How Your District Can Understand and Address Common Barriers to Engagement with Families Since the US Department issued the 1994 report on Strong Families, Strong Schools, the body of evidence showing that family engagement impacts learning has continued to grow. Schools that engage families find that their students have higher grades, show faster rates of …
Fostering Family Engagement through Shared Leadership in The District, Schools, and Community
In this ethnographic case study, Ann M. Ishimaru examines how a collaboration emerged and evolved between a low-income Latino parent organizing group and the leadership of a rapidly changing school district. Using civic capacity and community organizing theories, Ishimaru seeks to understand the role of parents, goals, strategies, and change processes that characterize a school …
Family-School Relationships Survey
Why Do Family-School Relationships Matter? Schools that effectively engage families find that their students earn higher grades, score higher on test, develop better social skills, and are more likely to graduate. How Can Schools Measure Family-School Relationships? By asking parents and guardians to provide feedback through surveys, schools and districts can gather actionable data and …
Joining Together to Create a Bold Vision for Next Generation Family Engagement
“This challenge paper starts with a brief overview of what we have learned over the past 50 years of family engagement research, practice, and policy, and a look at how this work has guided the challenge we have laid out. We go on to suggest key design principles and processes for building next generation family …
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Challenging Assumptions Reflection Tool
This tool is to spark a conversation about how our assumptions can influence our actions. Use it to examine ways in which we can question ourselves or others when biased or negative beliefs about families emerge.
Youth.GOV Collaboration Profiles
Collaboration Profiles Collaborating with others can help you implement programs or services that are beyond your current reach. Once you articulate the goals you are focusing on, you may be surprised to realize who could be a potential partner in your efforts.
Systems Change and Parent Power
“Systems Change is Education Philanthropy’s Only Exit Strategy: And Parent Power is What Will Change Systems” – Alex Cortez, New Profit Philanthropy will never transform education systems until it transforms its own relationships with parents and communities, and then supports them in exercising their innate power to change policies, practices and resource flows in education. …
Dismantling Adultism Toolkit: How to Build & Maintain a Youth-Centered Organization
This toolkit was designed by youth leaders in New Orleans, LA, to present actionable strategies for organizations to elevate youth voices. The toolkit includes an organizational assessment tool, scorecard, and action template for organizations and districts to understand their own progress toward elevating youth voices and make a plan to improve.
Parent COVID-19 Communication Log
A simple way to ensure that school staff collect vital information on family/student well-being during check-ins and identify those who need additional support (AMLE’s COVID-19 Resource Center).
Ongoing Communication Reflection Tool
A simple Excel document that helps educators reflect on their efforts to build trusting relationships and meaningful partnerships with families through ongoing communication.