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Supporting Effective Family Engagement and Community Partnerships

Transforming family engagement into a driver of school improvement and learning and development

Intentional, data-driven family engagement strategies foster emotional connections, set high expectations for learning and development, and help shape better outcomes for every learner. We take a whole-child approach to family engagement and align initiatives, resources, and supports across programs for all ages and stages. 

Our core professional learning experiences and research-based resources help schools, districts, states, and communities develop expertise and create effective family engagement practices tailored to unique and varied needs. 

Our Capacities

Through effective adult learning strategies, interactive experiences, and robust resources, our professional learning helps parents, guardians, educators, and school leaders strengthen partnerships with one another to better support student success and well-being. Our work includes ensuring that your math and literacy initiatives are integrated with effective family engagement practices. 

Featured Service

Family Engagement Essentials  

This suite of short-term professional learning workshops is designed to address foundational needs in family engagement, such as preparing new and returning teachers to build relationships with families and reducing chronic absenteeism. Each session develops family engagement practices that schools and districts can use to strengthen relationships with families. 

Featured Service

Family Champions for Learning

We help enhance knowledge and tools families can use to actively support their children’s learning. Through interactive sessions, families build skills in academic support, social and emotional development, effective communication, and parent leadership. This fosters collaboration between educators and families, equipping all participants with practical strategies to build up student learning and well-being. 

We work with school and local communities to lead structured, integrated, and evidence-based approaches to family engagement that support learning and school improvement, all in a collaborative, thriving school and community environment. Our expertise can integrate with a wide range of your initiatives—from math to literacy to chronic absenteeism—in a variety of education settings. 

Featured Service

Academic Parent–Teacher Teams  

Since 2010, more than 3,000 schools across the country have implemented Academic Parent–Teacher Teams to provide a proven, evidence-based approach to strengthening home–school collaboration. By building strong relationships, setting clear learning goals, and equipping families with practical home-learning strategies, Academic Parent-Teacher Teams engages educators and families to work together as trusted partners. 

Featured Service

Community Schools Development and Implementation 

We facilitate and support your implementation efforts related to community schools by supporting communities of practice, building knowledge and capacity, and creating high-quality tools and resources. A key outcome of our work is growing and aligning community-based partnerships to support student and family engagement. 

Our work considers the diverse needs of families, learners, and practitioners. We provide unparalleled expertise to help families and learners navigate and understand early intervention and special education systems, policies, and practices. Throughout, we support the needs of English and Multilingual Learners and students with disabilities and their families. 

Featured Project

Comprehensive Early Intervention Technical Assistance Network  

Early intervention systems must navigate the intricate challenge of balancing various priorities. These include addressing diverse family needs. The Comprehensive Early Intervention Technical Assistance Network combines effective family engagement with a parent–professional partnership model. This approach aims to inform and improve the effectiveness of systems that support children with disabilities. 

Featured Project

Supporting Family Engagement for Dual Language Learners in Fresno County, CA  

WestEd supported the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools (FCSS) in developing a family engagement toolkit, Developing Authentic Partnerships With Families of Dual Language Learners: A Toolkit for Educators of Children Ages Birth to Five. The toolkit recognizes family agency as central to child development in the early years. 

Our work builds school leader expertise through continuous improvement, fostering sustainable, evidence-based approaches to successfully engage families in children’s success. We help teams lead effectively by collecting data, measuring and growing leadership practices, interpreting survey results, developing action plans, and supporting implementation of new strategies. 

Featured Service

Developing Statewide Evidence-Based Family Engagement Guides  

We help schools and districts develop clear, research-driven strategies. Our experts developed a set of guides designed to help schools and districts align efforts, build educator capacity, and strengthen trusting relationships with families—driving out-of-school student learning and advancing statewide goals for engagement and academic improvement. 

Featured Service

California School Climate, Health, and Learning Surveys (CALSCHLS) and Data Workshops

CalSCHLS is a statewide survey system that collects student, staff, and family input on school climate and well-being. We provide technical assistance to help schools use these data to inform planning, improve school climate, meet state priorities, and strengthen family engagement. 

We study and evaluate the effectiveness of professional learning services and programs and resources designed to enhance family engagement practices and promote better outcomes for all learners. 

Featured Project

Evaluation of Networking Urban Resources with Teachers and University to enRich Early Childhood Science

WestEd is the research and evaluation partner on this project led by The University of Toledo that examines the impact of teacher professional development and family engagement on early learning outcomes. Our evaluation will help shine a light on effective strategies that work to engage families in supporting their children’s learning through interactive, inquiry-based science.  

Featured Project

Parent Connect 

Current research indicates that specific types of parent–child interactions between the ages of 3 and 8 are the primary driver of mathematical ability through the elementary grades. Our team is leading an evaluation of the Parent Connect prototype that aims to strengthen family engagement through the use of technology and adaptive learning experiences to facilitate improved outcomes.

Ready to Improve Learning and Development Through Effective Family Engagement?

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