4 Ways to Improve Family Involvement at Your School

Engaging your students’ parents and caregivers these days is actually easier than ever, thanks to the many communications channels at your fingertips—and theirs. In this article, we review those channels and encourage you and your fellow school administrators and teachers to start making the most of the variety of communication channels that can improve family involvement at your school.

We all know that when families are engaged, school seems to be a higher priority for students. Homework gets completed on time. Students are more prepared for tests. They’re more active in extracurriculars and the community.

Research from the Southwest Education Development Laboratory (SEDL) found that parental involvement increases the odds of student success in a number of ways, including better attendance, higher grades and test scores, and better social skills and behavior. Students with involved families were also more likely to attend post-secondary education. In a more recent study, the SEDL underscored that student development depends more than ever on building family-school partnerships.

Numerous studies have been conducted before and after that one, but regardless of the research, common sense tells us that an engaged parent equals successful students. There’s no doubt that parent involvement is critical to student success.

Education professor and long-time parent involvement advocate Joyce Epstein has developed a framework that defines six specific areas in which schools can engage families:

• Parenting – Schools can offer information and tools that help families better understand their child’s development and create a home that facilitates learning
• Communicating – Schools can communicate important school events and information
• Volunteering – Schools can recruit parents and families to volunteer at the school and at related community events
• Learning at home – Families need information on classroom activities so they can help their children continue their learning at home
• Decision-making – Families want to be involved in important school decisions. Surveys, PTO meetings, and community discussions provide that opportunity
• Community collaboration – The school can develop partnerships with neighboring businesses and organizations to provide services to the community

You’re probably doing some level of family outreach in all of these areas. Maybe you’re sending home updates on classroom activity, organizing PTO meetings, and even developing community service initiatives. Perhaps you’re including families in school decisions and offering volunteer opportunities in the classroom.

Effectively Reaching Out to Families

So what can we do to promote and improve family engagement? What’s the best way to increase engagement? In what areas should you focus your energy?

If you’re not getting the response you want from your engagement efforts, it may be that you’re not communicating effectively. Many schools still rely on traditional forms of communication, like emailing newsletters in the form of PDF attachments or sending home paper announcements in students’ folders. Maybe you do use your website to post information—maybe on the homepage or some other area of your website.

You probably know as well as anyone that parents are busy these days. There may be two working guardians in the home who are trying to juggle childcare with their careers. You likely have many students who are raised by a single parent.

To reach these busy families, you have to make your communications convenient and quick to read. You have to target your outreach efforts in a way that makes them more likely to be received and digested. For most families, that means online communication. Here are four best practices that you can adopt today:

1. Create a Mobile-First Family Strategy

More than anything else, families want information. They want to know how their children are doing in school. They want to know what activities they have upcoming on the calendar. They want to know when assignments are due.

As you likely know, children are often hesitant to share this information. That can be especially true at the high school level.

You can provide easy access to this information by giving families choices about how they want to engage with your school. And we all know that they are on the go.

At the core of your mobile communications is a responsive school website that automatically adjusts its design and navigation for any mobile device (tablet, phone, wearable) your families are using.

The next mobile-first tactic is to offer a notification system that enables families to receive instant, user-specific targeted text, voice, email, social media, and website alerts for time-sensitive news and information.

The last critical component to meeting the needs of your on-the-go families is a mobile app that has all your content integrated into a branded mobile app that everyone who matters will have on hand.

2. Encourage Family-Created Content

One of the most effective ways to promote engagement is by letting families share their stories. Feature content from involved families—like testimonials, blog posts, or newsletter contributions—to showcase the benefits of engagement.

For example, ask a parent volunteer to write about their experience helping in the classroom. This content can inspire other families to get involved, highlighting what they and their children gain from participation. Additionally, work with your PTO to maintain a dedicated family-run website or section on your school’s site for these stories. Just ensure all content is approved and aligns with your school’s communication strategy.

3. Embrace Social Media for Broader Reach

Families are active on social media, which makes it a valuable platform for engagement. Use Facebook or Instagram to post event updates, student achievements, and school news. Social media is also an excellent way to share visuals from school events, making families feel more connected even if they couldn’t attend.

Leverage tools like SchoolStatus Sites & Apps built-in social media features to ensure your content is consistent across platforms, and track engagement metrics to see what resonates most with your audience.

4. Conduct Family Surveys for Input

Want family input on important school decisions? Get them involved early through online surveys. You can use a service like SurveyMonkey or Google Forms to create and distribute online surveys to families. The outreach can be done through email, social media, and even on the school website.

A short, five-question survey could be enough to pique interest in a particular menu or to spark some online conversation. For example, assume you send out a survey on changes to the school’s art program. A parent may complete the survey and immediately become more interested in the outcome. That could drive them to attend meetings, become involved in planning committees, and help formulate the school’s decision-making.

Project Appleseed, a non-profit organization dedicated to public school improvement, has assembled a cool parent involvement survey/report card. Even if you’re a private or charter school, this survey is still a good one to use as a model if you’re serious about assessing family involvement at your school.

Some content management systems have survey capabilities built right into their software, so the ability to measure opinion or start some healthy dialogue with families is just a link away.

Family Engagement is the Key to Student Success

Building strong partnerships with families can dramatically improve student outcomes. By adopting a mobile-first strategy, encouraging family-created content, leveraging social media, and using surveys to foster dialogue, your school can enhance family involvement and, by extension, student achievement.

If you’re ready to improve how your school engages families, explore SchoolStatus, a platform designed to help schools connect with families, simplify communication, and track engagement for better outcomes.