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Based on these findings, CAP believes that policymakers should take a community-informed approach to updating parent engagement plans by soliciting parent input and comparing results across different groups of families—for example, by race and ethnicity or by the primary language spoken at home. In addition, parents prioritize types of information differently and value different types of communication methods. Moreover, the authors did not consult district staff, parents, or schools within any of the districts to verify if the districts were implementing the policies indicated or had implemented additional activities or to evaluate the effectiveness of the policies. Teachers and families are often the center of school-parent communication, but federal policymakers and federally funded education programs often play a significant role in facilitating effective family communication and engagement.
Still, parents continue to rate report cards as the most important tool for understanding student achievement, while teachers rate them third-most important behind regular communication between parents and teachers and graded work. org/article/even-as-new-polls-show-both-teachers-and-parents-demanding-better-data-about-their-students-only-17-of-educators-say-theyve-received-data-training-in-prep-programs/. Policymakers at the federal, state, and district levels need to continue to focus on increasing parent engagement, using communication tools as a lever. Turban, Beckwith, Reisner, and Keuroghlian ( 2020) published a study in which they set out to examine the effects of gender identity conversion on the mental health of transgender-identifying individuals.School volunteer rates, for example, are approximately twice as high among parents with a graduate degree as they are for parents who do not have a high school diploma. The School District of Philadelphia, “District-wide Parent and Family Engagement Policy,” available at https://webapps1. Williams’ words suggest that robust communication should occur with families even before there is academic progress to share. States should provide technical assistance to help school districts develop engagement plans to meet the needs of their population.
As SDP’s plan acknowledges—and as CAP’s survey results confirm—not all forms of communication work for all families, so offering multiple points of entry is crucial to ensuring that parents both know of and engage with the information they receive from their child’s school. org/article/whether-through-texts-or-apps-schools-are-using-technology-to-get-the-message-out-to-students-families/.
The authors found that although the plans varied in detail, all of them covered the federal requirements for parent engagement and, as a result, had similar underlying strategies. Learn about our sister organization, the Center for American Progress Action Fund , an advocacy organization dedicated to improving the lives of all Americans.
The idiom one-size-fits-all describes an item, situation, or policy designed to accommodate a large amount of people. Bensalem Township School District, “Title I: Parent and Family Engagement Policy,” available at https://www.States and school districts should leverage this money and help develop systems, platforms, or expectations; advise on strategy and provide adequate funding to improve parent communication; and foster greater parent engagement. Bensalem Township School District in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, for instance, requires that the annual evaluation of parent engagement activities examines differences across all racial and ethnic subgroups and articulates the unique barriers faced by different families, such as limited literacy, economic disadvantage, or limited English proficiency. Break down organizational goals into specific behaviors that demonstrate what “great” looks like for each group. Schools may not have the resources or expertise to explore, select, and customize tools, so LEAs should consider working with technology advisers. Premium Digital includes access to our premier business column, Lex, as well as 15 curated newsletters covering key business themes with original, in-depth reporting.
Parent perceptions about how much communication they receive may predict the extent of their engagement.
The Data Quality Campaign found that parents are especially interested in information about how their child’s school educates students from similar demographic backgrounds. The survey then presented national proficiency data showing that many students fail to meet proficiency standards in reading and math, which caused the number of parents reporting that their child may not be meeting proficiency standards to rise to 25 percent.
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