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Accelerated academic achievement. Second language learning. Social and emotional skill development. Increased attendance and engagement. Higher graduation rates. A handful of astonishing student-level benefits. We partnered with BetterLesson on a white paper where we explore the research-backed benefits of family engagement, signals that a school system is under-investing in family engagement, and high-impact strategies for student success. Who should be thinking about this?District administrators are grappling with looming budget cuts and a need to streamline technology. Building leaders are grappling with chronic absenteeism and persisting learning loss. Teachers are grappling with feelings of overwhelming to do lists and burnout. Educators are beginning to prepare for the upcoming academic year. Addressing these persisting systemic challenges will require collaborative problem solving to address root causes. Incremental steps to improve family engagementBuilding leaders and classroom educators can take several steps to incrementally adjust their current practices.
Educators are grappling with wide-ranging challenges including absenteeism, persisting learning loss, teacher retention, and looming budget cuts. The schools that are effectively addressing these systemic challenges are making investments in family engagement and, more specifically, implementing high-impact strategies for engaging families in student learning. Elisabeth O’Bryon and Megan Lorio joined the team at EdReports to discuss family engagement as an essential strategy for student learning success. This podcast is a must listen for school leaders planning for the next school year. Move beyond performances and potlucks: the surprising benefits of family communicationDecades of family engagement research demonstrates strong connections between consistent school-home communication that is focused on instructional goals with key outcomes for teachers, families, and students.
How to level-up your family engagement strategyBuilding a comprehensive strategy takes time and planning. Before starting the planning process, it is essential to gather input from families, teachers, and the community to understand the current state of your school. What is working well? What needs additional time or attention? We’d recommend that you read our blog that covers 5 actions that school leaders can take to build strong home-school connections. In this podcast, Elisabeth and Megan share high-impact strategies and tips for maximizing your family engagement efforts to support student learning. Are you planning for next school year? Our expert team has designed a family communication toolkit with practical tips and messages that you can use as you plan for back-to-school
Learning-focused family engagement is an emerging priority for K-12 learning. Several announcements signal a shift in the K-12 education landscape and the teaching profession. We’ll explore the implications of this shift and how districts can stay ahead of these changes to ensure that students are thriving academically. Federal and state announcements signal changes in K-12 educationDoubling-down on proven solutionsThe Biden-Harris administration has signaled a strong commitment to advancing the state of education through investments in the Statewide Family Engagement Centers (SFEC) Programs and the 2024 Improving School Achievement Agenda. Continued investment in the SFEC programs ensures continuation of statewide efforts to meaningfully engage families in learning. The 2024 Improving School Achievement Agenda affirms the critical need in K-12 education to support initiatives that have demonstrated proven impact on student achievement. The administration recently announced an extension of ESSER funds use, with the stipulation that school systems utilize funds to implement proven solutions in three priority areas: addressing chronic absenteeism, providing personalized learning support, and offering extended learning opportunities. These announcements emphasize the important role that effective family engagement strategies can have on boosting attendance and supporting student learning. California recognizes the potential of the teacher-parent relationshipThe California Commission on Teacher Credentialing approved a revised set of Standards for the Teaching Profession, which are slated to be adopted in the 2025-26 school year. The most notable additions to the standards include: culturally responsive teaching, social-emotional learning, and family engagement. The standards will require teachers to adopt effective strategies for communicating and creating relationships with families. While this change will be taking effect in the state of California, this signals a shift in the education system towards prioritizing families as a key stakeholder in learning. Insights from district leaders underscore importance of attendance, and surface needs around supporting teachers.Our own research with district and school stakeholders has revealed an increasing sense of urgency and prioritization in the following areas:
What's needed for student success: aligning instruction, academic interventions, and family engagement to deliver coherent learning experiencesDistricts and schools have focused their efforts on delivering coherent learning experiences for students that align high-quality instruction with tailored interventions to address individual student needs. Yet, this approach overlooks a critical stakeholder in student success: families. Moving from fragmented solutions to an aligned strategy will require district and school leaders to:
Equipping and supporting teachers in delivering high-quality instructionTeachers have entirely too much on their plates to fit into the school day. They carry the responsibility of preparing and delivering effective lessons, assessing student learning and making adjustments to instruction, managing their classrooms, addressing behavioral challenges, providing personalized support to students…. and the list goes on. District and school leaders must find ways to ensure that teachers feel supported and successful. Adopting high-quality instructional materials can help streamline lesson planning and selecting assessment solutions that improve the grading experience will go a long way to help lighten teachers’ workload. Additionally, implementing technology solutions that support classroom management in increasingly complex digital learning environments helps improve the instructional experience for teachers and students. Implementing proven solutions for individualized supportIn addition to providing support to teachers to improve direct instruction, schools are also focused on implementing programs that provide individualized support to students. Many schools have elected to deliver programs like high-dosage tutoring, which extend teacher capacity and provide additional touchpoints for students to engage with learning materials and reinforce important concepts. The Biden-Harris announcement emphasizes the importance of programs that offer additional touchpoints for learning, including extended day and summer learning opportunities. More significant emphasis on family engagement to support student successDistrict and school leaders will prioritize family engagement as a critical component of their student success plans, with an emphasis on strategies that meaningfully engage families in their child’s learning. The Biden-Harris fact sheet calls out home-visit programs specifically, and we believe that districts should also consider adopting solutions that support consistent learning-focused family communication, and programs to build family capacity to support with Math and ELA. When districts implement parent teacher communication software that provides consistent and actionable learning-focused communication to parents and families, the student academic gains are remarkable. When families are equipped with tips and activities to support what their child is learning, they can play a significant role in accelerating academic success and shaping mindsets about learning. Family Engagement Lab helps districts and schools make the most of their family engagement strategy.Connect with us to explore how to accelerate academic achievement through family engagement.
Partnership centers opportunity at the intersection of curriculum, professional learning and family engagementFamily Engagement Lab envisions a world where every student has access to learning opportunities inside and outside of the classroom, supported by the most important stakeholders in their learning journey, teachers and families. We recognize that we cannot do this work alone! We’re excited to announce our partnership with BetterLesson, where we’ll focus on advancing equitable student learning outcomes. Through our partnership, we’ll focus on the critically important, yet often overlooked, intersection of high-quality curriculum, professional learning for district partners, and family engagement. Support adoption of high-quality instructional materials through professional learningBetterLesson, a leading provider of high-quality professional development for schools and districts, offers 1:1 virtual coaching and small group professional learning to educators as well as job-embedded educator support across a wide range of topics including curriculum adoption and implementation, instructional leadership, inclusive and responsive practices, and flexible instructional models. Curriculum coherence happens when Districts align curriculum, professional learning & family engagementDistricts that take a holistic and multi-stakeholder approach to curriculum adoption see more impactful results. Our partnership will be particularly useful for schools and districts utilizing EL Education K-8 and Illustrative Mathematics, as our complementary offerings make it easier to create coherent learning experiences for students inside and outside of the classroom.
“Our partnership with BetterLesson, centers the critically important yet often overlooked intersection of curriculum, professional learning, and family engagement. Together we offer a powerful opportunity to shift the way that school systems equip and support the most important stakeholders in a student’s learning journey, families and teachers.” - Vidya Sundaram, Family Engagement Lab Co-Founder and CEO Learn more about aligning family engagement and professional learning with curriculum adoptionConnect with our expert team.
Author: Kelsey Hodge School districts across the country are grappling with a range of challenges, from budget deficits to persistent absenteeism, all of which are affecting student achievement. Decades of research has shown that parental involvement in student learning can make a meaningful difference on student achievement, attendance, and graduation rates (Melhuish et al., 2008). Transformative parental involvement begins with the relationships that are fostered through parent-teacher communication. By employing high-impact strategies for parent-teacher communication, teachers can create the conditions through which families and schools can partner to support student learning outcomes. Advantages of Effective Parent-Teacher CommunicationTeachers and schools invest significant effort in keeping parents informed about events, conferences, and report cards. However, these traditional forms of communication often fail to reach all families reliably or equitably, particularly in communities with limited internet access or greater linguistic diversity. When parent-teacher communication is accessible to all, collaborative, and focused on student learning, school districts are able to grapple with the challenges they face as students thrive. Advantages for studentsAs school districts work to close grade-level gaps and boost student achievement, student absenteeism and mental health challenges are on the rise. Study after study has demonstrated the marked impact that parent-teacher partnerships have on student well-being and academic achievement. Students benefit tremendously from stronger parent involvement in schools. When parents and teachers engage in regular dialogue about the importance of attendance, the child’s overall well-being, and academic progress, it also builds a strong foundation for strengthening parent- teacher relationships. Strong parent-teacher communication and partnership can enhance each child’s engagement in their own learning journey and sense of belonging in their school community. Advantages for parentsParents have a strong desire to support their children’s education but often the shortcomings of traditional communication leave them ill-equipped to do so. Families report receiving limited information from their child’s school about grade-level skills, their child’s mastery of those skills, and what they can do to support at home. By inviting parents to partner and developing a collaborative relationship through on-going communication, teachers can build parents’ confidence in supporting their child’s educational journey and create schools in which all families are welcomed as valuable community members. Advantages for teachersThe everyday demands of teaching can be isolating. The responsibilities teachers are juggling, from implementing new curriculum to grappling with chronic absenteeism, can lead to teacher burnout. Effective parent-teacher communication provides teachers with a sense of partnership that ensures that teachers feel supported knowing that the learning happening in their classroom is being reinforced by families and caregivers at home. With on-going, relational communication with parents, teachers can gain greater insight into their students and build a more diverse toolkit for responding to each child’s needs resulting in improved job satisfaction. Strategies to Improve Parent-Teacher CommunicationThe most effective parent-teacher communication is relational, directly linked to student learning, and builds the capacity of both parents, teachers, and school administrators.. Adopting high-impact strategies like those below can allow large districts and busy teachers to maximize their limited time and resources with the maximum benefit for their students and school communities. Ensure Learning-focused Communication is Accessible for All Students’ FamiliesIn order for every child to have the opportunity to succeed, communication must be accessible for all parents and caregivers. Take time to gather information about the parents and caregivers within the community and their specific needs around contact preferences, home language, and internet access. By putting families’ communication needs at the forefront of parent-teacher communication, parents and caregivers are more readily able to engage and feel included in their child’s education. Personalize Parent-Teacher Communication with Impactful & Effective MessagingDespite current teacher and school district communication efforts, parents are frequently left wondering about grade-level learning goals and if their child is on track to meet those goals. A child’s teacher has invaluable insight into student learning and sharing that insight through learning-focused communication promotes a sense of trust and deepens the partnership between teachers and families. Be intentional about sharing regular updates on classroom learning in a way that allows parents to meaningfully engage and support their child’s growth. Set up a Two-Way DialogueToo often traditional parent-teacher communication looks more like a news bulletin than a conversation. To foster partnerships between parents and teachers, it’s important for teachers to start by sharing when parents can expect to hear from them, what information will be shared, and how parents can contact them. Open the conversation by asking parents and caregivers questions about their child or their hopes and dreams for them in order to connect. Once established, a two-way dialogue between parents and teachers not only promotes connection and builds capacity but also results in more positive communication. Share Student Successes and Areas for GrowthAfter establishing relationships with parents through accessible, learning-focused, two-way dialogue, it becomes much easier for teachers to contact parents and have open, honest conversations about students’ performance on assessments and behavior. In fact, many parents express a deep desire to know more about their child’s areas for growth. When parent-teacher communication promotes partnership and equips parents with actionable information, it allows for joint problem-solving that improves student outcomes. As trust builds through sustained dialogue, teachers are more equipped to have transparent conversations around topics like the impact of frequent absences on student learning. How FASTalk Can Transform Parent-Teacher CommunicationFASTalk is an evidence-based parent-teacher communication tool that was designed to connect classroom instruction with at-home learning through a regular cadence of learning-focused information and activities delivered to families in their home language. FASTalk aims to remove the common barriers to parent engagement by ensuring learning-focused communication takes place weekly, in each family’s preferred language, and doesn’t require access to WiFi. FASTalk equips teachers with a tool they can use to communicate via text message with their students’ families in over 100 languages without having to share their personal cell phone numbers. Parent involvement can play a pivotal role in advancing student learning outcomes for district’s seeking solutions to rising challenges. Reach Parents in Their Preferred Language Through Direct TranslationsThe FASTalk team identifies the linguistic needs of each school community to ensure that the FASTalk text messages sent to families are professionally translated into the home languages of all caregivers. In addition, teachers can use FASTalk to engage in two-way translated communication with parents and caregivers in over 100 languages. As a result of the accessibility of FASTalk messages and parental involvement, students have experienced literacy gains, especially when their parents did not share a home language with the teacher. Provide Engaging and Simple Learning Activities for Parents to Try With Their ChildThe FASTalk tips and activities are designed specifically for families by curriculum experts to align with a school district’s curriculum and/or grade-level learning goals. The weekly FASTalk text messages give caregivers a window into classroom learning by sharing on-going information about key grade-level skills and ways that they can reinforce those skills. While there are numerous communication platforms available for teachers to communicate with families, 85% of FASTalk families report that FASTalk is the only place that they receive learning focused information and activities to support their child. Connect Directly With Parents Through Text MessagesThe FASTalk tips and activities are delivered straight to parents’ phones each week through SMS text message. There’s no computer or internet connection required for parents ensuring that any caregiver with access to a cell phone can engage in fun, on-the-go activities to support their child’s learning from anywhere.
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