Provide ongoing support to promote families’ and caregivers’ engagement

The school alone cannot ensure the academic success of students. More than 30 years of research has shown that the involvement of families in the school life of their children contributes significantly, but in a variety of ways, to their academic performance¹. This is true regardless of families’ race/ethnicity or socioeconomic status². Schools that invite and support family involvement report better socio-emotional wellbeing of their students, greater academic aspirations, fewer behavioral difficulties, and higher rates of high school graduation and enrollment in post-secondary education³. School-family collaboration is recognized as particularly critical for children who experience a difference in norms and cultures between their school and their family, such as those from socioeconomically disadvantaged families or immigrant families⁴.

Family involvement can generally be reflected in a range of attitudes and practices at home (e.g., checking homework, supporting children’s school choices, providing a quiet place to study), or by participating in various school activities. Although these two levels of parental involvement are both correlated with better school performance of children⁵, contrary to the dominant perception, the former is proven to be a better predictor of academic achievement than the latter⁶.

In 2016, Blackboard revealed a considerable drop over only one year in parents who believe that face-to-face parent-teacher meetings were the most effective way to communicate information to them. Parents now prefer remote methods of communication, like online student portals, and they are less likely to attend parent-teacher conferences or school activities⁷. Research informs that this growing reliance on digital communication can be positive and actually help parents stay informed, become more involved, and be better able to support their children—all factors driving better student engagement and performance⁸. In addition, digital technology is also helping improve equity in the engagement of parents, countering socioeconomic or linguistic barriers to their relationship with school. That being said, many families struggle with supporting their children in edtech use for learning at home. For example, in 2016, Blackboard revealed that the top challenge reported by schools who implemented blended learning was educating parents on their role in supporting blended learning for their children⁹. Similarly, a survey of more than 700 teachers in 40 U.S. states conducted in the spring of 2020, just after schools first shifted to remote instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic, shows that parents’ lack of digital literacy skills was a hurdle to the transition to online instruction¹⁰.

Families, even those who might not be tech-savvy, have something to offer their children in terms of appropriate and purposeful use of technology. They can support children’s use of technology by developing an understanding of how they can help children take care of their devices, when children need to have access to their devices, how school is already protecting children’s data, how to protect children’s privacy and security, and even when to ask children to put down the device to engage in physical activities. Schools that support family engagement in boosting student at-home digital use can expect better outcomes¹¹.

Strategies for success:

• Provide multiple opportunities for families and caregivers to stay informed and involved in their children’s use of technology: It is important to offer a variety of formal and informal ways that parents and caregivers can receive information and engage in dialogue with the school around use of technology. Leverage the Tech Team to deliver in-person and virtual device orientation sessions to help families understand how they can support their students’ learning and how to care for the device (e.g., making sure it is charged each night and ready for learning in the morning; viewing it as a teaching tool and not a toy; integrating technology use into family rules set by the parent—like device-free dinners or powering down at bedtime)
• Provide needed technology support and information for families and caregivers who don’t speak English proficiently: This can be through the translation of the texts, use of translators in meetings, or creating visual, text-free documents. Some schools also conduct meetings in several languages. Teachers and school administrators can record video messages about events and that can be sent to parents and used with free online translation tools.
• Consider recording or streaming school events, so that parents and caregivers can participate remotely: Virtual parent-teacher conferences can also provide more flexibility to parents who may have schedule restrictions during the school day.