SEDL's Free Briefs and Reports for Family and Community Involvement in Student Learning

Family and Community Involvement in Student Learning

Briefs and Reports

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Partners in Education: A Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family–School Partnerships (2014)
This resource presents a new framework for designing family engagement initiatives that build capacity among educators and families to partner with one another around student success. Based in existing research and best practices, this report is designed to act as a scaffold for the development of family engagement strategies, policies, and programs.
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SEDL Insights, Vol. 2, No. 2: How Districts Can Lay the Groundwork for Lasting Family Engagement (2014)
Family engagement in a student’s education can lead to improved student academic achievement, attendance, and behavior. Yet many districts and schools still struggle to form strong partnerships with the families they serve. Having a supportive district-level infrastructure is key to the success and sustainability of family engagement initiatives.
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Improving Family and Community Engagement Through Sharing Data: Southeast Comprehensive Center Briefing Paper, November 2012 (2012)
As data collection, analysis, and decision making expand on state and local levels, so does the expectation of effectively communicating data to the families of school children and their communities. Surveys indicate that people value receiving information on their schools (Owens & Peltier, 2002). They want to know how their schools are doing and are interested in receiving more detailed information (Owens & Peltier).
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Teenage Parents and Their Educational Attainment: Texas Comprehensive Center Briefing Paper, Number 5 (2011)
Becoming a parent, at any age, can be a life-altering experience. Regardless of race, education, and socio-economic status, motherhood—and fatherhood—uniformly places demands on one’s life that were non-existent prior to the birth of a child. When school-aged students become parents, the new responsibilities can be overwhelming. For teenage parents who lack support from their own parents, this experience can be even more daunting as they seek support in adult-oriented systems, which even older parents may find challenging.
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Parent and Community Involvement in a College/Career–Ready Culture: Texas Comprehensive Center Briefing Paper, Number 2 (2010)
This brief addresses the questions: What are some examples of underachieving schools that have involved parents and community partners to increase student achievement through building a focus on college and career readiness? How do they solicit community response and what contributions have parents/community members made to support a college and career readiness environment? What does the research say about this topic?
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Developing a Collaborative Team Approach to Support Family and Community Connections With Schools: What Can School Leaders Do? (2005)
This strategy brief includes ideas for involving families actively in the decision-making and implementation efforts needed for school improvement.
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Easing the Transition from PreK to Kindergarten: What Schools and Families Can Do to Address Child Readiness (2005)
This strategy brief discusses the importance of school-family connections in ensuring a successful transition from PreK to Kindergarten.
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Engaging Families at the Secondary Level: What Schools Can Do to Support Family Involvement (2005)
This strategy brief discusses strategies for successful family involvement at the middle school and high school levels.
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Organizing Family and Community Connections With Schools: How Do School Staff Build Meaningful Relationships With All Stakeholders? (2005)
This strategy brief examines proactive strategies schools can use to help them build strong relationships with family and community.
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Reaching Out to Diverse Populations: What Can Schools Do to Foster Family-School Connections? (2005)
This strategy brief includes strategies schools can use to promote involvement of families from diverse cultural backgrounds.
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Learning Outside of the School Classroom: What Teachers Can Do to Involve Family in Supporting Classroom Instruction (2004)
This strategy brief was produced by SEDL's National Center for Family and Community Connections with Schools, part of SEDL's Regional Educational Laboratory contract. The Center links people with research-based information and resources that they can use to effectively connect schools, families, and communities.
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What Do We Mean by "Family and Community Connections with Schools?" (2002)
This strategy brief was produced by SEDL's National Center for Family and Community Connections with Schools, part of SEDL's Regional Educational Laboratory contract. The Center links people with research-based information and resources that they can use to effectively connect schools, families, and communities.