Education Week to Host Webinar on Parent Engagement Strategies

Education Week is hosting a webinar titled “Engaging Parents in Schools and Student Learning.” Though research consistently highlights the importance of parent engagement when it comes to student achievement, schools have struggled to design and implement effective and sustainable engagement strategies. While there are likely several challenges that arise in designing a powerful engagement strategy, research from the Harvard Family Research Project suggests that overarching school reform strategies have a tendency to focus on improving school curriculum or methods of evaluation. Though critical to improving the academic success of our nation’s youth, these strategies may not always allow for flexibility in addressing more local issues, such as parent and community engagement. The Department of Education’s (ED) recent announcement of the Race to the Top – District (RTT-D) competition, however, is an example of a reform strategy that allows schools to address more individualized issues of community partnerships, including parent engagement.

“Engaging Parents in Schools and Student Learning” will identify the importance of parent engagement, as well as some reasons why schools and districts often struggle with it. Panelists will provide examples of promising practices that schools are currently using to develop engagement strategies that support families and communities in student education.

The webinar will take place on Thursday, June 21 from 2pm-3pm (ET). For more information or to register, please click here.