Category: Uncategorized

Posted on

Bloom Where You Are Planted: Strengthening Family Engagement Across the U.S. Virgin Islands

Speaker presents to a crowd of people at the parent retreat.

The Virgin Islands Department of Education (VIDE) recognizes that strong family engagement is essential to fostering a positive learning environment and driving student success. As part of its family engagement initiative, VIDE held two in-person full-day parent retreats—one in St. Croix in February, and one in St. Thomas in March. Titled, When Parents Grow, Children Blossom, these parent retreats were territory–wide …

Continue reading “Bloom Where You Are Planted: Strengthening Family Engagement Across the U.S. Virgin Islands”

Posted on

5 Reasons to Apply for National Family Friendly Schools Certification

A principal, parent, and district staff member stand by their Family Friendly School Certification poster.

In today’s world, schools are facing a complex, and ever-evolving mix of academic, social, and emotional challenges. It is more important than ever to reassure families that their children are learning in environments that nurture their well-being, honor their unique identities and needs, and welcome their caregivers as valued partners.    The Prichard Committee’s Family Friendly Schools (FFS) Certification helps schools do exactly that. This nationally …

Continue reading “5 Reasons to Apply for National Family Friendly Schools Certification”

Posted on

Cultivating Climate Awareness: Stories from Two School Districts

a sign on a stick reads if not now, when? there is no planet b in from of some trees

By: Risa Sackman, Director of US Education, FHI 360  The mission of America’s public education system has been to provide young people with the knowledge and skills they need to thrive as youth, as adults, as citizens, and as leaders. But while the mission may remain the same, what students need to know and be …

Continue reading “Cultivating Climate Awareness: Stories from Two School Districts”

Posted on

The Triad of System Change Levers for District Transformation

A teacher, student, and caregiver sit together around a table and have discussion

Authors: Rachel Renbarger and Felix Fernandez  Doing broader, systems-level change is hard. As we spoke with numerous district leaders in the course of our research, they told us about how they struggled to move the needle on establishing authentic family and community collaboration (FCC) in ways that would be systemic and sustainable for the foreseeable …

Continue reading “The Triad of System Change Levers for District Transformation”

Posted on

Measuring Efficacy Beliefs in Family Engagement: Introducing a New Tool

woman holding books in front of a whiteboard smiling at camera

By Dr. Hadley F. Bachman What special talent do you have? It could be anything: fly-fishing, baking a perfect pie crust, reading subway maps, or hula-hooping. Whatever it is, you developed that skill, starting with an initial good experience and expanding your repertoire by learning from wins and losses. The belief in one’s own agency …

Continue reading “Measuring Efficacy Beliefs in Family Engagement: Introducing a New Tool”

Posted on

Increasing school district capacity after COVID-19 through family and community collaboration: A Multiple case study approach

A mural at Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District. A Young boy plays an instrument and young girl writes in a journal.

By Felix Fernandez and Rachel Renbarger June 28, 2024 Originally posted to FHI 360’s R&E Search for Evidence blog. Introduction Since the onset of COVID, school districts have grappled with extraordinary challenges, significantly impeding their operational capacity to meet student needs without compromising educators’ mental and physical health. To address capacity issues, many districts have …

Continue reading “Increasing school district capacity after COVID-19 through family and community collaboration: A Multiple case study approach”

Posted on

Collaborative Evaluation Design

By Felix Fernandez  For 85 years, the Greater Washington Urban League (GWUL) has worked to financially empower the Black community within the DC Metro area. Through the GWUL Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI), the organization helps clients understand the underlying factors that influence their financial decisions, including past financial behaviors and trauma, institutional racism, and …

Continue reading “Collaborative Evaluation Design”

Posted on

How Districts Can Tap the Power of Families and Communities

By LaMicah Lindsey  Families and communities are invaluable partners in education. They have insights, skills, and other resources that can help students learn and grow. Research shows that when school districts collaborate with families and communities authentically – when communication is open, points of view are respected, practices are equitable, and decision making is shared …

Continue reading “How Districts Can Tap the Power of Families and Communities”

Posted on

Examining COVID-19 learning recovery: A case study in individualized learning plans

By Risa Sackman, Felix Fernandez and Liza Rodler As schools across the U.S. struggle to recover learning loss due to COVID-19, one school we work with is using a data-driven approach that is helping students make up lost ground. For the past seven years, we have partnered with the GHR Foundation to help a network …

Continue reading “Examining COVID-19 learning recovery: A case study in individualized learning plans”

Added to Action Planning Tool
Edit Action Plan >

Check out the Resource Library

Our online library has hundreds of practitioner-friendly resources to support putting evidence into practice.

Resource Library