Oct 23 2018

Authors: Heather B. Weiss, M. Elena Lopez, and Margaret Caspe

Commissioned by Carnegie Corporation of New York, Joining Together to Create a Bold Vision for Next-Generation Family Engagement: Engaging Families to Transform Education is intended to spark a conversation around the power of family, school, and community engagement. 

Joining Together to Create a Bold Vision for Next-Generation Family Engagement: Engaging Families to Transform Education

The paper begins with a challenge, namely: How do we work with families and communities to co-create the next generation of family and community engagement, providing equitable learning pathways—both in and out of school and from birth to young adulthood—that will enable all children to be successful in the 21st century?

Exploring what it takes to meet this challenge, the document looks at what we have learned over the past 50 years of research and policy as well as the need for changes in mindsets. The paper identifies five promising, high-leverage areas that can serve as “building blocks” for the next generation of family engagement strategies: reducing chronic absenteeism, data sharing about student and school climate indicators, the academic and social development of youth in and out of school, digital media, and the critical transition periods in children’s learning pathways. 

The report also concludes with suggestions on where to concentrate efforts to move the field of family and community engagement ahead— local community initiatives, capacity building and professional development, data pathways, public policy change, and public communication and engagement strategies. You can also download our executive summary, which provides key points and highlights from the paper.

Executive Summary: Joining Together to Create a Bold Vision for Next-Generation Family Engagement

We invite you to share this important paper with your networks, and provide your feedback and ideas to us below in the comments, or at info@globalfrp.org and to Carnegie Corporation of New York at education@carnegie.org. We also encourage you to look at a related article that appears in The 74 and companion essays that Carnegie Corporation of New York has commissioned on ideas presented in the paper.