Welcome to the Family Engagement Learning Series briefs! These briefs summarize a six-part webinar series of conversations designed to Raise the Bar for family engagement practices between school and home. The 2023 series produced by the U.S. Department of Education in partnership with Carnegie Corporation of New York and Overdeck Family Foundation, provided an overview of evidence, highlighted bright spots in the field, and shared resources and evidence-based strategies to support student success with education leaders and practitioners. We believe parents, families, and caregivers are essential partners in supporting student success. Research finds that strong partnerships between home and school lead to increased academic success and engagement for students. Thus, the U.S. Department of Education is committed to Raising the Bar for Parent Partnership in Our Schools. “Raise the Bar: Lead the World” is the U.S. Department of Education’s call to action to transform public education and unite around what truly works — based on decades of experience and research — to advance education equity and excellence.

Family Engagement to Support Student Success

Moderated by Dr. Karen Mapp, Senior Lecturer on Education at Harvard Graduate School

Achieving academic excellence for all students is a key focus area under Raise the Bar, with a focus on assisting states and districts in achieving academic recovery and excellence by supporting the conditions to accelerate learning and offer a comprehensive and rigorous education for every student.

While student achievement is a priority, on average, students are two to four months behind in reading and math because of the pandemic. Students of color, students from low-income backgrounds, and students who are presently and historically underserved are even further behind. The research, strategies, and resources presented in this webinar highlight how family engagement approaches have led to increased student success and learning acceleration.

Family Engagement to Support Student Engagement and Attendance

Moderated by Hedy Chang, founder and executive director of Attendance Works

Achieving academic excellence for all students by supporting the conditions to accelerate learning and offering a comprehensive and rigorous education, as well as boldly improving learning conditions, are key focus areas under Raise the Bar, with a focus on assisting states and districts in achieving these goals for every student. This webinar addressed the relationship between family engagement and chronic absenteeism through the lens of Dr. Karen Mapp’s Dual Capacity Framework.

We know students who are chronically absent — meaning they miss at least 18 days of school in a year — are at serious risk of falling behind. Even before the pandemic, 8 million students fit into this category. Now, the numbers are even worse: some estimates show that the number of students chronically absent doubled to 16 million in 2021-22, affecting one in three students nationwide. There are no easy solutions to this problem, but family engagement practices discussed in this webinar offer some promise when it comes to improving attendance and student engagement.

Family Engagement to Support Immigrant and Multilingual Families

Moderated by Dr. Stephany Cuevas, Assistant Professor of Education, Attallah College of Educational Studies, Chapman University

Achieving academic excellence for all students by supporting the conditions to accelerate learning and offering a comprehensive and rigorous education, as well as boldly improving learning conditions, are key focus areas under Raise the Bar, with a focus on assisting states and districts in achieving these goals for every student. Creating pathways to global engagement by providing every student a pathway to multilingualism is another key focus area that aligns directly with this webinar’s content.

Multilingual and immigrant learners bring perspectives to our schools that promote open dialogue, increase collaboration and cultural competencies, and improve learning for all students. Schools around the country are looking for strategies to better support multilingual students and ensure their families have access to educational experiences that affirm and protect their cultural and linguistic identities. This webinar highlights the vital role family engagement can play in building culturally affirming and welcoming school communities where immigrant and emerging bilingual learners are supported to thrive and excel.

Family Engagement to Support Student Mental Health and Well-Being

Moderated by Saskia Levy Thompson, Carnegie Corporation with Dr. Pamela Cantor, Turnaround for Children

Boldly improving learning conditions is another key focus area under Raise the Bar that aligns directly with this webinar’s content, with an emphasis on investing in student mental health and well-being and the teaching profession.

This webinar focused on assisting states and districts in achieving the goals of supporting student mental health and well-being for every student.

Panelists presented evidence-based and actionable strategies to support student well-being both in- and out-of-school, prioritizing mental health from the early grades through college, and the effects of social media on young people’s emotional well-being.

School communities are seeking better strategies and deeper support to promote student (and adult) well-being. Stress can impact the learning structures of the brain. However, when families and educators work together to surround kids in trusting and supportive relationships and adopt an asset-based perspective and whole-child approach, adults can help youth move from illness to wellness and promote their learning and development.

Family Engagement to Support Kindergarten Readiness and Early School Success

Moderated by Yolie Flores, president and CEO of Families in Schools

Achieving academic excellence for all students by supporting the conditions to accelerate learning and offering a comprehensive and rigorous education, as well as boldly improving learning conditions are key focus areas under Raise the Bar, with a focus on assisting states and districts in achieving these goals for every student. Supporting early school success is an important part of the Raise the Bar initiative to accelerate learning and provide a rigorous, well-rounded education.

Achievement gaps start early and persist. In this webinar, panelists provided a review of evidence from the field, and highlighted that fewer than half of all kindergartners come to school kindergarten ready, with significant disparities in race and income. Unfortunately, these disparities have long-term impacts.

Building strong partnerships with parents and families is an essential strategy to align what happens in the classroom with what happens at home, making family engagement a critical driver in ensuring that all children enter kindergarten “ready to learn” and experience early school success. Panelists shared evidence-based strategies for parents, families, educators, and leaders to implement at home and in the classroom.

Family Engagement to Support College and Career Pathway Success

Moderated by Farhad Asghar, Carnegie Corporation with David Park, Learning Heroes

The Unlocking Career Success goal of the Raise the Bar initiative focuses on ensuring every student has an onramp to postsecondary education and training by establishing and scaling innovative systems of college and career pathways that integrate high schools, colleges, careers, and communities and helping students earn industry-recognized credentials and securing in-demand jobs.

In this webinar, panelists reviewed the evidence highlighting that family engagement is essential in supporting students as they navigate the multiple pathways to career success. and shared some of the many ways that education and workforce systems are coming together to equip students and families with resources to prepare this generation for the workforce of the future.