Supporting Family and Community Engagement in Schools

Fifty years of research shows that family and community engagement (FACE), a collaborative approach, “is foundational for child development, student achievement, school improvement, and family and community wellbeing”. Family engagement can have a strong impact on teacher attitudes and morale, while families feel valued, heard, supported, and honored. However, despite compelling evidence, many FACE efforts are an afterthought when approaching school improvement plans.

Given that one in five public school students attend a rural school, FACE in rural communities is critical for student success and positive student outcomes. But what does high-impact family and community engagement look like in action? 

Case Study: Partnering with Greene County Schools

To illustrate successful family and community engagement strategies, this blog looks at RTI’s partnership with Greene County Schools (GSC), a small, rural school district in eastern North Carolina with seven schools and approximately 3,000 students.

Because GSC is a tight-knit community that has always valued community connections, its leadership decided to get input from the community before creating the FACE arm of its strategic plan.

One of the things RTI has helped us realize is that we can’t continue to apply old solutions to new problems. So, we’re coming up with new and creative and innovative ways for us as a small district to tackle these new issues that we’re facing. - Dr. Rodney McNeill, Executive Director of Human Capital, Greene County Schools

Engaging the Community around FACE

Through the Rethink Education grant, RTI partnered with GCS to formally facilitate in-person “Community Conversations” with family and community members about its new strategic plan. More than 60 participants, including families, local politicians, business owners, faith leaders, and GCS teachers and administrators, came together. 

A community workshop generated authentic, collaborative conversations about how partnerships within the Greene County community and with GCS could impact the success of students. 

This well-attended and active conversation was the result of several preceding efforts, including district-wide professional learning and intentional community outreach. During the community workshop, participants in small groups were asked a series of questions that focused on key elements of the partnership to provide feedback to the district: why it matters, how to do it, and desired outcomes. Here’s what we heard from the participants: 

1. Why does partnership matter? Although their approaches ranged from providing role models to students to supporting teachers, every answer pointed back to the reason for the conversation: because the interested parties all have the “same goal, to support students in becoming productive, competitive, and prepared for life after graduation, to achieve their full potential.” Additionally, participants were asked to describe the qualities of a strong community partner. The outstanding qualities were partners that were communicative, open to collaboration, and dedicated to being trusting and understanding of each other.
2. How do we partner? Although it is crucial to know the why behind the work, it is also important to make decisions on how to do the work. Participants were asked how they envisioned the community and GCS partnering with one another. Responses included concrete examples such as continuing the work of building out a volunteer program that meets real needs and is easy to access, linking students to community partners that can help them with opportunities to build their real-world experience, and developing structures to create strong lines of two-way communication to support the ongoing work.
3. What are the desired outcomes of our partnership? Ultimately, the conversation concluded with a discussion around outcomes. An effective partnership is one that has shared goals. Though different supports will be provided by different partners, ensuring everyone is working toward common goals assists in progressing along a shared path.

Professional Learning on Family and Community Engagement in Schools

Ensuring that staff are ready to engage with families is a crucial step for increasing family and community engagement. In fact, family engagement research states that the responsibility for initiating engagement lies with the school, primarily the school leaders.

However, there is often little if any instruction about family engagement offered to pre-service teachers during their teacher preparation program, whether through a traditional or alternative route. For this reason, RTI held focus groups to gather data on the state of GSC teachers' and administrators' knowledge and beliefs of FACE. This data collection ensured the professional learning we offered to GSC was customized and met their specific needs.

During the professional learning with administrators, there was an intentional focus on language that they could use to convey their expectations to teachers. With beginning teachers, multiple professional learning sessions were focused on effective communication strategies, understanding how to learn about family backgrounds through relationship building, knowing how to hold authentic academic conversations with families, and learning how to re-engage families that had become disconnected for a variety of reasons.

Taking Steps Toward Meaningful Family and Community Engagement in Schools

Given that rural communities are home to a majority of students in the United States, it’s crucial that researchers, policy makers, and practitioners find ways to best support their education needs.

Family and community engagement in school districts is crucial for student success, but rural communities such as Greene County Schools require unique approaches. At RTI, we craft our approach to meet our clients’ specific needs, depending on their location and demographic. With the help of our partnership, Greene County Schools developed a strategic plan rooted in the needs of the community, built the capacity of its administrators and beginning teachers, and took many steps toward meaningful engagement.  

Learn more about our family and community engagement research and see how you can put it into practice in your district. Download our free white paper to get started.

References:

• Coladarci, T. (2007, May 24). Improving the yield of rural education research: An editor’s swan song. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 22(3).
• Henderson, A., Mapp, K., Johnson, V., & Davies, D. (2007). Beyond the bake sale: The essential guide to family-school partnerships. The New Press.
• National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement (NAFSCE). (2022). Family engagement defined. https://nafsce.org/page/definition