This report explores the role of districts in promoting family involvement. The report looked at six districts that are working to build the core components of systemic family engagement by fostering district-wide strategies, building school capacity, and reaching out to families directly. The report includes a description of the practices used by each district to build these core components, as well as lessons learned. The authors found that these successful districts employed five best practices: a shared vision, purposeful connections to learning, investment in programming and staff, robust communication systems, and evaluation. The brief also includes recommendations for federal, state, and local policies to support family engagement.
Source Organization: Harvard Family Research Project and Parent Teacher Association