classroom
or a ew hours a week or help out daily. As one
school leader described, Something that wee tried
to start this year is room parents, and its just an idea
o haing parents in each classroom that teachers can
really reach out to in order to help build the culture o
the classroom.
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Smith, Kuzin, De Pedro and Wohlstetter12
Spotlight on Room Parents
The principal at Dolores Huerta Learning Academy described the approach o haing
room parents at their school:
Q: Tell me about room parents at your school.
A: We call them parent leaders and we hae them in all grades, K8. The parent
leaders in each classroom are in charge o collaborating with the teacher. I its
a lower grade, say K3, the parent leaders help prepare the snacks, they help
the teachers with eld trips, they organize bake sales, and one parent leader in
each classroom participates and collaborates with the rest o the parents in the
classroom. Eery classroom has a monthly meeting to talk about dierent issues
they hae in the classroom, so we encourage our parents to be leaders in each
classroom: Thats why we call them parent leaders.
Q: Is there more than one parent leader per classroom?
A: We limit it to two parents per room. Sometimes we hae three or our and its
hard to manage. Eerybody wants to be a leader!
Q: How oten do the parent leaders change?A: It changes eery school year, or i its needed in a particular classroom, say the
other parents not able to participate any more, then we change during the school
year, but we try to keep the parent leaders or a year.
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Principle Two
Be Respectul
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Smith, Kuzin, De Pedro and Wohlstetter14
Be Respectul
Many schools, especially in urban areas, sere diersestudent populations. Their amilies hae a ariety ocultural backgrounds. Oten these amilies speak a language
other than English in the home, celebrate unique cultural
traditions, and hae arious leels o access to proessional
and nancial opportunities. In order to acilitate their
engagement, school administrators and sta should be
aware and respectul o potential cultural, socioeconomic
and linguistic dierences. When schools respect amily
backgrounds, they create a link between school and home.
Schools in our study acilitate respectul relationships with
amilies primarily through our strategies:
Hae an open door policy;
Reach out to high need amilies;
value amilies cultural backgrounds; and,
Utilize amily input.
A common barrier to participation rom some amilies is
the perception that student learning is solely the domain
o school personnel. Some amilies hold a cultural
perspectie that they should deer to the teacher in all
academic matters. Other amilies deelop the eeling
through preious school experiences that classrooms
are simply o limits to isits or obserations. Family
members who struggled themseles as students mayiew their childs school as a place where they are
unlikely to t in or eel welcome.
Schools can remoe these inisible barriers between
amilies and the school by welcoming amilies while
respecting their attitudes and belies. One principal
stressed, Parents are encouraged to come sit in a
class and obsere. Not only does this allow amily
members to watch their children participate in
classroom actiities, it proides them inormal ace-
to-ace interactions with teachers and administrators.
Have an OpenDoor Policy
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Family Engagement in EducationSeven Principles for Success 15
This can help wary parents become more comortable
establishing long-lasting relationships with school
personnel, as well as other amilies. Thus, as amily
members become more comortable naigating their
school community, they are more likely to participate in
school eents. As one principal noted, The one thing
that we tell all o our parents is ater the third time
youe come to obsere, were gonna put you to work.
Some school personnel mistakenly beliee that a amily
which does not respond to requests rom teachers is
simply uninterested in their childs education. In these
cases, school personnel may not realize the possible
socioeconomic and linguistic barriers to participation.
For instance, some amilies do not hae phone lines
due to limited nancial circumstances. Some parents
do not read or write in their natie languages, while
other parents work multiple jobs or hours that make
attendance at eents during business hours dicult.Whether or not a amily member eels comortable
participating, the logistics may be extremely challenging.
To address this challenge, some schools utilize home
isits as a way to reach high need amilies. One
principal commented, We do home isits since there
are a handul o amilies that are hard to communicate
with due to certain barriers that they ace. In anothercase, teachers at a Chicago area school isit amilies
ater school and on weekends to share their childs
success with them, to help them deelop strategies to
assist their children with homework assignments, and
to encourage them to participate in school actiities to
support their childrens academic achieement.
Home isits establish a link with high need amilies,
who otherwise may nd any engagement with the
school dicult. A home isit also demonstrates that
each amily is an integral part o the school community
Reach Out to High
Need Families
A home visit demonstrates
that each family is an
integral part of the school
community and showsthat the school is willing
to put in the extra effort
to include every family
in its childs education.
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Supporting English Language Learner Families
English Language Learners, the largest growing segment o the student population, hae
increased in all states oer the last 20 years. To better integrate these amilies, schools can:
Support the implementation o traditional parent engagement programs that are
culturally releant and linguistically appropriate;
Fund the implementation o non-traditional parent engagement programs that
refect a reciprocal engagement in the school/parent community;
Support the proessional preparation o teachers who can identiy community
unds o knowledge or curricular deelopment and school outreach;
Support community-based education programs that inorm parents about
school alues and expectations and work with parents to help them become
adocates or their children.
Source: http://epicpolicy.org/publication/promoting-ell-parental-inolement-challenges-contested-times
Smith, Kuzin, De Pedro and Wohlstetter16
and shows that the school is willing to put in the extra
eort to include eery amily in its childs education.
This gies amilies the understanding that their
engagement is a necessary part o a successul and
thriing school community.
The schools in our study recognize dierse cultural andlinguistic backgrounds as aluable resources. These
resources can be used toward students academic
achieement. One principal noted that natie language
instruction is essential or success in our increasingly
global society. Thus, the school runs a home language
deelopment program through which students acquire
a second language. To acilitate this program, the school
hired and trained members o the parent community
to become home language tutors. According to the
principal, The home language program is an important
component o our amily inolement, not only that wee
Value Families CulturalBackgrounds
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Family Engagement in EducationSeven Principles for Success 17
brought on and hired parents and amily members, but
also in that the program itsel alues the home culture
and the home language. In states where there is a
moement away rom bilingual education towards English
immersion, the tacit message can leae non-English
speaking amilies with the expectation that their children
should leae their home language and culture at their
doorsteps. A home language program and other parent-
run resource programs communicate the opposite, that
home language and home culture are alued and seen as
resources that can help improe student outcomes.
The needs o dierse student bodies can oerwhelm
schools i they beliee they hae to take on the
challenge by themseles. In contrast , some schools in
this study hae actie amily groups that meet weekly or
monthly to assess school needs and determine how they
can contribute. For example, at Community Montessori,
amily members can sere on one o six dierentcommittees, including publicity and acility management.
The school oers parent workshops and trainings
specic to the committee on which they sere.
At another school, the principal reported that the
school created parent groups to address specic school
or amily needs. One group o parents meets regularly
to talk about, plan, and make suggestions to schoolpersonnel regarding the transition rom elementary
to middle school. Another group o parents tackles
the arious needs o their special education students.
A uture parent group will address the challenges that
their children ace in math.
These need-oriented groups oer amily members a
chance to orm relationships with other amilies. In
addition, it helps amilies see more clearly their role as
problem solers in their school community.
Utilize Family Input
The home language program
is an important component
of our family involvement, not
only that weve brought onand hired parents and family
members, but also in that the
program itself values the home
culture and the home language.
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Principle Three
Be Specifc
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Family Engagement in EducationSeven Principles for Success 19
Be Specifc
S chools should not assume that amilies know howto get inoled; parents oten need ideas or whatthey can do to support their childrens education. The
schools we studied made explicit the amily engagement
expectations through three main strategies:
Incorporate amily engagement into the
schools mission;
Proide amily orientations; and,
Utilize parent contracts.
As noted earlier, seeral state charter schools laws
include increasing parent engagement as one purpose
o the law. Similarly, seeral o the study schools
mission statements mention the importance o amilies
and community. For example, Erie Charter Schools
mission includes the desire to oster a community
where students, parents and educators work togetherto deelop children who are condent in their culture
and ethnic origin, bi-literate in Spanish and English.
Community Montessoris mission notes the aim o
proiding amilies a ehicle to learn cooperatiely, hae
un, and promote peace with their children. Donoghue
Elementarys mission includes the goal to proide
academic and social support by oering community
programming or student and amilies beyond theschool day.
Many school leaders we interiewed emphasized the
importance o proiding a amily orientation beore
their child begins at the school. This orientation oten
includes the mission and philosophy o the charter
school, the academic program, and non-academic
aspects o the school. At the San Carlos Charter
Learning Center, new amilies are paired with current
amilies or a buddy system. Eery amily has
Incorporate FamilyEngagement into theSchools Mission
Provide FamilyOrientations
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Smith, Kuzin, De Pedro and Wohlstetter20
another amily to turn to with questions and to guide
them through the orientation process. Students are
also paired with buddies to help them acclimate to
the school.
A detailed orientation proides amilies not only with
an understanding o the mission and operations o the
school but includes them as partners in their childs
education. One school leader said, We really eel like
thats a big part o our success, parents really talk on
and on about how welcome they eel, about how we
meet parents exactly where they are, and nd ways
that they can be engaged in educating their kids. Some
schools create a catalog o opportunities or amily
engagement, which is shared at this orientation.
A parent contract is an agreement between the school
and the amily that outlines the expectations or amily
engagement. While some contracts include schoolsresponsibility towards amilies, most detail what amilies
are expected to do to support their child and the
school. These contracts are generally not enorceable,
that is, charter school laws in many states prohibit
charter schools rom using contracts as a requirement
or enrollment or noncompliance as a means or
dismissing a student. Rather, charter schools tend to use
contracts to clariy the amily engagement expectations.
Parent contracts oer a medium where specic
requirements, namely what amilies are expected to do
with their child and how to do it, are spelled out. As
the principal at one school noted, One o the things
that we mandate is that our parents read or 45 minutes
a night with their children and check homework,
and thats regardless o the academic experience or
academic leel that the parents may hae. We can gie
you the help to help your kids, and thats something, as
Utilize Parent Contracts
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Family Engagement in EducationSeven Principles for Success 21
Point-Counterpoint: The Pros and Cons of Parent Contracts
Pro: The parents commit to get their kids to school on time eery day;
to bringing them in uniorm eery day; and to helping them with
their homework eery night. The students and teachers make similar
commitments, so each party is accountable.
Con: It requires time and energy to keep track o the hours parents
spend olunteering, and oten enorcement o the parent contract is
not possible.
Pro: This strategy proides schools with resources (the parents) and allows
parents to participate in their childrens education.
Con: Some schools nd that mandating olunteer hours through a parent
contract does not align with the schools philosophy. They preer building
a community that encourages parent engagement without requiring it.
Once you say its a requirement, it deeats the purpose o encouraging the
parents and teaching them the importance o being inoled.
Pro: A contract denes expectations or parents and requires accountability on
the part o parents to participate in their childs education.
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Smith, Kuzin, De Pedro and Wohlstetter22
a school, that were managing our resources so that that
can happen.
As part o the Accelerated School model, community
members work in a cadre and are charged with,
among other things, monitoring that amilies areullling the terms o the parent contract: amilies
monitoring amilies.
Although parent contracts may help spell out amily
engagement expectations, they are not without their
detractors (see Point-Counterpoint).
One of the things that
we mandate is that our
parents read for 45 minutes
a night with their children
and check homework. . . .
We can give you the help
to help your kids, and thats
something, as a school, that
were managing our resources
so that that can happen.
Whats in your schools parent contract?
We hae a contract or the new amilies that enroll here that says they need to
olunteer 40 hours during the school year.
The parents hae to sign a compact that they will be inoled in the actiities o the
school and in the education o their children. Now there are some pretty obious
things, like they hae to attend at least one parent/teacher conerence per year, but
we hae all sorts o eents also that are aailable or parents to not simply meet, but
network and create that community we keep talking about.
Basically that they will make sure that their child does their homework and reads or
20 minutes eery eening. . . . Theyre expected to hae their kids in uniorm and agree
to help enorce the school-wide honor code and core alues.
It species the number o hours parents are required to be inoled with school
actiities whether at the school or at home.
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Principle Four
Be Strategic
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Smith, Kuzin, De Pedro and Wohlstetter24
Be Strategic
B eing strategic about amily engagement meanspurposeul planning, not just hoping it willoccur naturally. One way to do this is to schedule
opportunities or engagement on a ariety o days and
at dierent times, allowing or, as one leader explained,
dierent opportunities where the parents are gien a
really meaningul way to participate in the lie o their
childs education. In addition, amilies oten benet
rom being trained in how best to help their child at
home. This section discusses two strategic strategies:
Schedule strategically to increase
participation; and,
Proide training or amily members.
The school leaders in our study stressed the need to
be strategic in scheduling meetings and eents at the
school. For example, one principal noted, You hae tothink about a lot o dierent things when youre thinking
about scheduling such as making sure you can proide
child care so that the amilies can attend a workshop,
haing dierent workshops or dierent opportunities
at dierent times o the day, and on dierent days o
the week. Our amilies ace a lot o challenges, and one
o the things that Ie seen in the six years Ie been
here is that when we gie amilies the opportunity,they will be inoled in their childrens education. But
I think that you hae to make sure that youre thinking
critically about all o the dierent obstacles and barriers
or the amilies you sere, and make sure that youre
thinking about those proactiely so that you can create
multiple entry points or amilies. Another school
leader echoed this: One o the things that we did
in our opening year was we had community-building
Saturdays where amilies came and literally helped build
the school. They put urniture together, they painted,
they cleaned; a lot o those things happened because
Schedule Strategicallyto Increase
Participation
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Family Engagement in EducationSeven Principles for Success 25
You have to make sure
that youre thinking critically
about all of the different
obstacles and barriers for the
families you serve, and make
sure that youre thinkingabout those proactively so
that you can create multiple
entry points for families.
they were on a Saturday, and parents were able to make
it. So otentimes you as a school hae to extend aboe
and beyond your eight-hour school day to reach out to
those parents.
Parent-teacher conerences are an important aenue or
amily engagement at any school because they proide
the opportunity or amily members and teachers to
discuss student progress, address any concerns, and
nd solutions to problems. It is a time or amilies
and teachers to communicate their mutual goals and
expectations. It is also a challenge in many schools
to attract amilies to attend these conerences and,
unortunately, it is oten the amily members o children
who most need to be supported that do not attend.
As such, schools in our study make extra eorts to get
amilies to attend these meetings. For example, one
charter school administrator said, Our conerences
were last Thursday and Friday, and today we had a
parent who doesnt hae transportation, and she calledme this morning and said, I could take the bus this
morning and bring my son to school, would it be okay
or me to meet with his teacher then? Being willing to
accommodate amilies schedules helps this school, like
many in our study, achiee high rates o participation in
parent-teacher conerences.
Another charter leader noted, We hae our parent/teacher conerences a year, and rom the ery beginning
wee had the expectation o 100 percent attendance,
and were pretty relentless at that, and last year or
three out o the our parent/teacher conerences we
had 100 percent attendance. We hae two nights o
conerences, and we tell them well in adance, and
they know that theyre expected to come, and i they
dont come, were pretty persistent in calling them or
showing up at their house, or what hae you. So thats
taken a little bit o time to deelop within our culture;
I always had pretty good attendance in the beginning,
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Smith, Kuzin, De Pedro and Wohlstetter26
Id say between probably 75 and 85 percent, but we
kept driing that whole point home, and as they became
more comortable at the school, and realized that it
wasnt a scary experience or them, it was easier.
Another school reported attaining 100 percent
participation at parent-teacher meetings by eeding
amilies: We had potlucks where each amily
contributed and elt their contribution was alued.
In another case, a district in which attendance at
parent night was less than 20 percent oered to send
school buses to neighborhoods to bring amilies to
the meetings. The buses remained almost empty, but
attendance reached 90 percent; once amilies realized
the district was serious about wanting them to attend,
they made the eort to do so.
Another strategy to increase turnout at conerences is
to gie students a more actie role in the conerence
hearing about their childs progress rom the childsperspectie, rather than just the teachers, can motiate
a amily to attend. At Amy Biehl High School, or
example, conerences are called amily meetings and
are student-directed; the student is the acilitator, taking
an actie role in directing conersation rather than
being the topic o conersation. During the meetings,
held at the school during the eening, each amily meets
with the dean and an adisor who has been trained bya social worker. Together they discuss the students
strengths and areas he or she needs to improe. I the
student is haing diculty, the discussion is a way or
the student, amily members, and sta to begin working
on a plan to address the issue4.
In some cases, meetings are held at community centers,
churches, mosques or other places where amilies eel
comortable, rather than requiring them to come to
the school.
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Family Engagement in EducationSeven Principles for Success 27
Views Around Town
How do you get amilies to attend meetings?
I think also realizing that you hae to extend
your hours; sometimes you do hae hold
meetings at six oclock or come in on a
Saturday to get that parent engagement.
Well keep hounding them, well say,
Oh, well, you missed the conerence.
Now thats no problem, just come on
in, make an appointment to look at
your childs work, thats one-on-one,
since you couldnt come to the big
eent. We also dene amily broadly,
so it doesnt hae to be the parents,well hae an auntie who comes to
an eent because the parents are
both working, and thats ne, thats
great: one more person in the amily
that knows about the education o
that child.
By combining amily conerences with meals and communityinormation sessions. This means that amilies can come to the
conerences, share a hot meal, and learn more about community
resources. You can do this by initing a ariety o community
groups to come into the school on the nights o the conerences
and hae them pass out material. Sometimes local restaurants will
contribute ood or these eents, in exchange or the school proiding
inormation about the restaurant to their amilies.
We are ery fexible about scheduling meetings, and I do think we
go the extra mile, een to the point o going to the home rather than
haing them come here i it really doesnt work or them to come here.
And doing isits oer the phone i it just isnt gonna work that year or
them to hae a home isit or to come in. . . . Well do whateer it takes
to be in touch with those parents.
We ask them when is the
best time, and then we kindo base it on history too, like
well see, OK, this wasnt well
attended, and well do that
type o analysis.
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The school leaders we spoke with stressed that schools
shouldnt expect that amilies hae the condence or
experience to support their child academically. We
ound that schools hae increased amily engagement
by training amily members to support their child
academically, to participate in school decision-making
and to use technology.
For example, one charter school leader said, We hae
amily learning nights that are dedicated to dierent
grade-leel teachers, with dierent sessions to help
amilies know how to help their child with math or
with literacy at home. Most o our parents didnt
graduate high school themseles, and so getting them
to understand what this education system looks like is
the rst step. . . . It is important or them to understand
what our curriculum is and how they can support their
children. Similarly, another leader noted, Eery month
we hae a curriculum night, and so thats an opportunity
or parents to come in with their children and beengaged initially in a description o the curriculum and
the expectations . . . to spend a night in the seat o
your child. For math night, parents actually do the math
work that their children do, so there are math games
that the children and their parents participate in. For
literacy night, its the same kind o thing; we really walk
the parents through a pretty comprehensie experience
o what literacy looks like at the school. Same thing orscience, same or character education, same or art .
At another school, when they registered their child,
amilies were asked about their access to computers.
The school proided reurbished computers or those
amilies without access to technology. The school then
oered technology training sessions so that amilies
would be more comortable using the technology.
Provide Training forFamily Members
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Family Engagement in EducationSeven Principles for Success 29
Several organizations have information available that can be givento families as part of their training.
The Center on School, Family and Community Partnerships at Johns Hopkins
Uniersity, directed by Joyce Epstein, houses the National Network o Partnership
Schools (NNPS), a proessional deelopment organization that proides tools, trainingand materials to enable school, district and state leaders to plan, implement, ealuate
and improe their programs and practices o school, amily and community partnerships.
For more on the NNPS, isit: http://www.csos.jhu.edu/P2000/index.htm
The Deelopmental Studies Center, ounded in the San Francisco area, has produced
materials in English and Spanish that can be gien to amilies as part o training, in grades
K6, to help children at home. For more on the Deelopmental Studies Center, isit:
http://destu.org
Using a Parent-Student-Teacher Journal to Engage Parents
A high school English teacher at The Equity Project (TEP) Charter School in New York
launched a collaboratie journaling project.
On Fridays, students write or 10 minutes on a gien topic and then bring their writing
home to their parents. Oer the weekend, the parents add to the journal, responding to
their childrens writing or writing something new. The teacher responds to each o the
journals by the ollowing Friday.
With a population o nearly 100 students, this was an arduous task or me, but
certainly one o the most ruitul and rewarding o my career, the teacher said. On
aerage, 85 percent o parents completed the assignment weekly, including parents who
spoke English as a second language.
The parent journal sered to increase communication between parents and their
children, and helped create an academic enironment in their homes.
For more on this, see: http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentId=15717
http://www.csos.jhu.edu/P2000/index.htmhttp://devstu.org/http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentId=15717http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentId=15717http://devstu.org/http://www.csos.jhu.edu/P2000/index.htm8/14/2019 Family Engagement in Education
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Smith, Kuzin, De Pedro and Wohlstetter30
In another case, Pacic Collegiate School sponsors
approximately 17 amily education eents each year,
using both outside and in-house experts rom the
school and amily population. The programs ocus on
topics (e.g., child deelopment, school goernance, and
education reorm) that help prepare amily members to
sere in decision-making roles at the school. This has
resulted in almost 15,000 hours o amily serice.
Every month we have
a curriculum night, and
so thats an opportunity
for parents . . . tospend a night in the
seat of your child.
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Principle Five
Be Flexible
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Smith, Kuzin, De Pedro and Wohlstetter32
Be Flexible
Charter schools that hae successul amilyengagement programs proide a ariety oengagement opportunities or amilies to maximize
their participation. Being fexible also means proiding a
range o ways to meet participation requirements and, i
expectations o engagement are not met, working with
amilies to nd a mutually agreeable solution. Schools in
this study used the ollowing strategies to be fexible:
Oer a ariety o amily engagement
opportunities;
Proide a range o ways or amilies to meet
participation requirements; and,
Incorporate leeway into amily
engagement requirements.
A ariety o amily engagement opportunities were
oered at each o the charter schools in this study.According to one principal, We try to hae a ariety
o opportunities or parents to be inoled, whether
its helping out in the oce or coming on a special
eent and getting to see their kids at school, or haing
lunch with their children, or coming on a eld trip
as a chaperone, or participating in tutoring. We also
hae a pretty actie PTA, and they do a lot o actiities
on the weekends to raise money to plan trips or thekids. Not only do the charter schools we studied oer
a plethora o engagement actiities, they also create
fexibility by extending these actiities to the weekends.
Family members who are busy working during the week
might attend a community-building eent that inoles
cleaning the school grounds on the weekend.
Offer a Variety of
Family EngagementOpportunities
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Family Engagement in EducationSeven Principles for Success 33
Some charter schools require a minimum number o
olunteer hours rom amilies, as noted in the Be
Specic section. For some amilies, this proides a clear
expectation and oers ideas o ways to get inoled.
For others, the requirement may seem restrictie and
demanding. Being fexible with how and when amilies
ulll their required hours and proiding a remedy
instead o a penalty may yield the best results.
Manzanita Charter School encourages parents to bring
extended amily members to a olunteering eent;
each amily members participation counts toward the
total hours required. Not only do amilies meet their
participation requirements this way, they also build a
stronger community by working together. This last
work party, we had a need to moe a great big copier,
and to do some work to set up the oce Im sitting
in, Manzanitas principal said. Two older brothers o
an incoming student came in and it was just amazing
to watch them, theyre moing this gigantic copier, andgetting it set up and they were moing like the wind,
getting amazing things done, and just whipping around
with tools. . . . Its so gratiying to see the whole amily
working at it.
Een with fexibility in how amilies can meet their
engagement requirements, some amilies may struggleto do so. At Dolores Huerta Learning Academy, or
example, amilies are allowed to make a donation in
place o their required olunteer hours. The donation
can include supplies or the classroom or a snack
or the students. This policy allows amilies who are
unable to proide the hours required to contribute in a
dierent way.
At Partnership Academy, the contract is not the rule o
law. When asked about what happens i amilies do not
ulll their contract, the school leader said, We would
Provide a Range ofWays for Families toMeet Participation
Requirements
Incorporate
Leeway into FamilyEngagementRequirements
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Smith, Kuzin, De Pedro and Wohlstetter34
probably sit down and hae some urther discussion
with them, but the contracts really not that enorceable
and i they dont show up or one conerence, I dont
pull out the contract and say, Hey look, you signed this
and now youre not here. I will let them know i theyre
the only parent that hasnt shown up or conerences.
Ill tell them that. Ill say, Hey, eery other amily in this
school has shown up, and youre the last ones, I need
you to come. So we will use those tactics i necessary.
Another charter school proides a waier policy or
unoreseen circumstances where amilies are unable to
ulll their expected engagement. The principal gies an
example o a amily that aced both immigration issues
and the mothers cancer diagnosis: That sounds to me
like waier material, so they ll out the orm and they
tell about whats going on in their lies that make the
hours dicult or impossible. . . We tend to be pretty
compassionate.
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Principle Six
Be Creative
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Smith, Kuzin, De Pedro and Wohlstetter36
Be Creative
S chools are oten orced to operate under tightbudget restrictions. In many schools, amilyengagement becomes a secondary priority since it is
oten perceied as an extra that can be sacriced or
core aspects o the schools operation. The schools in
our study hae deeloped creatie strategies to engage
amilies by using minimal resources and physical space.
Some hae gone urther by utilizing amily members
as resources to ulll major needs in the schools
operations and academic programs. In addition, the
schools hae ound that proiding an incentie promotes
greater participation. The schools in this study showed
creatiity by adopting the ollowing strategies:
Dedicate a space in the school to amilies;
Oer incenties or participation;
Assign responsibilities to amilies; and,
Use technology.
Some schools hae designated amily centers where
amily members can gather or meetings, nd out
inormation about eents and actiities, utilize school
resources such as computers or curriculum guides, and
where aailable, speak to a amily coordinator. At these
centers, amilies can plan and run eents, and orge
relationships with each other, school personnel andstudents. The principal at Donoghue Elementary noted
that designating a space or amilies has shaped the
culture o the school, where amily engagement, like
curriculum and instruction, is central to the success o
the school community.
Without the luxury o extra classroom or oce space
to dedicate to a amily center, some o the schools
in our study hae ound other ways to utilize existing
spaces or amily engagement. At one school, school
personnel hae dedicated a bulletin board to the
Dedicate a Space inthe School to Families
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Family Engagement in EducationSeven Principles for Success 37
Views Around Town: Lets Talk Family Centers
Q: Do you have a amily center? How is it used?
A: Our on-site Family Center is a one-stop shop o health and social serices. It
proides amilies with basic needs (clothing, ood), drop-in counseling, prenatal
care, amily literacy, amily actiities, inter-group bridging, adult education classes,
job reerrals and a host o social serice programs proided in collaboration with
agencies. Families accessing serices rom the Center must gie back ia our
Parent Exchange Serice Bank. Reciprocal serices include classroom tutoringand olunteering at the Center. The ocus is on hands-up, not handouts.
A: In a way, I think that our parents eel
comortable eerywhere. I I were to
walk outside during lunch and snap a
ew pictures, youd see probably 10 to15 parents in eery shot. So theres not
a special place or them to go, but its
kind o like its all theirs.
A: Were in the middle o creating
a parent resource room, where
parents can come and use a
computer, can come and get
some inormation or do some
research i they need to. Right
now our library is open to
parents also to come and pick
books out with their kids. So
we denitely encourage parents
to come and spend time here,
but we dont hae a centralized
place where they specically
go yet.
A: We used to hae a parent
center, but since we needed
the classroom space it is no
longer there. But I like that
parents just walk around the
school and not just spend
time in that one room.
A: When we rst opened the school in
2005, we identied a designated room
that became our parent center, and so
that helped shape the culture o our
school. Parents hae this designated
room that is or them. Theres a
parent actually that we hired to help
coordinate actiities inside that room,
and that made a big dierence. Its a
place where parents can come in, they
can access technology, they can access
curriculum resources, and its a place
where they can meet one-on-one with
teachers. We hold meetings in the
parent center related to curriculum or
social supports that parents may need.
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Smith, Kuzin, De Pedro and Wohlstetter38
successes o amilies, spotlighting amily-run eents
and celebrating students whose amily members drop
them o at school on time. Other schools see their
classrooms as shared spaces. During ater school
instructional hours at one school, amilies routinely use
classrooms or meetings, workshops, and other amily-
oriented eents.
Ideally, amilies see engagement as a un and rewarding
experience, not as a burden. Neertheless, many o the
schools in our study hae ound that creating incenties
or reluctant or hard-to-reach amilies is an eectie
strategy to maximize participation.
The schools we studied iew amilies as aluable
resources that support the inner workings o the school
community. Principals and teachers in our study hae
gien amilies responsibilities in operations and academicsupport: serices that many school budgets struggle to
coer. When taking on responsibilities in classrooms
and operations, amilies play a more integral role in the
success o the school community. At a meeting with the
principal o one school, or example, amily members
expressed concern that students were crossing the
street without adult superision. The amilies oered
to sere as crossing guards at the end o the school day.Families also lead beautication eorts and routinely
clean the school buildings, since the school can not
aord a janitorial sta. The principal noted, They keep
an eye on the community. They notice things in the
community that the teachers and I ail to notice. Their
input and their concerns are all incredibly helpul.
Offer Incentivesfor Participation
Assign Responsibilitiesto Families
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Family Engagement in EducationSeven Principles for Success 39
Lets Talk Incentives
What types o incentives do you use to increase amily engagement?
We oten need parents to ll out sureys so
that we can assess their specic needs, so wepick a time o day when parents are here and
not in a rush. They can take their time and they
enjoy the incenties that come along with the
surey like a rafe. Incenties are always a good
way to make parent participation un.
We make sure that we distribute
important student documents to
parents in person. This gies them
a motiation to come to parentconerences and talk one-on-
one with teachers in detail about
their childs academic progress.
We distribute report cards at
conerences, and parents come
because they want to reiew the
report cards; they hae the added
bonus o talking to teachers in
person about how to ensure
academic success in the short- and
long-term.
We put up pictures o
amilies in our ront hall,
showing them helping
out the school in arious
ways. We call this the
Family Hall o Fame.
We dont punish students i their parents ail to make their
commitments. We try to create incenties to encourage parents to
ollow school policies. For example, we try to come up with ways
to incentiize being on time, so right now we hae a competition.
We made a big poster board thats in the ront oce. Each class is
competing to see which class gets to 10 days o perect on-time rst,
and that class gets a party. So, when the parents walk in with their
children ater school starts and one class had eeryone present on
time except or one child, it not only makes parents think that they
should bring their child to school on time, but also that they need toactiely support school policies. These types o attitudes trickle into
other school eents when parent engagement is needed.
At the parent meetings, we gie ree dress passes to the students
whose parents show up to meetings. This has worked or years, and
the great part is that students play a role in parent engagement.
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50 Ways Families Can Help Schools
Share inormation with a student or class about a hobby.1.
Share inormation with a student or a class about a career.2.
Share inormation with students about a country where you isited or lied.3.
Tutor one or a small group o students in reading, math or other area.4.
Help coach an athletic team.5.
Help check a students written work.6.
Help put out a school or classroom newsletter.7.
Help sew or paint a display.8.
Help build something or the school.9.
Help students work on a nal exhibition or project.10.
Help answer the schools phone.11.
Help plan a new playground or the school.12.
Help plan a theme-based presentation or students.13.
Help present a theme-based program or students.14.
Demonstrate cooking rom a particular country or culture to students.15.
Share a particular expertise with aculty.16.
Help students plan and build an outdoor garden or other project to beautiy the17.
outside o the school.Help coach students competing in an academic competition.18.
Help bring senior citizens to school to watch a student production.19.
Extend learning by helping arrange learning opportunities in the community.20.
Help set up an internship or apprenticeship or a student at your business,21.
organization or agency.
Host a one-day shadow study or students about your job.22.
Go on a local eld trip.23.
Go on an extended eld trip.24.Contact a local business or organization regarding possible cooperation with25.
the school.
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Family Engagement in EducationSeven Principles for Success 41
Help create a natural area outside the building where students can learn.26.
Sere on an adisory or decision-making committee.27.
Sere on the school-wide site council.28.
Sere on a school committee.29.
Sere as an ocer in the schools PTA.30.
Help organize a parent organization.31.
Help design a parent and/or student surey or the school.32.
Help conduct and/or tabulate results o a parent surey regarding the school.33.
Adocate or the school.34.
Sere as a member o a telephone tree to distribute inormation quickly.35.
Write a letter to a legislator about the school.36.
Go to another school to proide inormation about this school.37.
Help design a brochure or booklet about the school.38.
Help translate inormation rom the school into a language other than English.39.
Help translate at a parent-teacher conerence.40.
Proide transportation to a parent-teacher conerence or a parent who needs41.
a ride.
Write an article or publication in a magazine about the schools actiities.42.Help arrange or a political leader to isit the school.43.
Fundraise or the school.44.
Help write a grant proposal that would bring new resources to the school.45.
Donate materials to the school.46.
Arrange or a business or other organization to donate materials to the school.47.
Help other parents deelop their parenting skills.48.
Help teach a class or parents on ways they can be stronger parents.49.
Help write, publish or distribute a list o parenting tips.50.
From Joe Nathan, Center for School Change, Humphrey Institute, University of Minnesota.
For more information and ideas, [email protected]
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To sae on the cost o distributing newsletters or fyers,
many schools send e-mail updates to amilies. As one
school leader described, We hae a large number
o parents that communicate through e-mail because
many o our working amilies cant always break away to
call the school during school hours. Plus, teachers are
teaching so parents talk a lot about being able to e-mail
a teacher and getting inormation that way. In addition
to communicating ia e-mail, some schools adertise
amily engagement opportunities on the schools
website and track amily participation online. At Pacic
Collegiate, or example, the school created a website
that lists olunteer opportunities. Family members
choose the actiities they would like to be inoled in.
The website includes a description o each actiity, the
contact person, and the hours required. The online
system enables amily members to report their hours as
they complete them.
Use Technology
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Principle Seven
Be Collaborative
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Smith, Kuzin, De Pedro and Wohlstetter44
Be Collaborative
Being collaboratie in your amily engagement eortscan mean integrating outside organizations suchas local nonprots or community centers in amily
engagement actiities. Another way to be collaboratie
is to oer amily members a oice in school policy
by orming adisory councils, ocus groups or amily
member positions on the schools goerning board. The
schools in our study worked to create the structures or
engagement to help create a deeper leel o participation.
Strategies or collaboration included:
Bring in outside organizations; and,
Proide amilies a oice in school decision-making.
Many charter schools hae looked to outside
organizationsnonprot, or-prot and publicto
enrich their programs, to proide such ital resourcesas acilities or budget expertise, and to enhance amily
participation. One principal praised a community
partners program that helps coordinate olunteers.
Elsewhere, school leaders used community groups to
hold parent classes or trainings. This engagement can be
mutually benecial. One principal reported that parents
participate with their children in community serice
days organized by the school: Some o them cleaned upthe park across the street or the city, some made baby
blankets or the childrens hospital.
Parent adisory councils are a common strategy or
inoling amilies in school decision-making. Similar
to PTAs, parent councils are sometimes called parent
adisory boards, leadership councils or parent-teacher
organizations. O course, just creating a parent council
doesnt mean amilies will attend the meetings. At one
school with high leels o participation, the councils
Bring in OutsideOrganizations
Provide Familiesa Voice in School
Decision-Making
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Family Engagement in EducationSeven Principles for Success 45
Using Satisfaction Surveys to Elicit Family Input
view Park Preparatory, an elementary, middle and high school charter school cluster in
inner-city Los Angeles, elicits parent input through annual satisaction sureys. School
leaders use surey responses to inorm school improement eorts. For example,
surey responses rom amilies at the elementary school indicated a lack o access to
technology, so the school ocused undraising eorts on creating a computer lab. Surey
results also showed a lack o understanding among amilies new to the school about the
schools goernance model and school culture, and so the school held a training class to
increase their knowledge.
Views Around Town: Inside Advisory Councils
How does your Advisory Council work?
We hae a parent-teacher-
community organization in
which a group o parentsdo things that some o the
suburban or parochial schools
do, the undraising unction.
Donoghue Elementary
They do some undraising things, but its
also around parent education. So i there
are particular issues that the majority o
the parents are struggling withlets say,helping their kids with their homework
then they may bring in a resource related to
that. Or i immigration was a big issue, wed
bring in an expert or that as well.
Partnership Academy
We hae a parent leadership council that is an opportunity or parents to come
together on a monthly basis. The whole organization is led by parents and a lot o
their ocus is on students and school undraising, and also they do meetings around
dierent concerns or topics. Part o what we want to do is really educate the
parents on topics that hae to do with charter schools. So or example, last month
our meeting was basically a Charter Schools 101 workshop, and so we were able
to answer questions that parents had about what a charter school is, what are the
distinguishing actors rom a traditional district school, that sort o thing.Erie Charter School
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Smith, Kuzin, De Pedro and Wohlstetter46
president (a parent) reminds amilies the day beore
each meeting by passing out fiers when amily members
pick up their children ater school. The principal eels
that haing a parent hand out the fier right beore the
meeting, ace-to-ace, has increased participation; so
many amilies show up that they hae had to nd a
bigger space to hold the meetings.
In addition to adisory councils, some schools inole
amilies in decision-making through satisaction sureys or
needs assessment sureys. Sometimes, these can be used
to gather inormation about which engagement actiities
amilies support; other times, it helps the school set policy.
Another way charter schools hae gien amilies a oice in
shaping the school is through membership on the schools
goerning board. In six o the 40 states with charter
schools, this is required by law. For example, Delaware
law stipulates that the board o directors must include a
teacher at the school and a parent o a student enrolledat the school as members. In other states, where laws
are not prescriptie as to board membership, many
charter schools nd amily members willing to commit the
time required to be a board member. Both benets and
challenges to haing amily members sere on a schools
goerning board exist, howeer, as seen in the quotations
rom state-leel charter school leaders below.
In other cases, amilies shape the schools goerning
board by electing its members. Timpanogos Academy
in Utah, or example, has parents elect the seen-
member goerning board, making the board directly
accountable to them. The Timpanogos Academy charter
proides or representatie goernance, which mandates
responsieness to constituent concerns. The charter
bylaws include a recall proision in case parents beliee
any board member is not perorming in the schools
best interest.
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Family Engagement in EducationSeven Principles for Success 47
Lets Talk Decision-Making
Q: How do you give amilies a voice in shaping school policy?
A: The parent leadership council was started at the schools
inception; we looked to parents about things like our
uniorm policy. We wanted parents to hae a place where
they could come together with their concerns. . . . It began
with the ounding principal, who sought parents out.
A: We do ocus groups
with parents to see i
there are things that
theyd like to see happen
in the school. We use
that as an aenue to get
parent eedback.
A: We hae what we call a parent
adisory committee, or a PAC,
that is run by parents. Some o
our sta helps acilitate it; we
hae a amily and student support
coordinator who helps acilitate a
monthly meeting.
A: We hae EESAC, Excellence in
Education School Adisory Council
that has two parent representaties
and one student representatie.
A: We hae e
parents and six
teachers on the
board.
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Point-Counterpoint: The Pros and Cons of Involving Parents on theSchools Governing Board
Pro: It has really worked well or us because we stress ethics and human
relationships so highly in our building. We hae a ery high leel o trust,
and we tend to do eerything out in the sunlight, so parent input at the
board leel is ery important.
Con: Some goerning boards hae nine members, eight o whom are parents,
and the parents arent ully equipped to deal with thorny issues o policy
and nance, grieances o teachers, and due process hearings and all
o that.
Pro: When charter schools are ounded by a group o parents who are
dissatised with the other options their children hae, theye got the
energy and the passion and a lot o good insight about whats best or
the kids.
Con: One challenge in haing parents on the board occurs when they mayappear to be ocused more on their indiidual childs needs and issues,
ersus a parent collectiely representing all parents at the school.
Pro: I think it is incredibly important or the parents o the school not only to
hae a oice, but to be actiely inoled on the goernance board.
Con: Our law requires that two parents be on the board. One issue with this
requirement is how those parents are identied to sere. We hae to makeclear to olks that its not necessarily the president o your PTA who should
be on the board, because [parents] role on the board is to make decisions.
Theyre able to gie insight as a parent, but [theyre] not necessarily there
as the parent adocate.
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Family Engagement in EducationSeven Principles for Success 49
Conclusions
T he ndings rom this study, accumulated here into seen principles or successullyengaging amilies, suggest that amilies can be important partners in the operationand success o a school. Howeer, you shouldnt eel that you hae to adopt eery
strategy at one time. As one school leader stressed, I think you really hae to start
small, and set some really short-term, realistic goals. Start with connecting parent
engagement to the academic program. . . . I also think you hae to set an expectation or
all o your sta on how youre going to engage parents, and then work to maintain some
consistency and to support teachers, because many teachers dont understand how
to work with parents in a way that can be supportie and constructie. Other school
leaders shared their recipes or success (see the ollowing page).
We hope that you nd the experiences rom these charter schools useul and are
able to adapt their adice to your own school context in order to create and sustain a
meaningul partnership with your students amilies.
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Whats your recipe for success?
We try to hae a ariety o opportunities
or parents to be inoled, whether its
helping out in the oce or coming on
a special eent and getting to see their
kids at school, or haing lunch with theirchildren, or coming on a eld trip as a
chaperone, or participating in tutoring.
We also hae a pretty actie PTA, and they
do a lot o actiities on the weekends to
raise money to plan trips or the kids. . . .
We really want our amilies to not eel
pressured to be inoled, [but] to want to
be inoled.Rise Academy
We dont hae busing, so we
see a lot o parents because
theyre walking here or theyre
driing here, and they come
in to get their kids. We make
sure to be out there in the
mornings when parents are
out there, at dismissal whenparents are out there, so that
they see us.
Erie Charter School
Especially here in east Oakland [Cali.], the schools that are
around here are huge. We only hae 200 students or K8, so its a
small school, its sae, and the parents really eel comortable here.
Dolores Huerta Learning Academy
The act that when we plan our calendar year, we plan the parent
actiities. When we moed into the school and we planned classrooms,
we planned to hae a parent center. And so eery conersation that we
hae, it always includes parents. And when we talk about interentions
or students, we talk about parents as one o those interentions.
When we talk about students that are struggling, its neer just a
conersation where we talk about, well, the teacher can do this, the
social worker can do this; the parent is always part o the equation. Its
about the strategies, and the strategies neer end with just what the
schools gonna do.
Donoghue Charter School
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Family Engagement in EducationSeven Principles for Success 51
Useul Resources
The Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships, at Johns Hopkins
Uniersity and directed by Joyce Epstein, has links and inormation about publications,
research and proessional deelopment as well as inormation about the centers
National Network o Partnership Schools.
visit http://www.csos.jhu.edu/P2000/center.htm
The Coalition or Community Schools is an alliance o national, state and local
organizations in K16 education, youth deelopment, community planning and
deelopment, amily support, health and human serices, goernment and philanthropy
as well as national, state and local community school networks. Their website includes
links to resources, tool kits and technical assistance. visit http://communityschools.org
The National Parent Teacher Association website proides inormation on PTA
programs, conerences and eents as well as a social networking site called the Great
Idea Bank to enable parents to interact and learn rom each other by sharing ideas on
how to be a more inoled parent, actiities to share with their children, and ways to
communicate with their childs school. visit http://www.ptagreatideabank.org/
The U.S. Department o Educations Parental Inormation and Resource
Centers website includes resources or parents and research links.
visit http://www.ed.go/programs/pirc/index.html
http://www.csos.jhu.edu/P2000/center.htmhttp://communityschools.org/http://www.ptagreatideabank.org/http://www.ed.gov/programs/pirc/index.htmlhttp://www.ed.gov/programs/pirc/index.htmlhttp://www.ptagreatideabank.org/http://communityschools.org/http://www.csos.jhu.edu/P2000/center.htm8/14/2019 Family Engagement in Education
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Appendix: Charter School Profles
While many people contributed examples o successul amily engagement practices at
schools around the country to the creation o this guidebook, the schools listed below
participated in the interiews conducted or our study.
Amy Biehl High School, Albuquerque, N.M.
Year opened: 1999
Grades served: 912
School mission: To teach students to apply and demonstrate skills and knowledge to
analyze and address community needs. Through serice, to challenge students to play
meaningul roles in their communities while deeloping leadership skills and to assist a
dierse student body to acquire intellectual, social and ethical habits to prepare them
or post-secondary education and lie.
Community o Peace Academy, St. Paul, Minn.
Year opened: 1995
Grades served: K12
School mission: To be a racially and culturally dierse community o students, parents,
and sta, dedicated to creating a peaceul enironment in which each person is treatedwith unconditional positie regard and acceptance.
Community Montessori, New Albany, Ind.
Year opened: 1997
Grades served: K12
School mission: To gie children an enironment that respects all people and ideas and
that gies amilies a ehicle to learn cooperatiely, hae un, and promote peace with
their children.
Dolores Huerta Learning Academy, Oakland, Cali.
Year opened: 1999
Grades served: K8
School mission: To proide a dynamic, supportie learning enironment that recognizes
the indiidual abilities and ambitions o all students and oers both the opportunity and
skills to become lietime learners, responsible citizens, and leaders o tomorrow in a
culturally and linguistically dierse society.
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Family Engagement in EducationSeven Principles for Success 53
East Mountain High, Sandia Park, N.M.
Year opened: 1999
Grades served: 912
School mission: As a small learning community, East Mountain High School proides
exceptional curricular and extracurricular programs, supportie interpersonal
relationships, and excellent teaching, all o which encourage sel-awareness, community
inolement and academic excellence.
EC Reems, Oakland, Cali.
Year opened: 1999
Grades served: K8
School mission: To proide a student-centered curriculum that enhances intellectual
deelopment, leadership ability and technological fuency, to prepare and endow East
Oakland youth with strategic adantages needed to participate in the 21st century.
Erie Charter School, Chicago, Ill.
Year opened: 2005
Grades served: K3
School mission: To oster a community where students, parents and educators work
together to deelop children who are condent in their culture and ethnic origin, bi-literate in Spanish and English, who achiee academic excellence and are rmly placed on
a path to higher education.
International Community School, Decatur, Ga.
Year opened: 2002
Grades served: K6
School mission: To proide reugee, immigrant and local children with an international
education at the elementary leel; and to explore and celebrate cultural dierences in achallenging, nurturing and internationally multi-ethnic enironment.
Lighthouse Community Charter School, Oakland, Cali.
Year opened: 2001
Grades served: K12
School mission: To prepare a dierse K12 student population or college or a career o
their choice by equipping each child with the knowledge, skills and principles to be a
sel-motiated lielong learner.
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Ivy Preparatory Academy, Norcross, Ga.
Year opened: 2008
Grades served: 67 currently, growing one grade at a time through 12th grade
School mission: To deelop middle and high school girls into thoroughly equipped
scholars who are prepared to enter and succeed in the colleges and uniersities o
their choice.
Manzanita Charter School, Richmond, Cali.
Year opened: 2000
Grades served: 68
School mission: Through actie amily inolement in sel-goerned public education,
this cooperatie charter seeks to create a sae, nurturing, and dierse educational
community or its children.
Neighborhood House, Boston, Mass.
Year opened: 1995