These topics along with workshops where families can learn about governance, leadership and advocacy can empower our families to be involved. The standard stand-alone parent workshop or parent training may no longer be sufficient to meet the needs of our families. We may want to consider offering a series that builds on the previous information provided and re-brand the “parent workshop” to “parent university,” which would provide brief, but informative, pre-recorded videos that support families in a variety of topics, such as the importance of parent involvement and engagement, and the impact on their child’s efficacy, achievement and self-esteem, and ways for parents to engage and participate within our schools and programs. Also, providing opportunities for our parents to connect with various services, resources and community partners within the training or workshop is a way to bring an added value approach to the time they can dedicate to being engaged in school matters.

We need to inform parents of upcoming opportunities so they can engage with our programs. Families need to know how they might participate with enough notice so they can have plenty of time to plan their schedules accordingly. They need to know the purpose and what the intended outcome will be (e.g. grow in advocacy strategies, participate in shared governance and oversight of the program or school, engage with other parents to provide input on parent engagement plan, learn foundational reading strategies to support literacy, etc.). We often provide information about upcoming meetings, but do not provide the context or purpose or even frequency of those meetings and who should attend. Most of our meetings and offerings are regular occurrences, and we assume parents should know that all parents are invited to attend, but it is an assumption, and there is a communication gap that needs to be filled by the school to ensure that it connects with our intended audience. In addition, taking the time to invite parents personally, whether by telephone or during morning drop-off or after school pick-up, should not be underestimated. There is a difference between sending out the information to our families and actually having a personal conversation with our families inviting them to attend. The personal touch does go a long way and makes a difference. When asked why a parent actually attended a meeting, a standard reply is often, “The teacher asked me to,” or “The principal called me.” It is also respectful and lowers the affective filter for those families who may not be as comfortable with engaging with our schools or programs.

Parent academies and parent universities can be a way to provide just-in-time information to our families on a variety of topics. Through surveys and parent input, we can garner information as to topics that may be of interest to our families. Parents often express that they are eager to learn more about how to best support their children’s learning at home. They are interested in learning about their children and their various milestones. They want to know what is typical in terms of speech and language acquisition, or in cognitive development. Providing valuable information that is accessible to them throughout the year, whether in person or online via our websites, when parents have the opportunity or need, can be a way to foster engagement. This can be a proactive way to reach all families, but especially those who are unable to attend our workshops, trainings or other offerings. Families appreciate the information and want to support their children through the strategies, games and activities that they can use at home, but they want access during a time that works best for their schedules and busy lives. Our websites need to become a “go-to” repository of information and resources that families can access asynchronously, when needed.

The last few years have been intense and have truly stretched all of us. Students, parents and teaching staff have moved out of their comfort zones to embrace technology to support instruction and learning. Our parents have grown their skills and added to their toolbox as they have supported their children with learning and technology from home via connected learning/distance virtual learning and accessing online resources.

We all understand the importance of in-person, face-to-face interactions in building connection and community; however, we have also found that technology can enhance these interactions. We can build a sense of community using programs such as Class Dojo that are free and serve to help us disseminate information, highlight and showcase students or families, and provide easy access to principals, directors, teachers and parents through email. This program also has built-in translation for the reader in their preferred language. As we work toward overcoming barriers to engagement, communication and trust, we need to take advantage of all that technology can offer that supports us in our goal of engaging families. Applications such as Remind can help us send group texts and keep our families informed of important events in a timely manner. Programs such as these can help us stay connected and build virtual community engagement that will help in bringing about the in-person engagement that we strive to create within our communities and families. If language is a communication barrier, there are other technological devices that can assist with translation, whether it is through Google Translate, a hand-held translator or a translating pen that can be used by a parent to translate written material.

These devices can help us with communicating with our families in real-time, especially when we may not have staff readily available who speak the language.

We need to have a parent engagement plan that we revisit regularly. The best of intentions will not effectively serve our communities, if we have not intentionally brought in the voices of our parents and staff, analyze our data, identify goals and objectives we would like to improve upon and assign staff that will be accountable to work toward achieving those goals. When we brainstorm with our teams, we open up a world of possibilities and together, we are able to problem solve. Through the cycle of continuous improvement, we work together to identify needs, brainstorm, solicit input and co-create solutions that can best meet the identified needs. Setting high expectations and goals for ourselves and our families, along with the allocation of the resources needed to achieve those goals, will create the conditions for success. Nothing great happens without intention and without a plan.

We need to have a common understanding of what the end goal or outcome looks like and agree to evaluate ourselves and our progress. Rubrics can be useful in informing our progress and next steps. Developing a rubric together with our various stakeholders can lead to valuable insights, clarity and inform our plan. As part of this process, establishing clear timelines for revisiting and reviewing progress is essential. In this way, the plan is not forgotten and stored away, rather it is constantly revisited and we are engaging all of our stakeholders in the important conversation and problem-solving sessions as challenges arise. In this way, we are able to make needed and timely adjustments.

The execution and success of the plan is not just one person’s responsibility. It is a collective responsibility. We agree to shared accountability. The success of the plan is everyone’s success, and in the same vein, the team is accountable when we do not reach our intended outcome. Falling short of the goal is not a failure if we have been working together throughout the year, have all been responsive to the needs of our stakeholders and have implemented the plan as close to fidelity as possible. Even best laid plans do not always yield the desired results. However, it is when the plan has been forgotten and not “worked upon” that questions need to be asked: How was the plan was monitored? Who was responsible for a particular action and by when? What support or resources are needed and by whom? What does success look like? What should be the frequency of progress monitoring meetings? These are important accountability questions that must be part of our intention to increase parent engagement and involvement.

We need to stay resilient despite the challenges and, sometimes, disappointments. Even with the best of intentions and well-articulated and implemented plans, we may not be able to engage all families or bring about the involvement we seek. However, it is important to keep in mind the successes and the many families who have been positively impacted through our efforts and the collective efforts of the school community or program. This is what continues to motivate us day in and day out as we wait for the parent at the classroom door before or after school, send another flyer or letter home, or make yet another telephone call. Providing our families with the support and resources they need and having them see us as caring professionals who are committed to serving our students, families, communities and our programs will inevitably increase interest and engagement.

The techniques and strategies we have used in the past work for some, but not all. Realizing that no matter what we try, it will not work for all is likely the first step because it helps us understand that we truly do need to differentiate our approach. Sending home flyers, automated telephone calls and highlighting the information on our marquee are all good practices and should not be discontinued. Instead, we need to ask: Who are we not seeing at our events and why? What do we need to do to make sure they are able to attend? If they cannot attend, how can we make the information accessible? How do we empower families to overcome challenges, meet their goals and be the best caregivers that they can be for their children? How do we support families and caregivers to support them in the greatest of challenges that impact their children? What else can we do? What is an outside-of-the-box idea we can try? What we have always done is great, but it isn’t enough. We have to do all of that and more — regularly and with gusto! It is a call for continued action as we continue to strive to strengthen our practices and engage all families so that they can thrive and be advocates for their children as they support them through their academic journey.

Our families were faced with so many difficult decisions and challenges. They have many competing priorities. We know they love their children and want the best for them. We also know that we will need to continue to be innovative and persistent as we work toward re-engaging our families and having them be actively involved in our programs and schools.

While these strategies are not revolutionary, they are impactful when used systematically and relentlessly.

Rosa Guerra is the director of MTSS and Interventions at Garvey School District.