Parent Engagement

A Comparison of Program Development at Elementary, Middle, and High Schools in the National Network of Partnership Schools
Based on survey data collected from 375 elementary, middle, and high schools in the National Network of Partnership Schools, this paper identifies differences and similarities in the development and quality of schools’ programs of school, family, and community partnership.
Authors: Mavis Sanders and Beth Simon
Publisher: School Community Journal

Building Relationships Bridging Cultures Cultural Brokering in Family Engagement
This research brief is a comparative case study that describes how individuals who act as bridges between families and schools can utilize three promising strategies to engage families: parent capacity building, culturally specific relationship building, and systemic capacity building.
Publication Date: 2015
Publisher: University of Washington

Embracing a New Normal: Toward a More Liberatory Approach to Family Engagement
This report explores the dynamics and barriers that stand in the way of effective family-school partnerships and outlines how to reach a more liberatory, solidarity-driven, and equity-focused family engagement practice that supports educational excellence for all children.
Authors: Karen L. Mapp and Eyal Bergman
Publication Date: June 2021
Publisher: Carnegie Corporation of New York

Epstein’s Model of Parental Involvement: Parent Perceptions in Urban Schools
This study determined if there was a statistically significant difference in parents’ perceptions of frequency and effectiveness regarding parental involvement among various demographic groups of ethnicity, education level, socio-economic status, and number of children in the home based on Epstein’s six typologies of parental involvement.
Authors: Nicole Newman, Alesha Northcutt, Aarek Farmer, and Bryan Black
Publication Date: September 2019
Publisher: Language Teaching and Educational Research

Family Engagement: Collaborating with Families of Students with Disabilities
This module addresses the importance of engaging the families of students with disabilities in their child’s education. It highlights some of the key factors that affect these families and outlines some practical ways to build relationships and create opportunities for involvement.
Publication Date: 2022
Publisher: IRIS Center Vanderbilt University

Family Engagement in Schools: Parent, Educator, and Community Perspectives
This study explored parent, educator, and community member perspectives of family engagement, preschool through grade 12. Several themes emerged through focus groups, including the importance of relationships, inclusive opportunities, communication, parent education, and family activities.
Authors: Noel Kelty and Tomoko Wakabayashi
Publication Date: October-December 2020
Publisher: SAGE Open

Harnessing Parent Teacher Collaboration
To provide the most enriching environment for their student to excel, parents need the resources and confidence to contribute to their child’s education. This article explains how educators can cultivate that confidence by including their students’ families in conversations and events that affect a student’s in-school life and direct families toward tools that can assist their student in realizing their goals.
Publication Date: July 2021
Publisher: Western Governors University

How Family Engagement Leads to Student Success
Encouraging parent engagement is one of the best ways to create a positive learning environment for every student. To create a community built on parent-teacher relationships in your school, this article explains what parent engagement is and how to nurture it.
Publication Date: November 2018
Publisher: Waterford.org

Identifying Barriers: Creating Solutions to Improve Family Engagement
This paper addresses reframing notions of parent involvement or being present in the school building and parent engagement or viewing multiple constructions of how parents are involved. It highlights the knowledge gained from data collected from a series of family and staff focus groups regarding parent and staff perceptions of barriers to family involvement and from families’ suggestions as to what could be done differently to increase engagement.
Authors: Timberly Baker, Jillian Wise, Gwendolyn Kelley, and Russell Skiba
Publication Date: 2016
Publisher: School Community Journal

Raising Special Kids Help and Hope for Families
Raising Special Kids exists to improve the lives of children with the full range of disabilities, from birth to age 26, by providing support, training, information, and individual assistance so families can become effective advocates for their children.
Publication Date: 2022
Publisher: Raising Special Kids

Two Principals Provide Perspectives on Critical Issues
Parent engagement tends to decrease as students move from elementary to middle level and high school. Two high school principals offer strategies to welcome parents, lay the foundation for positive relationships, strengthen community, and increase parent engagement.
Authors: Christine Handy and Traci Townsend
Publication Date: May 2019
Publisher: Principal Leadership

User’s Guide for Road Map Family Engagement Survey
This survey provides actionable data to schools, districts, and community-based organizations to inform and improve their efforts to build equitable collaboration between families, communities, and schools. It provides a description of each phase of data inquiry with examples and lessons learned from a pilot study.
Publication Date: 2015
Publisher: University of Washington