By Maren Madalyn, contributing writer
Equity. It’s a topic increasingly found in educator circles. Across the U.S. schools and districts continue to search for strategies that address growing gaps in learning, social wellbeing, and long-term success across an increasingly diverse student population.
A core principle of equity in education is ensuring that each student has access to the resources and opportunities they need to thrive. As early childhood educators, we have the unique opportunity to create equitable learning opportunities in our programs and supports and set the stage for each child to thrive as they transition into kindergarten and beyond.
Though the exact how of achieving equity in early childhood education is often fiercely debated—one thing is certain. We need the right allies and supports in place to dismantle barriers of access to education and create high-quality early childhood education programs that serve every student.
And there is perhaps no ally more essential in our quest than families.
Let’s unpack four ways caregivers help early learning organizations close equity gaps and promote greater educational opportunity to improve student outcomes, as well as how early learning professionals can lay the foundation for families’ contributions.
4 educator-caregiver collaboration strategies for equitable child development
1. Embrace a strengths-based approach to engagement
Many families in the U.S. face systemic barriers and structural inequities that impact their capacity to engage with their child’s learning. Among the more vulnerable communities historically underserved by the U.S. education system are families and children of color (especially Black children and families, as well as families of indigenous heritage) , families with different linguistic backgrounds like newcomers, children with disabilities, and families with fewer financial resources.
And—regardless of their culture, socioeconomic backgrounds, or personal experiences, parents become teachers as well as caregivers from the moment their child is born. They make a huge impact on their child’s growth and development in these early years (and beyond).
Early childhood educators have an opportunity to emphasize caregivers’ importance in learning, while also uplifting what each family can do within their means. A strengths-based mindset assumes every parent wants the best for their child and they already have key knowledge and capabilities to support positive outcomes for students. Rather than focus on gaps, an early childhood program can center family assets. This approach is especially powerful for historically underserved families.
What’s exciting is that there are family engagement curricula both designed from a strengths-based approach and proven to positively impact student learning and generate equitable outcomes among communities impacted by institutionalized biases.
Several research studies have shown that the approach behind ParentPowered—where parents received bite-sized, evidence-based activities and tips through weekly “nudges”—resulted in young children’s literacy rates improving within 2-3 months. Further, a recent study conducted by the Rockman et al. Cooperative found that Black caregivers experienced significantly improved literacy rates among their children as compared with all other ethnicities combined.
There is still much more to understand about the nuances of equitable family engagement. However, these results offer insight into promising opportunities for early childhood programs to better support caregivers of all backgrounds.
Watch our on-demand webinar to learn more about the Rockman et al. Cooperative study and what Black families shared.
2. Tap into caregivers’ lived experiences and perspectives
A key piece to strengths-based family engagement is celebrating and leaning on families’ lived experiences. We can learn so much from parents and caregivers in our communities!
Historically, however, certain family groups have been excluded from accessing high-quality early education. Understandably, these caregivers may be reluctant to open up to teachers and education leaders. Some may have faced negative experiences in their past with schooling, while others may feel vulnerable about sharing around their culture or past history.
These voices are essential to bring to the table, so that programs can ensure that these families and their children have equitable access to learning and resources to thrive. Here, cultivating trust through relationships is the first step.
Below are a few communication practices that help lay a foundation for building relationships with families in early childhood education:
- Create a culture of active listening. This communication skill isn’t just about making time or space to meet with a family. It’s also about how educators receive, acknowledge, and then close the loop on what’s exchanged—at any program level. Active listening is a must for trust, and has the potential to help improve school climate, too.
- Communicate a sense of belonging through your learning environment. Your program’s environment can send important messages to families in implicit ways. Start with considering how your early education classrooms or front office may create a warm, welcoming environment, especially among families who speak a different home language or whose community has historically been excluded from these spaces. Our “back to school” checklist can help your team make even small improvements to establishing a great first impression from day one.
- When you ask caregivers for input—ACT on it. Of course, any Head Start organization collects family needs surveys to inform programming that addresses core needs. But having the input on hand is quite different than making programmatic changes from it! Be sure to identify specific ways that your team can incorporate the feedback received, and point out to your families how they guided shifts to workshop offerings, community partnerships established, evidence-based home visiting opportunities, and so on.
Speaking of communication—early learning programs benefit from creating opportunities to gather and respond to family input throughout a program year. This ongoing form of two-way communication is critical to build a parent’s trust. Quick text-based surveys, such as those supported by ParentPowered, allow educators to pivot their offers towards those emergent needs.
Read the story of United Children and Family Head Start and how they leveraged family feedback surveys and other data to deepen engagement during and post-COVID.
3. Empower families where they are
Most early childhood educators recognize that a supported caregiver with their basic needs met can in turn better support their child. Yet, one family may need different or more intensive assistance than another.
It takes more than just connecting families with community partners or services that meet needs like food and housing security. Creating equity in early childhood education means intentionally tailoring those supports to families systemically and setting them up to actually engage with them.
We can take lessons from the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support model (MTSS) and apply them to family engagement. MTSS is used commonly in K12 to match children with specific learning supports based on their unique needs.
Similar to other models in early learning (such as the Pyramid Model for Social Emotional Competence), MTSS is about layering support, starting with resources that everyone receives and working up to more high-support services that fewer need. This approach creates more equitable access among families to those resources that can help them specifically thrive.
MTSS and family engagement are a great match, and organizations like the Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium (MAEC) are embracing tiered models of family engagement with positive outcomes.
Did you know? ParentPowered Trauma-Informed is an exceptional Tier 1 family engagement program. When educators also implement the Community Support Stream as part of the program, they can scaffold more targeted Tier 2 supports for caregivers. Watch our self-paced tour of the program to learn more.
4. Build families up as advocates early on
Early learning educators carry unique responsibilities with family engagement. After all, a Head Start or preschool program may be the first time a family has engaged with the education system. This experience can set the tone for the rest of their children’s learning journey, from kindergarten all the way to grade 12.
This is why it is so crucial for early childhood educators to support families to be not just partners in learning, but also advocates and leaders for their children.
Let’s start with advocacy. Educating parents about this important skill in the education system is best done through scaffolding. It’s a common teaching strategy to help kids build upon existing skills, and it can be adapted to family engagement approaches. Watch our on-demand webinar to learn how early educators can scaffold their families experiences and participation in learning that sets them up for success in elementary school and beyond.
The more programs can uplift families from vulnerable communities most impacted by systemic biases and barriers, the greater the opportunity becomes to co-create equitable outcomes for those (and all) families. This is where advocacy can evolve into leadership—where families co-design solutions not just for their own children’s benefit, but for the wellbeing of all engaged learners in a program.
Unique opportunities for building equity in early childhood education
Though there are opportunities for creating more equitable access to learning for students of all ages, there are unique considerations that directly affect children from birth to age 5 and their families.
Developmental Milestones & Needs
Children under age 5 grow rapidly during these early years of life, and parents benefit from understanding how development normally proceeds (as well as recognizing what might be different for their specific child). When early learning organizations communicate with parents about what “typical” behavioral patterns they can expect when and why, it helps caregivers manage their own reactions (of frustration, confusion, anxiety, any!). This information helps them better support their children at that growth stage.
Providing this level of support to all families is crucial. And not all caregivers have the same access to child development expertise, even if offered through a parenting book or online class. The best approach is to deliver this information in bite-sized chunks through an equitable means of communication like text messaging—like ParentPowered does.
Early Intervention Support
Early childhood is a critical window of opportunity to help children that may need additional support to be successful in formal school settings. For early education programs to support kids at risk for things like dyslexia or other developmental differences, they need to identify them and ensure all families have access to early intervention services that match their child’s needs.
Here, supports like ParentPowered Personalized Learning can greatly aid Head Start and other early learning programs. This program gives families a personalized curriculum informed by their Ages & Stages Questionnaires®, Third Edition (ASQ®-3) screener results—all delivered weekly via text message. This maximizes families’ existing opportunities in everyday learning moments to support their child’s unique learning journeys each step of the way.
Language Development
Not only do children under age 5 grow physically and emotionally, they also develop the most fundamental language skills they need to do well in kindergarten and beyond. Regardless of which languages they speak, families play an essential role in little learners’ language development. Yet research has shown that inequities in children’s early reading skills (and therefore their kindergarten readiness and even future academic outcomes) can start as young as two years of age.
Early learning organizations can provide families with ways to support this development within their specific contexts and available resources, in any language. These efforts go a long way to promoting equity by ensuring children have their foundations for future literacy.
Set up all children for successful learning with ParentPowered
If it takes a village to raise a child, then it takes an entire community to clear systemic barriers that disproportionately impact families and prevent children from reaching their ultimate potential. Educators, families, and community-based organizations can collaborate together to create the right conditions and reliable access to resources so that every child may thrive.
At ParentPowered, it is our mission to create easy-to-use tools for great parenting to improve the lives of all children. Our family engagement programs are here to support your early learning team and help establish the foundation for respectful, supportive, and impactful family partnerships. Learn more about how we serve Head Start programs and other early childhood education organizations.
Additional resources for promoting equity in early childhood education
Looking for more resources to promote equity in early childhood learning? Here are a few to help you get started:
Tips from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
Policy and state-focused supports from the US Department of Education, Office of Early Childhood Development
- Webinar: Setting the Foundation: An Introduction to the 14 Priorities for Dismantling Systemic Racism in Early Care & Education | The Administration for Children and Families
- Article: The First Step for Addressing Bias in Infant and Toddler Programs | ZERO TO THREE
- Article: California Gold: An Advocacy Framework for Young Dual Language Learners
Other books, videos, and resources for educators
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.
