This past week, in his “Vision for Education in America” speech, US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona named family/educator partnerships as a key action for education nationwide. Alongside mental health supports, wrap-around services, and extra academic support to struggling students, he prioritized meaningful family engagement as part of his strategic academic recovery plan from the pandemic. Partnerships between educators and families are crucial to address recovery in a way that is possible and equitable for all students.
“It means more meaningful and authentic parent and family engagement. As a former school principal, I knew that partnering with parents was critical to our school’s growth. Especially now during a pandemic, engaging all parents’ voices in this process of recovery and addressing disparities is not only important, it’s necessary. All parents’ voices must be heard.” – Dr. Cardona
“Meaningful and authentic parent and family engagement” has been central to Springboard Collaborative’s programming from the very beginning. Just as Dr. Cardona saw it being a critical factor for his school’s growth, over the past ten years, we have also seen it to be an important factor in students’ growth in literacy skills.
What is “meaningful and authentic parent and family engagement?” In short, real partnerships need to be made between families and educators. This is more than a fundraising event. This is more than a curriculum night to showcase the next semester. Keep those, to be sure, but there must be something more. To have meaningful and authentic engagement there must be a mutually contributive and beneficial partnership.
Strong family/educator partnerships are especially critical at this point in time, because both educators and families hold the responsibility for the education of children, and both educators and families are exhausted. The pandemic has taken a toll, and it continues to make the important work of education a difficult and complicated endeavor.
Partnerships don’t just happen, and they aren’t always productive. Here are some characteristics of a good partnership:
Clear expectations – A partnership isn’t just having a shared interest or mutually desired outcome. A good partnership sets out clear expectations. There is a mutually agreed upon goal, with a plan set in place to get there. Every partner knows what their role is and what they should be able to expect from the other partners.
Trust and commitment – A good partnership intentionally builds trust, overcoming anxiety or apprehension, and establishes a felt understanding that everyone can depend on each other for transparency, honesty, support, and follow-through.
Combined resources – One of the beautiful things about a partnership is being able to share resources. Resources can come from both home and school, through educators and families. No one should feel the burden of the whole, and everyone has something valuable to contribute. Resources can include time and insight as well as books and technology.
Effective communication – In a world of constant communication, it is hard to find communication that is effective. Partnerships rely on effective communication. There should be an agreed method of communication, through which each partner can reliably reach the others. There should be open and frequent communication that is specific to the partnership goal. When communication is unclear, there should be an easy and quick way to get clarity.
Team building, setting learning goals, having a common learning plan to practice both at home and at school, and working together at family workshops have all been great sources of family/educator partnerships through Springboard programming.
As schools and families continue to make plans on how to address learning loss and the adjustment back into school buildings, being very mindful and intentional in how to build meaningful and authentic partnerships among families and educators should be at the top of everyone’s list.