Opening Doors How Home Visits Can Strengthen School-Family Relationships in the Upper-Grades 1647 Boston, MA

Who We Are 1647 is reimagining family engagement as a partnership between families and schools that is essential to student success. We are based in Boston, and partner with schools throughout Massachusetts.

Shall We Dance? “What is a film/book/television show that you’re really excited about right now?” “When you were young, who was your hero?” “What did you like most about middle school or high school?”

You Will Walk Away With: Data and stories that support the impact of relationship-building in the upper grades Models for how to implement home visits in middle school and high school

The Myths of Family Engagement in Middle School and High School Families are tired by middle school and just want teachers to teach their kids. Students need to be independent, so families shouldn’t be overly engaged and teachers shouldn’t call home. Families can’t support their students academically in upper grades or with their college planning. Others?

Family Engagement in Secondary Schools Matters Jacquie Sanders, M., Epstein, J., & Connors-Tadros, L. (1999). Family Partnerships with High Schools: The Parents’ Perspective. Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed At Risk, 32.

Change in Parental Roles Elementary: Parent as Teacher Secondary: Parent as Coach

Support Student Success Five Roles that Support Student Success Communicate high expectations Monitor the child’s performance Support learning Guide the child’s education Advocate for the child

School Structure Changes Grade-level team meetings Advisory

The Power of Family Engagement – stories from our schools Nobody cares what you know, until they know that you care!

Core Practices of Home Visits Home visits are for relationship building Visits are for everyone! Visits are voluntary Visits are scheduled in advance Staff go in pairs and are compensated or incentivized for their time Staff reflect upon their assumptions going into visits and what they have learned after visits

Logistics of Home Visits in Upper Grades Creation of a Family Engagement Leadership Team (FELT) on campus to lead colleagues in this work. Scheduled home visits through advisory. Advisory teachers conduct and lead visits for students on their advisory roster and attend with another teacher from the grade level team. Provide tools to support teachers in coordinating schedules.

Logistics of Home Visits in Upper Grades Communicate home visits to students and get them invested. Student attends the home visit and may even generate some of the questions. Share learning from home visit with other teachers who instruct the student.

Creating Proof Points with a Coalition of the Willing Get school leader & union buy-in Invite staff to home visit training (provide coverage!) Identify leadership team across small schools or grade levels Pair participating teachers for scheduling & support Offer Professional Learning Community to connect with other teachers at other schools Provide new trainings each year to expand the work

After the Visit: Then What? Use what was learned on the home visit to meet the unique needs of students and families Invests students Lesson planning Future communication to family Brings families into schools Maintain the relationship through consistent communication

Questions on Your Mind

Keep in Touch! Elizabeth Canada, Director of Coaching, 1647 Elizabeth.canada@1647families.org www.1647families.org Heather Fabiano, Special Education Teacher, High School Learning Center in Lawrence, MA Heather.fabiano@lawrence.k12.ma.us