Objective
To explore professional learning opportunities that will support family and community involvement to sustain a culturally responsive environment for all learners.
The estimated time for this activity is 30–40 minutes.
Explore this Website
The Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Framework from NYSED works to help educators create student-centered learning environments that:
- affirm racial, linguistic, and cultural identities;
- prepare students for rigor and independent learning;
- develop students’ abilities to connect across lines of differences;
- elevate historically marginalized voices; and
- empower students as agents of social change.
In accordance with the Framework, educators must “develop or sustain the mindset that having high expectations means caring about more than just a grade, but also personal growth and character development.” Family and community engagement that considers the above bullets can foster this growth for learners and educators.
A study by the U.S. Department of Education found “that when teachers were active in outreach to families, students’ reading and math scores improved at a 50 percent faster rate in reading and a 40 percent faster rate for math.”
( U.S. Department of Education, Office of the Deputy Secretary, Planning and Evaluation Service, The Longitudinal Evaluation of School Change and Performance in Title I Schools, Volume 1: Executive Summary, Washington, D.C., 2001. https://www2.ed.gov/offices/OUS/PES/esed/lescp_vol1.pdf)
Read the article “What the Research Says About the Best Ways to Engage Parents” and reflect on the “Stop & Think” questions below before brainstorming your own opportunities for parent and community engagement.
Stop & Think
(Key: T — Teachers, SL — School Leaders, DL — District Leaders)
- How do you currently connect with parents and families? (T, SL)
- In general, are your connections proactive (to provide support or information) or reactive (as a consequence of behavior or academic need)? (T, SL)
- How will increased family and community engagement help you grow as an educator? (T, SL)
- How will increased family and community engagement support your learners? (T, SL)
- How can technology be leveraged to support scheduling conflicts, time constraints, or other challenges that could have kept families from attending school functions/events in the past? (T, SL, DL)
- What challenges must be considered to ensure effective and equitable family engagement? (T, SL, DL)
- What teacher training and professional learning opportunities can you provide to increase the quality and quantity of school-to-home connections? (SL, DL)
- How can leadership and administration support teacher and school strategies for equitable family engagement? (SL, DL)
Take Action
Individually or with your grade-level or content-area team, consider an opportunity for family and community engagement.
Using the examples below (from the State Support Network, 2018), determine an event or practice that could be implemented in your learning community. Reflect on the remote considerations and other modifications below each example.
Federal Way Public Schools
Federal Way Public Schools in Washington offer “Learning Partnership Guides in eight different languages and for all grade levels, outlining key milestones and goals for students as well as major events throughout the school year (e.g., back-to-school night, report cards, state testing). These guides also include resources and instructions on how to communicate with school staff about needs, questions, or concerns.”
- What information would you want to include in a similar guide for your classroom/school/district?
- In what languages would you need to make a similar guide available?
- How can your guide be shared digitally and made accessible to all families and interested community members?
- Are there digital platforms currently available to support communication with school staff about needs, questions, or concerns?
Gwinnett County Public Schools
Gwinnett County Public Schools in Georgia offer “professional learning and changed instructional processes to help teachers be more responsive to the learning needs of the growing number of Latino families in the community. Specifically, the district provided extensive professional learning in cultural competency and instruction for English learners (ELs), established common planning time with EL-trained teachers, and engaged local experts to help refine instruction and family engagement practices to be more successful with the diverse community.”
- What virtual learning opportunities are available for your teachers and staff?
- Are there virtual opportunities to develop positive relationships with and between students and staff, outside of class video conferencing?
- Do you currently leverage technology to communicate with students and families that speak a language other than English?
Federal Way Public Schools
Federal Way Public Schools in Washington have “family liaison staff at each of the district’s 23 elementary schools who focus specifically on immigrant and refugee family engagement. These staff track the number and type of contact points with families and gather feedback from parents, students, and school staff. Family liaison staff also include these data points in their own performance evaluations.”
- In what ways do you contact families?
- Are digital surveys or other digital platforms available to encourage families to contact school staff?
Washoe County School District
Washoe County School District in Nevada “uses clear and direct signage, including welcome signs in multiple languages within all school buildings to help families feel welcome and to reduce confusion. The district also has clear protocols for family member interactions, including universal check-in and visitor ID policies, front office staff who are fluent in family members’ preferred languages, and friendly and professional phone conversation protocols. All schools offer spaces (e.g., bulletin boards, resource rooms) with key information on school policies and procedures for families, including computer access. The district also has a Council on Family Engagement, which hosts school walkthroughs in which volunteers (including family members) assess how “family friendly” the school environment is. Volunteers conduct these walkthroughs annually and gather evidence using a rubric, sharing feedback with schools to inform improvement efforts.”
- What digital spaces are available for families and community members to engage with or visit?
- Are digital spaces welcome and inclusive of all races, identities, languages, and cultures of students and families in your school?
- How could you organize a digital walkthrough for parents, families, and community members to attend a variety of classrooms using video conferencing?
Green Dot Public Schools
Green Dot Public Schools in California offer “a Parent Academy, which is designed to teach families specific strategies for supporting their children’s education over time. The Parent Academy includes sessions focused on school and family communication, support for learning at home, and postsecondary readiness and transition.”
- How could you host a “parent academy” or family class over video?
- Consider how you can leverage video to support language-specific breakout rooms or small groups.
- Consider how you can leverage video to support a variety of time and date options for educators and families.
The District of Columbia Public Schools
The District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) use “an Academic Parent–Teacher Teams model, which includes both individual family conferences as well as group conferences with family members of all students in the class. Group conferences take place three times a year for 30 minutes and focus on broad expectations and learning goals for all students. These group conferences allow family members to network, build relationships, and share information with each other; likewise, these group conferences promote better transparency and communication between school staff and families.”
- Could a similar structure be implemented in your learning environment or across your school/district?
- How could you schedule group conferences over video to maximize parent and family engagement, considering scheduling conflicts, time constraints, and other challenges (such as child care)?
The District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) also conduct “home visits to help school staff listen to the perspectives of, and establish positive rapport with, families. These visits are not assessments of families; rather, they focus on building school staff’s understanding by asking families to share expectations and goals for their child, the child’s learning strengths and challenges, and other key insights. School staff set goals for the number of home visits to be completed by various points in the school year (e.g., by the end of the first quarter), typically working to visit the homes of all students at least once over the school year.”
- Given the current COVID regulations, how could you conduct a video visit that establishes the same rapport as an in-person visit?
What other opportunities and/or potential challenges should be considered for your class, school, and district? Set a goal for yourself, your department, or your school to provide effective and equitable family engagement opportunities that promote academic achievement, personal growth, and character development for all learners. Then, set “check-in” dates and determine accountability partners to ensure the efficacy of your goal. Accountability partners may provide professional support, training, or other resources, or they may simply hold you accountable to your short- and long-term goals.