Strategies for Equitable Family Engagement: Making a Commitment to Equitable Family Engagement
Equity work is hard and will take sustained and conscious effort to disrupt a system that has for too long left many of our students behind. Only by recognizing the problem and working toward reaching our ideals of a quality education for all students will we be able to say the school house is for all of our children and not just the few.
– Antoine Germany
INTRO
By making a clear and transparent commitment to equitable family engagement in both public communications and leadership activities, school and district leaders can encourage school staff and families to build and strengthen communication and engagement systems. School and district leaders may consider the following strategies for making a commitment to equitable family engagement.
OBJECTIVES
- Review the strategies for making a commitment to equitable family engagement
- Reflect on which areas your school already provides equitable family engagement and which need improvement
- Brainstorm an improvement plan for your commitment to equitable family engagement at your school
Making a Commitment to Equitable Family Engagement
Plan strategically over time.
Practicing equitable family engagement requires an intentional, long-term effort to change ingrained perceptions, beliefs, and regular practices of school staff. This is not an effort schools can undertake on their own; to be successful, school staff will need to work with families and the community to facilitate communication, trust, and changes in practice over time. Include equitable family engagement as a component of your school’s criteria for success. For example:
- Clearly articulating a vision for equitable family engagement
- Establishing family engagement standards and holding staff accountable for meeting these standards
- Supporting staff in developing new mindsets, skills, and practices related to equitable family engagement
- Examining and modifying policies, as appropriate, that affect family engagement
- Reallocating resources, as appropriate, for family engagement
- Monitoring progress and evaluating success in promoting equitable family engagement over time
Offer professional learning on cultural responsiveness for school staff.
For equitable family engagement to be the norm, school staff need to be aware of key concepts such as implicit bias and identity; likewise, school staff need to effectively use cognitive and emotional processes related to cultural responsiveness such as social-emotional skills. Through professional development, staff can develop knowledge and skills to effectively:
- Model and advocate for valuing diversity.
- Self-assess and demonstrate awareness of one’s own identity and culture within the broader school and community context.
- Promote culturally competent teaching and family engagement practices, including distinguishing between behavioral challenges and cultural differences.
- Promote and teach students communication and conflict resolution skills related to cultural differences.
- Understand and utilize appropriate and effective family engagement strategies.
TIPS
- This is one part of the complete Strategies for Equitable Family Engagement; there are 5 total areas—we recommended reviewing and working on these strategies within your leadership team—or better yet, a family and community engagement team. Once everyone understands the complete strategy, each area can be spearheaded by a different individual or smaller team.
- Strategies for Equitable Family Engagement: Making a Commitment to Equitable Family Engagement
- Strategies for Equitable Family Engagement: Making Equitable Family Engagement “Business as Usual”
- Strategies for Equitable Family Engagement: Building Relationships Between Staff and Families
- Strategies for Equitable Family Engagement: Meaningfully Involving and Engaging Families and Trusted Community Advocates
- Strategies for Equitable Family Engagement: Engaging Outside of the School Building
Responses