Key points:
- Family involvement provides long-term benefits for students and school communities
- Unpacking COVID’s lasting academic effects on 5th graders
- Did the pandemic reopen gender-based math gaps?
- For more news on learning recovery, visit eSN’s Educational Leadership hub
Family engagement is an essential part of continued COVID recovery, but is often misunderstood when education policy is formed, leading to a lack of involvement from families, caregivers, and communities.
New research from NWEA, a K-12 assessment and research organization, emphasizes the vital role of family engagement in helping students recover academically from the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report, Family engagement as a long-term strategy for continued COVID recovery, synthesizes current research on family engagement, examines the effectiveness of current strategies, identifies common barriers, and offers guidance for how districts can communicate more effectively with families about student progress.
“Family engagement is a vital strategy for continued COVID recovery but is often misunderstood in education policy and not implemented to its full potential,” said Dr. Ayesha Hashim, Senior Research Scientist at NWEA and one of the authors of the report. “We found that when families are meaningfully involved, it not only helps mitigate pandemic-related learning challenges but also provides long-term benefits for students and school communities beyond just boosting test scores.”
In addition to Dr. Hashim, the report is co-authored by Dr. Rebecca Johnson from Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy and Dr. Rachel Perera from the Brookings Institution.
Key findings from the report include:
- A broader definition of family engagement as a collaborative effort among schools, families, and communities that aims to improve educational opportunities for all students by addressing systemic barriers and valuing families as equal partners. This approach shifts the focus from individual schools to broader community transformation and contrasts with more traditional, limited approaches to parental involvement.
- Insights from recent surveys highlighting that, while parents may report low interest in school-based COVID recovery programs, like tutoring and summer school, many have not received information from schools about whether their children are meeting grade-level academic expectations. The researchers further caution that survey results on parental interest likely underestimate true interest by not inquiring about barriers to accessing school-based programs, such as scheduling conflicts and limited access to transportation.
- Barriers to engagement that districts must consider including English language proficiency of their community, lack of transportation, childcare constraints, and conflicting work schedules. The report also highlights broader societal challenges, such as parents’ past negative experiences with schools or socioeconomic dynamics outside of school, that can shape families’ experiences at school.
- Improved communication strategies as a key factor in increasing family engagement. The report recommends that districts provide clear, consistent, and actionable communications and updates about student progress, beyond traditional parent-teacher conferences and report cards. Tools like text messaging can help keep families informed. Teachers should be encouraged and trained on how to talk about assessment data and other measures of progress in meaningful, supportive ways that clarify both student strengths and areas of growth. Ultimately, strong communication should build trust and promote sustained family involvement.
This press release originally appeared online.
