Lessons learned from implementing i3 family engagement initiatives reveal the critical elements of successful, sustainable, and scalable family engagement programs.
Bringing Transformative Family Engagement to Scale: Implementation Lessons from Federal i3 Grants
2016, NO.44
What lessons can we learn from i3 grants about how to build the right conditions for family engagement initiatives to flourish? The authors in this issue – program directors and coordinators, district administrators, evaluators, and youth leaders, representing rural and urban communities across the country – draw on their own experiences to reveal the critical elements of successful, sustainable, and scalable family engagement programs.
Successful implementation of family engagement programs requires buy-in, leadership, and collaboration at all levels – from the superintendent to parents.
Parent engagement coordinators provide the foundation for family engagement by modeling shared leadership, facilitating trust, and creating space to build partnerships with parents and schools.
School principals can play a key role in family engagement by believing in the leadership capacity of parents and viewing families as partners in their school community.
Comunitario projects in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley offer a community-based alternative to the traditional PTA model, fostering the participation and collective leadership of youth.
Strategies for Scaling Up: Promoting Parent Involvement through Family-School-Community Partnerships
Flexibility, creativity, and collaboration are required to successfully meet the needs of each school when scaling up family engagement programs across a diverse range of communities.
Parent focus groups reveal insights about the communication, collaboration, and community buy-in needed for successful family engagement in an under-resourced urban district.