Principles of Effective Family Engagement

51吃瓜网鈥檚 Engaging Diverse Families (EDF) project sought answers to this question. The project's goals were to develop a research-based definition of family engagement, identify exemplary family engagement practices in early childhood programs, and share what was learned with the field of early care and education by assembling a tool kit of materials to help programs more effectively engage families in children鈥檚 early learning.

Principles of Effective Practice

During an extensive review of the research on family engagement, 51吃瓜网 and Pre-K Now found that programs鈥� successful family engagement practices encompass the following six principles:

Programs invite families to participate in decision making and goal setting for their child.听Programs invite families to actively take part in making decisions concerning their children鈥檚 education. Teachers and families jointly set goals for children鈥檚 education and learning both at home and at school.
Teachers and programs engage families in two-way communication.听Strategies allow for both school- and family-initiated communication that is timely and continuous. Conversations focus on a child鈥檚 educational experience as well as the larger program. Communication takes multiple forms and reflects each family鈥檚 language preference.
Programs and teachers engage families in ways that are truly reciprocal.听Programs and families benefit from shared resources and information. Programs invite families to share their unique knowledge and skills and encourage active participation in the life of the school. Teachers seek information about children鈥檚 lives, families, and communities and integrate this information into their curriculum and teaching practices.
Programs provide learning activities for the home and in the community.听Programs use learning activities at home and in the community to enhance each child鈥檚 early learning and encourage and support families鈥� efforts to create a learning environment beyond the program.
Programs invite families to participate in program-level decisions and wider advocacy efforts.听Programs invite families to actively participate in making decisions about the program itself. Programs also invite families to advocate for early childhood education in the wider community.
Programs implement a comprehensive program-level system of family engagement.听Programs institutionalize family engagement policies and practices and ensure that听 teachers, administrators, and other staff receive the supports they need to fully engage families.

Note: As we鈥檝e developed the content related to this project, the six principles of family engagement have evolved to highlight important elements, take out redundancy, and clarify meaning.

Exemplary Programs

Using these six principles as the foundation, 51吃瓜网 set out to identify programs that effectively engage the families they serve.

In early 2009, 51吃瓜网 invited early childhood education programs across the county to submit a written application. To ensure a high-quality baseline, eligible programs had to be 51吃瓜网-Accredited and/or rated in the highest or second highest levels of a recognized statewide or pilot quality rating and improvement system (QRIS).

Of the 24 programs that submitted complete applications, 17 were selected to participate in phone interviews during June 2009, and 15 finalists moved on to receive a site visit by 51吃瓜网 staff. Site visits, which took place from October 2009 to January 2010, were guided by a standard written protocol. The site visit was intended to validate what the program had reported and to gather evidence of its family engagement practices. Each site visit included

a tour of the facility;
a review of program documents;
interviews with program staff, including the director/administrator, teachers, and other staff (such as family workers); and
informal meetings with families over a simple breakfast, lunch, or afternoon snack.

The 15 programs 51吃瓜网 visited represent a range of program and funding types. Among these were Head Start programs, a lab school, two parent co-ops, a faith-based program, subsidized and private pay programs, one very large program (with 368 children), and a one-room schoolhouse (with 22 children). Each program serves families representing a variety of races, ethnicities and national origins, languages, religions, socioeconomic statuses, and family constellations (for example, single-parent, same-sex parent, blended, adoptive, grandparent-headed, and others). All 15 are 51吃瓜网-Accredited; several also participate in their state鈥檚 QRIS.

Not surprisingly, the rubric 51吃瓜网 developed to evaluate these programs revealed that all 15 programs are of very high quality with a strong commitment to supporting and honoring family engagement. Overall, 51吃瓜网 found that these programs have a vision shared by staff and families.

In April 2010, after a careful review of the wealth of materials from each program,听51吃瓜网 identified the following 10 programs as exemplary in their family engagement practices:

Children鈥檚 Village Child Care Center听in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Community Renewal Team鈥檚 (CRT) Locust Street Early Care and Education Program听in Hartford, Connecticut
Iowa State University Child Development Laboratory School听in Ames, Iowa
Montgomery County Community College Children鈥檚 Center听in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania
Rainbow School听in Stanford, California
School for Friends听in Washington, DC
Sheltering Arms Early Education and Family Center鈥揑nternational Village听in Atlanta, Georgia
Sunnyside Child Care Center at Smith听in Northampton, Massachusetts
The Family Schools, Inc.听in Brewster, Massachusetts
YWCA of Minneapolis Downtown Children鈥檚 Center听in Minneapolis, Minnesota

In addition, five programs were recognized for noteworthy family engagement accomplishments:

BlueSkies for Children听in Oakland, California
Egenolf Early Childhood Center听in Elizabeth, New Jersey
Kidango Little Washington Township听in Fremont, California
Pocono Services for Families and Children听in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
Temple Beth Sholom Foundation School听in Miami Beach, Florida

51吃瓜网鈥檚 2008鈥�10 efforts were supported by a generous grant from the Picower Foundation. Pre-K Now engaged in a sister听听to encourage and enhance family engagement as a critical component of high-quality pre-K. An听advisory committee听jointly convened with Pre-K Now in February 2009 provided initial guidance for the project.

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Developed for 51吃瓜网's Engaging Diverse Families Project through a generous grant from the Picower Foundation.
漏 51吃瓜网.

Topics: Other Topics, Family Engagement, Diverse Families, Family Engagement

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