Family Engagement

When parents ask for reading suggestions for their kids, here’s a handy list you can share, broken down by grade.

Parent-teacher conferences don’t have to be such a headache. Educators weigh in on how to solve common problems.

A teacher who has worked in a variety of schools reflects on what his colleagues have had in common.

On a mission to reimagine traditional schooling, a K–8 school in San Diego puts teachers and students at the center.

Does your school have a homework policy? How does your school ensure that teachers don't overload students with busy work?

When I first started teaching and was overwhelmed by the demands and complexity of the job, my survival strategy was simply to take all the advice that came my way and implement it. So when my wise mentor suggested that after the first day of school I call all of my second grader's parents, I did so. In spite of my exhaustion, I called each family and introduced myself. I asked a few questions about their child. I said that their kid had had a good first day. I said I looked forward to working together. Throughout that year, and the years that followed, I continued this practice -- I had an intuitive feeling that it was key: The positive phone call home.

Browse a curated list of resources for improving parent-teacher conferences, including ideas for highlighting student progress, ways to encourage students to take the lead, and questions every parent should ask.

As a beginning teacher I knew that it was important to connect with parents and to build a positive relationship with them, but at times I wasn't sure how to do this. In retrospect, I wish I'd asked more questions about their child and then listened more to what they had to say. After twenty years of experience and after sending my own child off to school, here are some questions I'd ask parents with the intention of building a partnership to support their child's learning.

Using family engagement events to target learning goals is a path to increasing students’ academic success.

Edutopia blogger Nick Provenzano believes there's more to teaching than dispensing curriculum, and he shares three practices that lead students and their families to trust him on a personal level.

A second-grade teacher explains how she got rid of mandatory homework—and the surprising results she found when she did.

Research suggests that while homework can be an effective learning tool, assigning too much can lower student performance and interfere with other important activities.