“We call our report Unlocking the ‘How’ because we keep hearing from schools and systems across the country that the pandemic has elevated the awareness of need for family engagement, but a lot of folks are asking for the best strategies for how to do that work.”

This was author Eyal Bergman’s introduction of Learning Heroes’ new report, Unlocking the “How”: Designing Family Engagement Strategies That Lead to School Success, which was released in early April and was the basis of the April 5 GLR Learning Tuesdays session, “Centering Equity in Home-School Relationships: Lessons From Research and Innovative Districts.”

The recommendations in Unlocking the “How” are based on three primary sources:

1. Six years of Learning Heroes surveys with parents, teachers and principals on the nature of family engagement.
2. The Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships (Version 2), which synthesizes the research on what works in family engagement.
3. And a recent report by Dr. Karen Mapp and Dr. Bergman, called Embracing a New Normal: Toward a More Liberatory Approach to Family Engagement, which takes stock of this era of dual pandemics and offers high-level policy recommendations for K–12 leaders.

Through specific examples from schools and districts across the country, the report brings to life the three pillars of effective family engagement strategies: 1) place trust and teamwork at the center of the home-school relationship; 2) anchor family engagement strategies in student learning; and 3) invest in building systems and structures that enable this work.

In the webinar, Dr. Bergman was joined by Dr. Sonja Santelises, CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools, and Dr. Lori James-Gross, Superintendent of Unity Point Consolidated School District 140 in rural southern Illinois. Though vastly different, both districts believe the schools that focused on family engagement pre-pandemic were better prepared to endure the impact of the pandemic. Dr. Santelises discussed how BCPS has led the way in elevating family engagement as an equity imperative and gave the example of one school in particular where trust and teamwork with families was prioritized. She also highlighted a new BCPS board policy on family engagement and the development of student learning plans co-designed by teachers, parents and students. Dr. James-Gross spoke about individual student success planning, where every student, their teacher and family meet to build a relationship, set goals and determine needs based on a holistic view of the child.

The webinar concluded with Kelsey Nelson, senior manager of external relations at Learning Heroes, highlighting several creative assets that highlight Learning Heroes research and effective family engagement in action, including social media toolkits with video clips and more. “For our research, we partner with a lot of national organizations such as National PTA, National Urban League, UnidosUS and Univision, and also work with community partners on the ground telling their stories and bringing the research to life as to why a strong family engagement practice is so important.”