Promote Meaningful Family Engagement

Research shows that there are good reasons to develop Family Engagement. Across income and background differences, students whose families are engaged are more successful. Parental engagement also has been shown to be an essential ingredient in improving schools in urban, low-income areas.

There are three critical aspects of Family Engagement:

  • Shared school-family responsibilities and meaningful opportunities for family involvement
  • “Cradle to career” family involvement
  • Expanded arenas for engagement beyond the classroom

Follow the PTA National Standards for Family-School Partnerships

  1. Create a welcoming PTA climate and contribute to a respectful, inclusive school community.
  2. Communicate effectively with regular, two-way, meaningful communication about student learning.
  3. Support student success by sharing information between parents and teachers and creating meaningful opportunities for family involvement in student development and learning.
  4. Speak up for every child by helping families understand how the school system works and empowering families to be self-advocates.
  5. Share power by giving all families a voice in decision-making and developing connections between families and local and state officials.
  6. Connect families to community resources and develop the school as a community hub.

Create a strategic plan for engaging diverse families. National PTA offers a number of resources to support you in reaching out to a variety of families. One way to focus your self-assessment, outreach and engagement activities is to enroll in the National PTA School of Excellence program, which is designed to promote family-school partnerships for enriching children’s educational experiences and well-being.