Parents Eager to Address Learning Loss: Lessons From the Field

Co-hosted by Family Engagement Lab and moderated by its Chief Impact Officer, Elisabeth O’Bryon, this session continued the previous week’s conversation focused on supporting parent success, adding the important dimension of authentic partnerships with parents as a key strategy for learning loss recovery and improved student outcomes over the long term. In her remarks, O’Bryon shared recent findings indicating how now, more than ever, parents are eager to stay in communication with their child’s teacher to learn how to best help their child with their social-emotional and academic skills.

Kicking off the discussion with introductory remarks, Ambika Kapur of Carnegie Corporation of New York reminded us of the importance of the home/school and parent/teacher connection as essential for student success, as affirmed by over 50 years of research. Kapur also set the context for the panel’s conversation with respect to the challenges of this past year as schools shut down and parents had to step in to assist their children with daily learning instruction while navigating the new world of distance learning. She shared the top two issues learned during the pandemic that districts will need to pay greater attention to: 1) helping parents and caregivers know how children are doing academically, and 2) ensuring stronger, ongoing communication.  

Elizabeth Chu of Columbia University Center for Public Research and Leadership shared key insights from speaking to 200 families, educators and community leaders over the pandemic summer. Families shared that they face information overload; are challenged with ensuring adequate supervision during remote learning; are concerned about their children’s screen time vs. opportunities to socialize; worry about their family’s mental and emotional health; and crave more consistent partnerships with their schools. Importantly, they are eager to continue to support their children’s learning.

Jessica Lawrence of Baltimore City Public Schools shared that “we view parents as essential to our work to educate Baltimore’s young people — we cannot do our work without our families.” During the pandemic, BCPS wanted to test its commitment to authentic parent partnerships and, as such, employed the Panorama Survey to hear from families. This survey will also help drive their work moving forward. They also launched “Operation Pulse Check,” virtual family listening tours to learn how families were doing and what they could do to improve communication and to support them. Both helped drive the District’s Recovery Supports initiative, which included partnerships with several organizations in the community — all in response to what families needed. A key partner was engaged to assist in helping the district understand what shared decision-making looks like — an effort to help chart the future for engaging and sharing power with families. 

Claudia Medina of Alameda Unified School District addressed the importance of responding to students’ and families’ concrete needs; identifying effective communication vehicles; and attending to the social-emotional needs of both children and their families. Removing power dynamics and barriers has been central to Alameda’s efforts in authentically engaging and partnering with families. Key to this effort were several strategies: creating affinity groups to hear from families who do not feel comfortable or are not able to attend board meetings; offering alternatives to conference calls or Zoom meetings, such as FASTalk, which reaches families via text in multiple languages; or utilizing social media instead of email. 

Vidya Sundaram of Family Engagement Lab described what schools should take into consideration as we move into the recovery phase of the pandemic and beyond. She emphasized that schools must continue the focus on families and commit to a shift to play a stronger role in supporting and equipping families to remain engaged in their children’s learning. This requires resources and tools that can support these efforts, such as FASTalk, which helps families support student learning. 

And finally, Helen Westmoreland of National PTA shared the recent findings from a recent national survey of parents and guardians of K–12 students (in partnership with the American Federation of Teachers), which strongly suggest that families want to be involved in problem-solving to ensure their children succeed. Westmoreland also cautioned that effective communications with families must go beyond one-time surveys. “We need to focus on ongoing efforts and invest in relationship building, being empathetic and understanding of families’ experiences.”