By Danielle M. Perry & Joanna Geller
Introduction
Despite a large body of research on family engagement, widespread district, state, and federal family engagement policies, and a proliferation of school- and community-based family engagement programs, equitable and impactful family-school partnerships tend to occur in isolated pockets. Many interventions to improve family-school partnership have floundered because they focus heavily on the achievement of specific goals or objectives, such as reaching out to parents using new forms of technology, additional math nights, or hiring family engagement coordinators (Mattingly et al., 2002; Ishimaru, 2020; White, Taylor, & Moss, 1992). These technical interventions tend to overlook the importance of altering institutional and individual norms, values, and attitudes (Chapman, 2002; Warren & Mapp, 2011). Warren and Mapp (2011) distinguish between transactional change, “the achievement of specific goals or objectives,” and transformational change, “an internal change in how people or institutions act” (228). Transformational family engagement strategies fundamentally change relationships between families and schools and interrupt deeply ingrained beliefs about low-income families, Black, Latinx, and Indigenous families, and immigrant families to combine “the experience of educators and policymakers” with the “brilliance of young people and their families and communities” (Ishimaru, 2020, p. 34).
In this final report from our 3.5-year study, we integrate data from surveys, case studies, interviews and observations to share how the Kentucky Statewide Family Engagement Center (KY SFEC), otherwise known as the KY Collaborative, set in motion the conditions for equitable collaboration for transformational family engagement. The KY Collaborative is “a network of families, schools, districts and community partners focused on increasing open communication, learning opportunities, and shared decision-making power across the Kentucky education system.” The KY Collaborative received funding from the U.S. Department of Education’s Statewide Family Engagement Centers Program from 2018-2023.
The Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, a nationally recognized, independent, non-partisan citizen’s advocacy organization based in central Kentucky, was the lead grantee for the Kentucky Collaborative. The organization has operated the Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership (CIPL) for almost 30 years, which builds families’ knowledge, skills, and power related to improving public education. Joining the Prichard Committee were three regional partner organizations that each offered a variety of programming and services for children, young people, and families throughout their regions. Additionally, Daviess County Public Schools joined the KY Collaborative in April, 2021. Daviess County excelled in prioritizing transformational family engagement in their local schools. The original partners invited them to join the Collaborative because they believed Daviess County could aid in building an integrated and sustainable model of family engagement across Kentucky. The Kentucky Department of Education, served as a statewide agency/policy lever.
We used mixed methods to explore the following questions:
Research Questions:
- How does the KY Collaborative support schools?
- What is the depth of schools’ engagement in KY Collaborative offerings, and how does engagment change over time?
- How and to what extent are schools implementing the Dual Capacity-Building Framework? How does this change over time?
- What is the relationship between implementation of the Dual Capacity-Building Framework and changes in family-school partnerships over time?
- What is the relationship between changes in family-school partnerships and changes in school-level outcomes (academic, attendance, discipline, school climate)?
2. How do CIPL fellows experience personal transformation, engage in collective action, influence public officials and school officials, and create more equitable educational systems? What condtions facilitate or hinder success?
3. How does the KY Collaborative support integrated, systemic, and sustainable family engagement? What conditions facilitate or hinder success?
- What changes do families report as a result of participation in KY collaborative programs?
- What is the statewide impact of the KY Collaborative?
We conducted survey research in schools and case studies in three regions of the state to understand the implementation of the Dual Capacity Building Framework in schools, districts, and community-based organizations.