Family Engagement

I (Megan) recently had the honor of attending the annual Raise Your Hand Texas Leadership Symposium.  The mission of Raise Your Hand Texas is to advance public education by igniting fiercely innovative leadership and advocacy for our state's 5 million + students.  One of the ways RYHT accomplishes this is by sponsoring principals from across the state to attend one of the summer institutes at the Harvard Graduate School of Education Principals' Center.  There is a rigorous multi-stage process to be considered, but it is well worth it.  Get started on your process here: http://www.raiseyourhandtexas.org/programs/harvard/.  The learning doesn't stop once the summer institute is over.  Each year RYHT sponsors a Leadership Symposium to bring together all of the principals who have attended one of the Leadership Programs at Harvard University.

I cherish the precious friendships I have made with principals from across the state!

The theme of this year's symposium was Family Engagement.  I was inspired by Dr. Karen Mapp, Senior Lecturer on Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and author of Beyond the Bake Sale.

Dr. Mapp defined family engagement as the various ways that an adult caretaker at home, school, or in the community effectively support children's learning and growth. I instantly was taken with her, due to her use of the words "family" and "engagement" versus "parents" and "involvement." Many families are made up of moms and dads while others are made up of foster parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, etc.  How are we going to engage all of our families, making sure the communication is two way and not just one way?

The research is all there to support the importance of family engagement.  Students with engaged families:

• exhibit faster rates of literacy acquisition.
• earn higher grades and test scores.
• enroll in higher level programs.
• are promoted more and earn more credits.
• adapt better to school and attend more regularly.
• have better social skills and behavior.
• graduate and go on to higher education.

Family engagement is the strongest strategy in terms of classroom management.  When teachers and families see each other as partners, there is a positive effect on the student.

What should family engagement activities look like?

• Families should leave knowing more about what their child should know and be able to do (the learning goals) at that grade/age level.
• Families should leave knowing how to employ a new tool or activity at home to support that learning goal(s) and leave with the materials to accomplish this at home.
• We need to tell our families (PreK-12) how much they are needed.  They are their child's first teacher.

This discussion caused me to reflect on our family engagement activities and consider how we can repurpose our activities/initiatives to make them more effective.  Some of the ideas below are things we currently do to engage parents, and some are things I would like to start doing.  Perhaps there is something here for you.  We would love to hear your ideas in the comments below!

• Brand your school through social media and storytelling. Have a common hashtag that all staff, parents, and students use.  For example, ours is #mustangsmatter.  Teachers use it to show the great things that are happening in their classroom, our leadership team shares great things happening on campus, and we are making an effort to get parents and students using it as well.
• Send a weekly/bi-weekly newsletter home to families painting a picture of what is happening on campus.  Include celebrations, ways they can help, challenges you can address together, important dates, etc.  Coaches, sponsors, and teachers can help you by sharing stories and accolades from their teams and organizations.  I even have parents send in information, which just thrills me!  Our counselors, librarian and PTA also contribute to make it a meaningful newsletter.
• Invite families to complete surveys about topics you would like to seek feedback on.  This gives you a feel for the pulse of your school community as well as what they value. To get the highest response rate, keep the survey short by just including 2-3 questions if possible. Also, offer multiple ways for the survey to be completed to get the most response. For example, you can send out a link in your newsletter, create a QR code that is accessible at the front desk as parents are checking out or dropping off their children, or even distribute short surveys in the car line during dismissal and have a way for those to be collected immediately.  

Family engagement is a crucial piece of an effective school.  I left this leadership symposium inspired and challenged to find ways to engage our families, because our #mustangsmatter!