1. High - Impact Family Engagement A core strategy for improving schools
Anne T. Henderson
National Association for Family, School and Community Engagement
Notes:
George’s introduction…

2. Agenda for the Discussion
What is High-Impact Family Engagement?
What does Good Look Like? Learn about new research and practice
How can SEAs promote and support higher impact FE policy and practice?

3. A New Wave of Evidence:
Family Engagement Has a Powerful Impact on Student Achievement
By Anne T. Henderson
and Karen L. Mapp 3

4. Overall Finding: When families are engaged at home and at school:
-- Children do better
in school and
-- Schools get better
all the way through high school.

5. If Parents are Engaged, Students from All Backgrounds Tend To:
Earn higher grades and test scores
Enroll in higher-level programs
Be promoted and earn credits
Adapt well to school and attend regularly
Have better social skills and behavior
Graduate and go on to higher education

6. School Practices are KEY
What are the strongest, most consistent predictors of whether parents are involved at home and school?
Specific school programs and teacher practices that encourage and guide parents to become involved.
Dr. Joyce Epstein
Johns Hopkins University

7. What Does Good Look Like?
Important new studies reveal high-impact strategies

8. Strong Ties to Families and Community
Long-term Chicago study: Schools with strong family and community ties were 4x more likely to make significant math and reading gains.
Teacher ties to community: Understand local issues, spend time in community, use local resources.
Teacher outreach to parents: Invite parents to observe in class, try to understand parents' concerns, and embrace parents as partners
Parents respond: Become involved in school activities and respond to teacher concerns about schoolwork.
Anthony S. Bryk et al, (2010) Organizing Schools for Improvement:
Lessons from Chicago (Chicago: University of Chicago Press)

9. Achievement for All / 3As
Program focus is raising achievement for UK students with special needs, ES-HS
Linchpin of program: Structured Conversations between teachers and parents
AFA students did 25% better than all UK students and 50% better than non-AFA special needs students.
Aspirations, access and achievement
Welcome families
Focus on Skills
Share Strategies
Establish new Learning Behaviors
Develop a plan

10. Impact of Teacher Outreach Strategies
Students’ reading and math scores improved 40-50% faster when teachers:
Met with families face-to-face
Sent materials on ways to help their child at home
Telephoned routinely about progress
Westat and Policy Studies Associates, 2001

11. Combine High-Impact Strategies
Build relationships
Share knowledge and goals for child
Explain class data
Focus on skills
Develop a plan
Share progress
Evaluate
Home Visits +
Link Family Engagement to Learning
Improved student performance

12. Keys to Powerful Partnerships
Linking to Learning
Addressing Differences
Equalizing Power
Building Relationships

13. What is Family Engagement?
Family engagement means that parents are seen as welcome partners in the education of children, and have a valued voice in the school.
As a result, families are active participants, and communication is flowing between home and school.
We believe that family engagement means mutual respect, honesty and trust.
(Connecticut parents, August 2017)

14. Discussion
What are your states doing now to promote family engagement?
What is needed to move toward higher impact policy and practice?

15. CCSSO on SEA Role Establish a universal vision for FE
Provide resources and supports to districts, schools, community organizations, and parents.
Model strong engagement processes to LEAs
Encourage FCE through CSI/TSI school improvement plan questions.
Limit barriers (e.g. cross-agency collaboration, legislation that supports engagement).
Collaborate with parent, family, and community organizations on trending issues.

16. How SEAs Promote Family Engagement
CCSSO Project: Co-Develop w families and practitioners an FE Framework that applies to all programs and management systems. 17 states.
State FE Directors Working Group, co-facilitated by NAFSCE and AIR/SEDL. A learning community of 30 members.
CT SEA: Project to revitalize School-Parent Compacts under Title I, largest source of FE$, w website, TA and PD. Project to co-define FE with families and practitioners, develop framework.

17. To learn more, go to: www.nafsce.org
NAFSCE: Join Us!
The National Association for Family, School and Community Engagement offers:
A website filled with information about the field
Opportunities to network
Communities of practice
Professional development
Advocacy for better policy and more resources
To learn more, go to:

18. Beyond the Bake Sale The Essential Guide to Family-School Partnerships
Anne T. Henderson, Karen L. Mapp, Vivian R. Johnson and Don Davies
The New Press, 2007

19. Resources
Website on re-doing School-Parent Compacts:
Partners in Education: Dual Capacity-Building Framework
CCSSO paper on FE:

20. Resources Parent Teacher Home Visit Project: www.pthvp.org
Academic Parent-Teacher Teams:
Beating the Odds college pathways assessment toolkit