This issue brief lists key components and best practices of family engagement and discuss how districts can build systems to support engagement. The authors describe family engagement practices and systems in six school districts throughout the United States.
This comprehensive report compiles articles covering diverse aspects and issues of community engagement, such as engaging with families from diverse backgrounds, engaging families of children with disabilities, empowering families to support homework completion and effective study habits, community engagement in rural schools, and using data in engagement practices.
Families in Schools addresses common challenges to incorporating parent engagement in California schools by sharing district leaders’ experiences and recommendations.
EdSource describes the role of community engagement in California’s Local Control Funding Formula and clearly outlines the benefits, barriers, and best practices of family engagement.
Through a study of low-performing schools, the Reform Support Network identified five key components of successful community engagement for school turnaround. For each component, the report describes different approaches schools have taken.
“Systems change” is not a new concept, but increasingly leaders of foundations, nonprofits, and other influential social sector institutions are hailing it as a promising way to achieve greater impact. The idea has moved from activist and organizer circles to the forefront of discussions among foundation CEOs and is increasingly cited in philanthropy publications and conferences. Yet despite all the attention, and a long tradition of academic study, the concept and its implications for funders and grantees can still seem hard to grasp and apply.
To operationalize college and career readiness approaches within secondary schools, an effort must be made to utilize existing interventions and strategies as well as data-informed efforts included within multitiered systems of support.
In its 2013 report, the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEc) presented findings from its analysis of secondary and postsecondary CTE standards across 50 states and three U.S. territories.
In April 2016, The Education Trust published Meandering Toward Graduation: Transcript Outcomes of High School Graduates. The report showcases the results of their analysis of high school transcripts to discover what students’ course-taking behavior reveals about their readiness—or lack thereof—for postsecondary education and careers.
From the March 2016 issue brief by Richard Kazis: “As postsecondary credentials have become increasingly important to accessing higher-quality employment, a growing number of education and workforce programs are implementing “career pathways” approaches to help both youth and adults prepare for further education and better jobs. In recent years, MDRC has conducted research on a range of career pathways programs and program components. This Issue Brief describes the career pathways approach, highlighting core design elements, and profiles MDRC projects that shed light on the effectiveness of this approach and its potential to improve education and career outcomes.”