This month, the Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP) and the United Way Worldwide (UWW) hosted a Webinar series to share lessons learned from their joint initiative, Family Engagement for High School Success (FEHS). In the Webinars, presenters described the initiative, profiled strategies used by initiative members, and referred participants to the Family Engagement for High School Success Toolkit for high schools who wish to replicate their successful efforts.

The FEHS initiative, launched in 2009 and sponsored by AT&T, aims to bring families, school leaders, community partners, and students together to build a network of supports to keep students on the path to high school graduation, college or advanced training, and successful lives beyond. The initiative promotes multiple parent outcomes, including better understanding of school requirements, better understanding the distribution of responsibilities of staff within high schools and whom to approach for questions or requests. The project is also intended to promote better understanding of the meaning and importance of grades and improving parents’ skills in setting goals for their children and motivating their children to succeed.

To know what kinds of supports parents need to accomplish these outcomes, Michelle Crombie, Vice President of Community Development of the United Way of Lake County, Illinois recommended asking parents directly. Parents can point at the most frequent barriers or challenges they experience when helping their children stay on track in school. Parents may lack information about school requirements and available support systems, and they may not have computers or Internet connection at their homes to be able to access the school reporting system.

United Way of Lake County used multiple strategies to overcome these barriers. They developed “High School 101” training and communication materials to educate parents about graduation requirements, how to navigate the education system, and parental rights and responsibilities. They involved students in the design and creation of print, online and video educational materials, and offered parent classes and parent-to-parent support networks. Principals and counselors held meet-and-greet sessions with parents and increased the availability of Spanish-language communication (print, online, face to face, and parent to parent). To flexibly find time in which parents were available to meet, initiative members established parent-to-parent mentoring, as well as communication and transportation programs to help them participate in volunteer opportunities, engage with educators, and promote student success.

Additionally, initiative members installed computer kiosks in well-trafficked community sites (Laundromats, grocery stores, churches, Social Security offices, Public Aid offices) to promote access to reporting systems. They also partnered with corporations, service groups and AT&T to develop a program to provide low-cost or no-cost refurbished computers and home Internet access to families. 

As a result of these multiple strategies, parents have increased their school engagement and students have improved their class attendance. Students received more homework support and the community showed great awareness of supporting high school students towards graduation.

For more information about this and additional FEHS sites, watch the archived Webinar series and download the Family Engagement for High School Success Toolkit. The first part of the toolkit includes case examples from the FEHS pilot sites to illustrate how the family engagement planning process looks in practice. The second half of the toolkit provides suggestions and tools for first year implementation of family engagement practices.

Guest Author: Dr. Yael Kidron is a Senior Research Analyst at the American Institutes for Research (AIR). She specializes in research synthesis, meta-analysis, research methodology, survey development, and translating research to practitioner-friendly tools for practice implementation.