Family Engagement: A Key Component for School Success

Conditions for Learning Team

We’ve got a question for you. Who was the person who gave you guidance and support when you were young? Four out of five of you are probably thinking of a family member – whether it was your dad, auntie, or grandma.

Families are our first and most enduring teachers.

And yet schools sometimes struggle to enlist families as true partners, despite research showing positive impacts on everything from attendance rates in kindergarten through high school graduation rates. 

Here’s how your school board can help elevate family engagement best practices in your district:

• Embed family engagement in your strategic plan. Dr. Karen Mapp says “Family engagement is not a goal; it’s a strategy.” In other words, family engagement is a way that you can reduce chronic absenteeism, increase staff morale, improve postsecondary enrollment, or achieve any number of your goals. It should not be a stand-alone goal, but rather woven throughout your plan.

• Pass a family engagement policy. Last year close to a dozen school districts passed family engagement policies to provide school administrators with direction.

• Budget time. Time is money. If you want teachers to have time to connect with families, consider how you can include that in the budget, whether extra-duty contracts for evening events and outreach, or a free period for contacting families.  Budget time and resources for staff trainings, goal setting, and reflection of family partnership efforts.  

• Evaluate the impact. Track how you meet family engagement goals using a tool like the School Climate and Connectedness Survey. Talking with families through a formal family dialogue or informally in the grocery store is important for helping you understand the stories behind the data.

• Invite families into the decision-making process. Many funding sources such as Title I funds for schools serving low-income students require family input. But too often, families are treated like a rubber stamp or afterthought. Our Family Advisory Board recently made a series of recommendations for including parent voices including:
  • Include multiple parents and perspectives (it can be uncomfortable to be the only voice speaking for parents.
  • Meet parents where they are and provide the support they need to be effective partners. 
  • Work extra hard to communicate clearly and close feedback loops (i.e. let families know what happened as a result of their feedback.)

• Share tools and information. The Alaska Family Engagement Center, which is hosted by AASB, is working to build out a bevy of resources to make family engagement even easier for school staff and families. Here’s how you can help spread the word. 
  • Add a link to the Alaska Family Engagement Center from your website. Jen McFerran, jmcferran@aasb.org can help you or your tech team make the link.
  • Share start-of-the-school year relationship building tips and scripts. These tools make it easy for school staff to start relationships on the right foot.
  • Reach out about reading. We’ve built out toolkits for family reading nights that meet many of the Reads Act requirements. Check out the toolkit here and inquire with Emily Ferry, eferry@aasb.org about additional resources like books and posters.
  • Sign-up for the Family Engagement Friday Spotlight. Each week we aim to highlight a tool or best practice for engaging families. Sign up to receive these tips, or share your own here.
  • Provide training, coaching, and support. Like teaching reading or math, quality family engagement is a skill that can be learned and refined. The Alaska Family Engagement Center provides training, coaching, and support for school staff. Contact eferry@aasb.org to learn more.

Let’s be honest, while the list above is long, none of the steps are all that difficult, and many are intuitive. Without being intentional about how (and why) we are engaging families, it can fall by the wayside. As school board members, you set the tone, make the space, track the progress, and celebrate the successes that come with strong family partnerships.