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Engage Every Family: Five Simple Principles™

Every educator instinctively knows that engaged families leads to more productive students.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE 5 SIMPLE PRINCIPLES

Engage Every Family: Five Simple Principles™

Steve Constantino has developed the “Five Simple Principles to Engage Every Family” as a way to help every school harness the power of family engagement as a direct conduit to student achievement.

The logic model is designed to place into a hierarchical order the principles by which true family engagement and the ultimate development and nurturing of family efficacy can be implemented and measured. The model supports the notion that there is a process to successful family engagement practice.

Each of the principles falls into a logical sequence of action. In other words, schools and districts wishing to bring about systemic reform in family engagement should begin at the beginning (Principle #1) and follow the model in the direction of the arrows, that being clockwise around the circle.

Steve can customize a training program for your school or district that will ensure that every family is engaged in the academic lives of their children which in turn brings about more student learning success.

1: A Culture That Engages Every Family

The collective beliefs, attitudes, norms, values, actions, and assumptions of the school organization explicitly embrace and are committed to ensuring the notion of families as a foundational core component to improvement and greater student learning and performance. The culture is reflected in artifacts and organizational practices.

2: Communicate Effectively and Develop Relationships

There is consistent evidence that effective communication and relationship building creates environments in the schools that are welcoming, respectful, and conducive to family engagement. The school places an emphasis on effective communication with every family and stakeholder within the learning community and seeks to build trusting relationships with every family.

3: Build Family Efficacy

Families are recognized as essential members of the learning team for each student—their participation is welcomed, valued, and encouraged by the school. The school understands that families are important and influential resources because they know their children best.

4: Engage Every Family in Decision-Making

The school recognizes the entitlement of families to be consulted and participate in decisions concerning their own children. The school is genuinely inclusive in its approach to decision-making. It recognizes that this type of process creates a sense of shared responsibility among families, students, community members, and educators.

5: Engage the Greater Community

The school places a strong focus on building and creating partnerships external to the school. The school recognizes the strengths and talents that exist in the communities that influence student learning and development and seeks to use these to strengthen and support the school, students, and their families.

The Logic Model for The Five Simple Principles™

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