5 Strategies to Unlock the Power of Family Engagement
A family engagement strategy equals positive outcomes for students—and better support for school faculty and staff. This article provides five strategies to get families more interested and involved.
Author: Dawn Bridges
Publication Date: February 2024
Publisher: National Association of Elementary School Principals
A Comparison of Program Development at Elementary, Middle, and High Schools in the National Network of Partnership Schools
Based on survey data collected from 375 elementary, middle, and high schools in the National Network of Partnership Schools, this paper identifies differences and similarities in the development and quality of schools’ programs of school, family, and community partnership.
Authors: Mavis Sanders and Beth Simon
Publisher: School Community Journal
A Parent and Educator Guide to School Climate Resources
This guide provides parents, teachers, administrators, and other interested parties with a general understanding of school climate, school climate improvement activities, and the availability of additional resources.
Publication Date: April 2019
Publisher: U.S. Department of Education
A Step-By-Step Approach for Educators to Create Family Engagement Opportunities for Kinship Caregivers and Grandfamilies in Schools
This step-by-step resource is designed to support educators to create family engagement opportunities for kinship caregivers and grandfamilies in schools. It guides the reader through a five-step process to increase the engagement of kinship caregivers and grandfamilies: understand their unique needs, recognize the difference between family involvement and family engagement, make a plan for family engagement, implement the plan, and engage in reflection and adaptation.
Publication Date: January 2025
Publisher: Institute of Education Sciences
Building Relationships Bridging Cultures: Cultural Brokering in Family Engagement
This research brief is a comparative case study that describes how individuals who act as bridges between families and schools can utilize three promising strategies to engage families: parent capacity building, culturally specific relationship building, and systemic capacity building.
Publication Date: 2015
Publisher: University of Washington
Embracing a New Normal: Toward a More Liberatory Approach to Family Engagement
This report explores the dynamics and barriers that stand in the way of effective family-school partnerships and outlines how to reach a more liberatory, solidarity-driven, and family engagement practice that supports educational excellence for all children.
Authors: Karen L. Mapp and Eyal Bergman
Publication Date: June 2021
Publisher: Carnegie Corporation of New York
Engaging Families at the Secondary Level: An Underused Resource for Student Success
This article reviews the literature on parent engagement at the secondary level, focusing on its importance to academic achievement, high school completion rates, and social–emotional functioning. Factors influencing parents’ decisions to become engaged, implications for practice, and future research are discussed.
Authors: Krista Jensen and Kathleen Minke
Publication Date: 2017
Publisher: School Community Journal
Epstein’s Model of Parental Involvement: Parent Perceptions in Urban Schools
This study determined if there was a statistically significant difference in parents’ perceptions of frequency and effectiveness regarding parental involvement among various demographic groups of ethnicity, education level, socio-economic status, and number of children in the home based on Epstein’s six typologies of parental involvement.
Authors: Nicole Newman, Alesha Northcutt, Aarek Farmer, and Bryan Black
Publication Date: September 2019
Publisher: Language Teaching and Educational Research
Family Engagement: Collaborating with Families of Students with Disabilities
This module addresses the importance of engaging the families of students with disabilities in their child’s education. It highlights some of the key factors that affect these families and outlines some practical ways to build relationships and create opportunities for involvement.
Publication Date: 2022
Publisher: IRIS Center Vanderbilt University
How Family, School, and Community Engagement Can Improve Student Achievement and Influence School Reform
This literature review examines how family and community partnerships can promote school improvement efforts. Key components of promising family-school partnerships that support school and district level reform are identified.
Authors: Lacy Wood and Emily Bauman
Publication Date: February 2017
Publisher: American Institutes for Research and Nellie Mae Education Foundation
Identifying Barriers: Creating Solutions to Improve Family Engagement
This paper addresses reframing notions of parent involvement or being present in the school building and parent engagement or viewing multiple constructions of how parents are involved. It highlights the knowledge gained from data collected from a series of family and staff focus groups regarding parent and staff perceptions of barriers to family involvement and from families’ suggestions as to what could be done differently to increase engagement.
Authors: Timberly Baker, Jillian Wise, Gwendolyn Kelley, and Russell Skiba
Publication Date: 2016
Publisher: School Community Journal
Research in Brief: Engaging and Empowering Diverse and Underserved Families in Schools
This brief, requested by the Arizona Department of Education, presents a narrative synthesis and is based on a partial review of the relevant literature on strategies for engaging and, more recently, empowering families to support their children’s learning and development. The brief also reviews and summarizes lessons learned from this research, and offers recommendations for how local education agencies can engage and empower families.
Authors: Eric Ambroso, Lenay Dunn, and Pam Fox
Publication Date: September 2021
Publisher: Institute of Education Sciences