By Maren Madalyn, contributing writer
Let’s imagine two parents with toddlers about to step into early childhood education programs for the first time. As you read their stories, consider which parent experiences involvement and which experiences engagement:
Abigail
Abigail meets with a teacher and a program administrator one week before her daughter will begin participating. They invite Abigail to share about her goals as a mother, strategies that ease her daughter’s anxiety at home, and other areas of Abigail’s work, family, and home life. They also share more about the services and educational resources they offer. The administrator encourages Abigail to attend the first parenting workshop of the year and meet other families in the program.
Later, Abigail has questions about how to receive low-cost dental services with a local community organization that the teacher mentioned. After reviewing the organization’s website at the library, she hesitates to reach out on her own.
She decides to ask her daughter’s teacher for guidance during the parent workshop. However, Abigail is unable to take time off as planned to attend the workshop during the day due to a change in her work schedule.
Though she receives an email about what was covered in the workshop, Abigail does not see information about how to enroll in the community health organization’s dental program. Eventually, other priorities occupy Abigail’s attention, and she does not pursue her questions further. She continues to read parent communications and attends workshops when her work schedule allows, but still struggles with barriers to engagement beyond this level.
Aditya
Aditya too meets with his daughter’s teacher and a program leader. They conduct a needs assessment survey to learn more about the family. The program leader also gives Aditya instructions and a specific contact name for connecting with a local community health clinic, in direct response to Aditya’s concerns about affordable dental support. She also reminds him about an upcoming parent workshop. As a member of this Head Start community, he is also automatically enrolled in a weekly text-based family engagement program that offers guidance about his daughter’s development and supporting her school readiness.
Later that week, Aditya follows the instructions provided to connect with the community health organization. He calls the program leader’s contact directly, who supports him with understanding the eligibility requirements and enrolling in their low-cost dental program. When the program leader calls Aditya to follow up, Aditya shares his gratitude for the great relief the dental program provides.
On the day of the parent workshop, Aditya’s work schedule changes, and he too is unable to attend in person. However, the Head Start program shares a recording of the workshop with Aditya along with three activities he can do at home with his daughter to build her social skills.
A few days later, program leadership sends a survey to Adiyta and other parents, asking for input about what upcoming topics they would like to see covered in workshops. Aditya feels a growing sense of community with the Head Start program team and is excited about his active role in his daughter’s growth.
How do these experiences compare?
Which program is using the most effective family engagement strategies?
While each parent receives support from Head Start program staff, there is a clear difference. Abigail is involved in her child’s experiences; she receives crucial information and is offered some ways to contribute to her daughter’s learning. But Aditya is actively being engaged, building relationships with program staff while also adding his voice to program planning.
Let’s unpack why engaging families is much more important than involving families in early childhood programs. We will also identify specific ways that a Head Start or preschool program can improve existing family engagement initiatives for the benefit of all little learners.
Parent engagement vs. parent involvement in early childhood education
Parent involvement in early childhood education isn’t a new concept. After all, families are the first teachers a child experiences! Though family involvement was not always historically part of a school’s mandate, it has become increasingly important to supporting student learning, especially in the early years.
Educators may sometimes use the terms “involvement” and “engagement” interchangeably when speaking of family-school partnerships. However, they are not the same in practice!
The National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement (NAFSCE) defines family engagement as “a shared responsibility in which schools and other community agencies and organizations are committed to reaching out to engage families in meaningful ways and in which families are committed to actively supporting their children’s learning and development.”
What I love most about this definition is the reminder that true partnership among this triad—engaged families, schools, and community organizations—applies to multiple settings where kids learn, from the home to early learning settings and beyond.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation offers a simple comparison between these two versions of partnership:
“An involved parent takes part in the activities already determined by the school. An engaged parent takes a step further, often becoming part of the school’s decision-making process.”
And research on family engagement in schools shows that, time and again, it is far more impactful than involvement with boosting student wellbeing, academic performance, and so much more!
That’s why the Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center (ECLKC) built a roadmap to guide early childhood programs with shifting into effective family engagement practices. The Parent, Family, and Community Engagement (PFCE) framework is powerful because it concentrates on developing two-way collaboration with parents and programs. As ECKLC describes, “Head Start and Early Head Start staff create authentic partnerships with parents when they convey their eagerness to welcome parents’ expertise and their readiness to share the care.”
For parents like Abigail, even small changes in how programs cultivate positive relationships with their families can make a world of difference.
How then can a Head Start program or a preschool program adjust common practices around communication, connecting families with community resources, and evaluating program impact—evolving from parent involvement to parent engagement?
Practical strategies for shifting into parent engagement
Communicating with families
Fundamentally, early childhood educators partner with children’s families through communication. But not all family-school communication practices are created equal.
In the table below, the left column outlines a few examples of parent communications many early learning programs use to boost involvement in education. All of these practices connect with families—and they can be up-leveled to build true family partnerships.
The first strategy focuses on one-way information flow, pushing communication from the program out into the community. The second and third strategies create an opportunity for educators and families to share insights, questions, or feedback, yet they may not frequently occur throughout the program year.
All three of these strategies depend on recipients having the resources (internet access, transportation, and time) to participate, which may not necessarily be true for all families.
Now compare the evolved family engagement practices in the column on the right! Notice that, with some adjustment, educators address barriers to engagement while also opening more space for families to share back.
| Parent Involvement Strategies | …Evolved Into Parent Engagement |
|---|---|
| A program sends a monthly email newsletter with important announcements, dates for upcoming parent workshops, and at-home learning tips. | In addition to emailing their family newsletter, educators post flyers at local community spaces where families already engage, such as a faith-based organization or the public library. They also text the most critical information to families, since text messaging is one of the most equitable and universal forms of communication. |
| Early childhood teachers hold parent-teacher conferences, inviting families to come into the classroom space and to get to know their child’s instructors. | Programs also offer the option for families to connect virtually, in the community, or even in their home environments with teachers. |
| A Head Start team interviews families at the start of the program year about their families’ needs. They also capture feedback about what supports they may benefit from receiving and their goals for their children. | Head Start leadership uplevels mandatory PFCE data collection with technology. First, they adopt Parent Gauge by the National Head Start Association (NHSA). This allows them to integrate parents’ strengths, aspirations, and perceptions over time into program evaluation. Next, they send short surveys via text message to families through ParentPowered. They ask about interest in particular offerings or whether specific programming is meeting families’ needs. |
Learn how ParentPowered and Parent Gauge together elevate your program’s communication strategy and nurture a strong relationship between home and school.
Addressing family needs
Speaking of family needs assessments—most early learning programs recognize the importance of supporting caregivers with accessing services that meet their basic needs. Having food and housing security, a sense of safety, and access to healthcare are just a few of the many factors that contribute to positive outcomes for children. However, these may be beyond a family’s direct control.
Parental involvement practices like those in the left side of the table below are helpful starting points to connect families with community resources. Educators can also take the next step to scaffold families’ success with engaging in these resources.
With an emphasis on parent engagement, the evolved practices in the right-hand column increase the likelihood that families actually utilize these services. Plus, those text-based surveys from the previous section come in handy to understand how parents’ needs may evolve (or validate their continued needs) all throughout a program year.
| Parent Involvement Strategies | …Evolved into Parent Engagement |
|---|---|
| A Head Start program sends families pamphlets about specific community partnerships established with local organizations, selected based on that year’s families’ needs assessments. | A Head Start program also posts this information in their front office and includes signage encouraging families to ask staff about particular organizations. Caregivers may be more comfortable speaking with a familiar person than making a cold call to an unknown group. |
| An early childhood educator recommends a particular service to a family through their communications to help with an emergent need. | The team regularly texts families with information about local, state, and national resources available to support their needs using ParentPowered’s Community Support Stream. They also monitor family needs more closely as they evolve throughout the year, capturing in-depth parent and caregiver input via Parent Gauge. Building on this revision, educators do background research to understand any eligibility requirements for services recommended to families. They also identify a specific point of contact (by name!) to whom they can directly connect a caregiver. That way, families are prepared when they contact this organization and given a warm welcome. |
Looking for more strategies to scaffold parental engagement? Watch our on-demand webinar with Rebecca Honig of ParentPowered and Ilana Steinhauer of Volunteers in Medicine, Berkshires as they unpack small but effective tweaks to family engagement activities and communication with families that lay that foundation for success.
Evaluating program impact and making decisions
Early learning programs also need continuous evaluation strategies and access to the right information as part of a cyclic process for program improvement. Family engagement reporting and data help leaders make informed decisions about program offerings and assess the impact of their family engagement activities on social, emotional, and academic outcomes.
However, programs may not always recognize the critical role of family voice and active participation in decision-making in these processes!
Once more, let’s compare parent involvement strategies against family engagement practices, and how they differ in adding families into strategic planning.
Yes, workshop attendance and family survey data are a key program component for decision-making, and this information is handy for early education leaders. But clearly, there are even more ways that programs can truly engage with families and lay the foundation for caregivers to shift from engagement to leadership.
| Parent Involvement Strategies | …Evolved into Parent Engagement |
|---|---|
| Programs track family attendance at specific parenting workshops or educational programs offered (virtual or in-person) to determine which topics seemed most well received or desired. | Programs create continuous parent engagement opportunities for student learning through evidence-based curricula like ParentPowered—then assess the ongoing impact of providing weekly “nudges” on other child outcomes. The ParentPowered Dashboard makes these investigations easy for administrators. |
| Leadership reviews the annual family needs assessments conducted the prior year to determine how effective past programming and services were on child and family outcomes. | Leadership utilizes Parent Gauge to explore patterns throughout the previous program year, as well as to track changes in program impact year over year. This helps them both identify changes to programming year to year as well as celebrate the positive outcomes they have achieved. |
| Leadership incorporates family feedback from surveys into their planning for a new program year. | Leaders welcome families to the table in more direct ways to aid in programmatic decisions. For example, a Head Start team may form a Parent Advisory Council like this one to provide a space for parents to offer direct guidance, insight, and recommendations to program leadership. Ideally, this council includes the voices of those who historically have been underserved, helping programs to build relationships with families in early childhood education. |
Embrace collaborative Head Start family engagement with ParentPowered and NHSA
True, collaborative family engagement is a journey, not a destination. At the core, it’s about establishing family partnerships and responsive strategies that help programs grow alongside the caregivers and children they serve.
To embrace continuous improvement, Head Start programs and other early childhood education programs need the right data. That’s where ParentPowered and NHSA can help! Learn more about our partnership and how it can help your program meet its goals.
About the author
Maren Madalyn has worked at the intersection of K12 education and technology for over a decade, serving in roles ranging from counseling to customer success to product management. She blends this expertise with fluid writing and strategic problem-solving to help education organizations create thoughtful long-form content that empowers educators.
