Communications with families are most effective when they are regular, well-timed, and include actionable support strategies.

Studies show that the most effective communications for eliciting parental engagement are those that offer parents actionable information or specific guidance for supporting their child’s education.

• An intervention provided parents whose students were in a credit recovery program with one-sentence, individualized support messages that emphasized areas where their students could improve increased the percentage of students who earned course credit by nine percentage points.
• Another texting study asked parents to set weekly goals for reading with their children, and then sent weekly text message reminders and provided feedback on the amount of time parents actually spent reading to their child. Parents in the treatment group spent over twice as much time reading to their children as parents in the control group, and these effects persisted after the end of the intervention.

Simple text message alerts to parents with timely information about their children’s academic progress may increase students’ success in a low-cost way.

• In two separate studies, sending parents weekly alerts informing them of their child’s missing assignments, low average class grades, and recent class absences reduced absenteeism, increased grade point average and decreased course failures.
• Additionally, researchers have found that it is more effective to text families of low-performing students (who may face more challenges) on the weekends, whereas texting families of high-performing students is more effective on weekdays.
• Automatically enrolling parents in updates rather than asking parents to actively opt in alone significantly increased the effects of progress updates on student course success, according to a study of middle and high schools in Washington, D.C.

Notifications to families about student progress are more likely to achieve success when they avoid a punitive tone and align with effective communication guidelines around simplicity and direction.

• A new study conducted during the pandemic revealed the value of offering personalized attendance data, log-in information, and support during distance learning, and found greater effects from alerts sent in simple language that informed rather than called out particular concerns.

Quality of interactions has been shown to more positively affect outcomes than frequency of interactions. Fewer communications that provide more detail are likely to more effective than frequent communications that raise additional questions for parents.

• Communications are frequently handled individually by teachers and other support staff. School leaders play an important role in system-wide norming to ensure that all school staff are aligned on practices and expectations.

Schools will be more successful involving parents in academics when the asks focus on helping students establish good work habits and time management rather than supplementing instruction or academic content.

Helping parents remain in the role of supporting academic work rather than providing instruction can reduce family stress and conflict over schoolwork at home.

• A series of studies, including a recent qualitative study that asked parents, teens, and teachers what works best during adolescence, highlight strategies to generate supportive parental engagement. One theme that emerges from these studies is that parents who provide structure and independence are seen as being supportive and those who help their students with schoolwork are viewed as undermining achievement.

For such strategies to succeed, schools must provide sufficient instruction so that parents do not need to teach content.

• Parents right now must often serve as substitute teachers. Greater access to tutors or “homework hotlines” to provide support for students as they complete assignments independently could help parents detach in healthy ways from academic support roles.
• When possible, schools should increase investment in dedicated staff who can be “on call” for families to provide help, particularly with technology issues.
• Promising and feasible practices for taking on needs around both technology and teacher access are emerging in district pandemic learning plans.

Schools must ensure genuine representation across parental communities to promote authentic engagement.

School populations are comprised of subgroups, subcultures, and mini-communities based on racial/ethnic groups, neighborhoods, bus routes, and other groupings.

• It is important for schools to figure out the social mapping of their school and then strategically invite parents who may represent the perspectives of these diverse groups to join in decision-making.
• The EdResearch for Recovery brief on serving immigrant-origin students offers additional insights into structures that bring parent voices directly into school processes.
• For example, a study of a Mexican immigrant parent empowerment effort in a California school district found that creating opportunities in which immigrant families defined meeting agendas and helped determine resource allocations allowed parents to feel a part of their children’s schools and schooling and take more active roles.

Authentic communication is essential for building trust and buy-in. There are several strategies that have been successful, including the following:

• Invite teachers and school personnel to focus on shared experiences with families. All families are struggling to support their children and fulfill work obligations, often with different resources and challenges. Sharing challenges and insights as people first and schools and families second will help build trust.
• As policies and practices are decided upon and implemented, focus on “reflection stems.” These reflection stems include systematically asking whose voice is missing, what would families/students say about the issue, how true would a conclusion be through particular families’ eyes, and who is the issue/conclusion actually true for and how do I know.

Bringing more diverse perspectives into school decisions also increases the likelihood that families from different backgrounds gain access to unshared tacit knowledge that lets them effectively advocate for their youth.

• Knowledge gaps can emerge across a range of issues. For example, families might know that their high schooler needs to take four math classes to graduate but not know the differences among classes and which lead to college readiness. Families might understand that school nurses and counselors can provide referrals and support for families but not know that they should and can ask for such help and support.

Schools can reduce family anxiety by providing a sense of routine for students and families. Older students benefit from a role in shaping school routines.

Routines provide a sense of security and predictability amid trauma and uncertainty, which can reduce anxiety and stress on children and families.

• For younger students, schools must provide a consistent and predictable daily schedule. Having a set time each day for focusing on specific academic subjects, physical activities, and leisure time has been shown to reduce anxiety. For example, younger children find comfort in knowing that they will see their teacher at the same time each day and know that it is followed by playtime, quiet reading, and writing.
• Posting the schedule and routines where they are easy to see and follow helps children see and anticipate, which bring a sense of security and calm.

Routines are equally important for older children and adolescents. However, teens benefit when they have a role in shaping their schedule.

• Providing guidance to youth about what needs to be completed each day and letting them set their own schedule not only provides the benefit of routines but the sense of autonomy, competence, and independence that youth crave.

Schools can also step in to supplement inconsistent national guidance on screen use limits that can carry across remote learning periods.

• Schools can provide parents with instruction on how to set privacy and safety settings on the platforms and software that children are expected to use to help parents feel comfortable about their children going online.
• School guidance can also communicate that substantial evidence demonstrates that exposure to blue light interferes with sleep.