Family and Community Engagement
To ensure students’ success, learning should be well-supported both within and outside of school. In this domain, teachers assess the relationships they have built with students’ families and the systems in place to keep families involved in students’ education.
Recommendations
Based on our extensive experience, TNTP recommends the following as evidence-based practices for this domain:
- Create a Shared Vision: Communities and school systems must first work closely together to shape a common vision for student success and make sure that everyone—from teachers to parents to community leaders—have a role to play in that vision.
- Build Intentional Culture and Diversity: To build trust—especially in communities that have experienced divestment—schools must address implicit and explicit bias, understand the unique context and assets of specific communities, and encourage the sharing of diverse perspectives.
- Foster Authentic Collaboration: Families and community organizations are critical to student success. Schools need to share data and resources that can help families and community organizations better support student learning outside of school.
- Practice 360-Degree Communication: Sharing information regularly and transparently is critical, but it’s not enough. Schools must create meaningful opportunities for all voices to be heard, and families and communities need to know the role their feedback played in decision-making.
Resources
Browse Resources by Audience
Teachers
Resources for Teachers
Caregiver Engagement Meeting Guide: Use this guide to facilitate meetings that empower and engage caregivers
Walking Together: A Practical Guide for Strengthening Partnerships Between Schools, Families, and Communities: An introduction to the Pillars of Community Engagement with case studies and guides for districts, schools, and families
Engaging Families and Community Partners in Decision-Making: An outline of five key steps for engaging families, caregivers, and community organizations
Opportunity Makers Toolkit: Resources to apply trajectory-changing practices in your school and community. This toolkit offers a suite of resources designed to help school and community stakeholders act on the recommendations from The Opportunity Makers: How a Diverse Group of Public Schools Helps Students Catch Up—and How Far More Can
Street Data: a Next-Generation Model for Equity, Pedagogy, and School Transformation by Shane Safir and Jamila Dugan: Addresses educational inequities by shifting from quantitative “satellite” data to qualitattive, experiential “street data”, focusing student voice, radical inclusion , and an equity transformation cycle that prioritizes the lived experiences of marginalized students
School Leadership
Resources for School Leadership
Community Engagement Self-Assessment: This guide helps school and system leaders assess and reflect on the quality of their family and community engagement practices
Community Conversation Planning Guide: This planning guide helps to build a strategy to gather nuanced, insightful data from community conversations
Caregiver Engagement Meeting Guide: Use this guide to facilitate meetings that empower and engage caregivers
Walking Together: A Practical Guide for Strengthening Partnerships Between Schools, Families, and Communities: An introduction to the Pillars of Community Engagement with case studies and guides for districts, schools, and families
Engaging Families and Community Partners in Decision-Making: An outline of five key steps for engaging families, caregivers, and community organizations
Opportunity Makers Toolkit: Resources to apply trajectory-changing practices in your school and community. This toolkit offers a suite of resources designed to help school and community stakeholders act on the recommendations from The Opportunity Makers: How a Diverse Group of Public Schools Helps Students Catch Up—and How Far More Can
Street Data: a Next-Generation Model for Equity, Pedagogy, and School Transformation by Shane Safir and Jamila Dugan: Addresses educational inequities by shifting from quantitative “satellite” data to qualitattive, experiential “street data”, focusing student voice, radical inclusion , and an equity transformation cycle that prioritizes the lived experiences of marginalized students.
Central Teams
Resources for Central Teams
Walking Together: A Practical Guide for Strengthening Partnerships Between Schools, Families, and Communities: An introduction to the Pillars of Community Engagement with case studies and guides for districts, schools, and families
Family / Caregiver
Resources for Family / Caregivers
Community Engagement Self-Assessment: This guide helps school and system leaders assess and reflect on the quality of their family and community engagement practices
Community Conversation Planning Guide: This planning guide helps to build a strategy to gather nuanced, insightful data from community conversations
Caregiver Engagement Meeting Guide: Use this guide to facilitate meetings that empower and engage caregivers
Walking Together: A Practical Guide for Strengthening Partnerships Between Schools, Families, and Communities: An introduction to the Pillars of Community Engagement with case studies and guides for districts, schools, and families
Engaging Families and Community Partners in Decision-Making: An outline of five key steps for engaging families, caregivers, and community organizations
Students
Resources for Students
Caregiver Engagement Meeting Guide: Use this guide to facilitate meetings that empower and engage caregivers
Opportunity Makers Toolkit: Resources to apply trajectory-changing practices in your school and community. This toolkit offers a suite of resources designed to help school and community stakeholders act on the recommendations from The Opportunity Makers: How a Diverse Group of Public Schools Helps Students Catch Up—and How Far More Can
Street Data: a Next-Generation Model for Equity, Pedagogy, and School Transformation by Shane Safir and Jamila Dugan: Addresses educational inequities by shifting from quantitative “satellite” data to qualitattive, experiential “street data”, focusing student voice, radical inclusion , and an equity transformation cycle that prioritizes the lived experiences of marginalized students.