Framework for Building Partnerships Among Schools, Families and Communities
Building Partnerships Among Schools, Families, and Communities
Future Forward Ohio, the state's strategic priorities for education, is driven by four guiding principles: We believe in our students, we believe the time is now, we believe in partnerships, and we believe in learning and adapting. A child's development is profoundly shaped by their relationships with families, educators, and peers across various settings. Because of this, the partnership between families and schools is critically important to K-12 success. Schools can consider the following resources to support lasting relationships with families and integrating family engagement plans into continuous improvement strategies.
A Multi-tiered approach to family engagement
Effective partnerships are adaptable, child- and family-centered, and emphasize collaboration between parents and teachers. Providing multi-tiered systems of support for our families helps to build and align those effective partnerships.
Approaching family engagement by employing a variety of strategies and approaches can help families and school staff feel supported. Family engagement is more than well attended events and 100% completion on surveys. “Family engagement initiatives proven to be effective are balanced, equitable, reciprocal, and open partnerships that allow educators and families to share expertise and seek feedback in a mutually trusting way.” Using a multi-tiered systems approach does not mean families are assigned to tiers but instead that schools are equipped to provide resources and supports for families needs at any stage of their journey.
Tier 1: Universal supports are school-wide supports that are accessible to all families such as surveys and family teacher conferences. The foundation of these supports are school climate and culture and two way communication. Supports should be provided through the various school culture and communication mediums that are necessary for academic and behavior support. Effective universal supports should meet the needs of at least 80% of families.
Tier 2: Tailored supports are opportunities to engage families with similar interests, families looking for deeper engagement, or families with barriers to engagement. Providing flexibility to families to attend conferences by offering home visits or phone conferences is an example of tailored support for a family that might have barriers preventing them from attending functions at the school. Directly soliciting the feedback of a group of parents who have not completed the school survey is another example of providing a tailored support.
Tier 3: Intensive supports are opportunities to provide additional supports and resources with individualized needs. Regularly supporting and communicating with families and students who have individualized needs is important. Knowing our families and supporting them in their needs establishes the groundwork for mutual trust and respect between families and school staff. Some examples of Tier 3 supports include coordinating check-ins with families of students receiving in or outside of school mental health supports. A Tier 3 support could also be providing space, time, resources and guidance for families to plan towards specific initiatives such as fund raising or family survey questions.
Federal law requires schools that receive Title I funding to submit a written family engagement plan as part of their One Plan. Plans are required to include an annual convening, explanation of requirements and rights of families involved, and a family and school compact. The plans may also address ways to involve families in continuous program improvement and address families suggestions as practicably as possible. Schools and districts may consider a plan that is designed to build consistent and effective communication between families and schools. They may also consider sharing information about the importance of family involvement and the direct connection to their children’s educational success. Creating schoolwide family engagement plans is a best practice that will guide and support school staff and personnel in executing their roles in effective family engagement strategies.
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Identify Family Engagement Needs. Effective engagement strategies may vary depending on the population with which a school is working. It is important to identify and understand the populations that are represented in the school community. For example, engagement strategies that prove to be effective in urban school districts might not have the same impact in rural school districts. Additionally, a school might find they have specific considerations for engaging various groups of families such as t multilingual learners, students experiencing homelessness, or students from military families. Analyze the district’s family engagement data to identify the community needs. Family engagement data can include more than just family attendance at events; consider using tools like surveys or focus groups to collect information about family engagement strengths and areas of growth.
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Prioritize Needs and Choose Goals. Rank needs as identified in the district’s family engagement data and choose priorities to address that span different areas. Ensure that your list includes needs that address a variety of issues such as student performance, school climate, and communication. Issues that are generally identified during the school improvement planning process should be represented in the family engagement planning process.
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Define strategies and action steps. Consider embracing a multitiered approach to family engagement. For each tier, the sample questions below can guide the development of resources and supports needed in the school community.
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Universal Tier: Does your plan have universal supports that are linked to whole child tenets?
Universal supports are school wide program supports that are accessible to all families such as family surveys and parent teacher conferences.
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Tailored Tier: Does your plan include programs and strategies for family with similar interests and needs for additional and deeper support or engagement?
Tailored supports include phone calls with people who did not complete surveys or alternative options for meetings.
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Intensive Tier: Does your plan include strategies and resources to support and assist families with more individualized needs?
Intensive supports include check-ins for school and family of a student receiving ongoing mental health support services or family led planning groups to provide in depth feedback on school surveys.
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Provide opportunities for families and community stakeholders to give feedback and suggestions. Once you have a plan that addresses your student population and covers each tier of support, it is valuable to ask for feedback from a variety of stakeholders that are included in your school-family partnerships. Convening meetings with families, community partners, and district partners to review the plan and provide feedback is helpful as a data collection and monitoring tool throughout the school year. The questions below can support these groups in reviewing the plan.
Once a plan is solidified, put it to good use by partnering with families on addressing specific issues within the community. There are a number of topics that families and local stakeholders can share input on and play a role in developing further resources and supports to address these topics. Consider including families and local stakeholders in conversations about attendance supports, student behavior policies, school climate and culture, student programming (summer, before and after school enrichment opportunities), school and community event planning, and academic initiatives (literacy, math, and career and workforce policy and practices).
Last Modified: 10/2/2024 4:30:55 PM